https://www.facebook.com/172695662599249/

Alabaster Rats - ABR

Home
Australia
Roleystone, WA
Alabaster Rats - ABR

Very small scale rattery aiming for health, strength and good character in Perth WA

18/06/2024

Sleepy beans 😴

16/06/2024

Cute little poser Bindi 🥰 Oreo’s argente daughter

14/06/2024

Love’s litter inherited all the markings, Chinchilla being a dominate gene was expected and fawn/argente was also expected with agouti x buff pairing.
RED (red eye dilute) in agouti will produce fawn/argente and it looks like we’ve lucked out with 3 little fawn chins, something I was very excited about as a prospect!

12/06/2024

I knew both parties carried black which is recessive so both parents need to carry a copy each for it to be expressed in the litter but it’s still a surprise to see so much of it in Petal’s beebs especially considering only the occasional black has appeared previously!

09/06/2024

This little one has inherited aunty Oreo’s beauty spot, very cute indeed!

05/06/2024

Birthed the same night and doing a wonderful job at 4 days old 😍

01/06/2024

Gotta have a good clean whilst playing 💪🏼 grandfather, sire, son & half brother with plans for Adonai (buff) to father the next 🥰

31/05/2024

Both ladies due in the coming days

19/05/2024

Ruby passed on the most silliest and loveliest personalities to her kittens 7 months ago, her daughter’s Love & Petal have been paired to my chin boy Percy and her other daughter Note who is my little angel will be paired back to uncle Cayden shortly with expectants of little fawns in both litters 👀

29/03/2024

Some happy little recently adopted girls ❤️

We have a small handful of boys who are ready to leave also, we’ll upload photos soon.

If you’d like to be part of this project please reach out, I’ll be setting up an Alabaster Rats - ABR owners group in the coming weeks so we can all keep in touch, share any concerns etc

20/03/2024

Eeek!! So excited! Health checks for my second line were cleared yesterday with Dr Lisa at Wattle Grove and will be preparing to pair in the coming weeks 😍
This litter will have Rex in them as it’s a grandfather to granddaughter mating, so far this line has the sweetest and most confident temperaments I’ve ever come across so very very excited to see what this next generation yields!

17/03/2024

A little update regarding homing out, after a lot of thought I’ve decided to let a handful of these babies go into approved homes who’ve agreed to keep contact and updates if and when any issues arise so I can keep making the best choices going forward with each litter.

My next litter from my second line will be paired after a heart screening this coming week and a handful of them will potentially be homed out also, not sure yet so will update further when they’re roughly 5 weeks.

Further litters will be around Spring 2024 but will keep adding to the page in the meantime 😊

16/03/2024

Cage set ups/husbandry:

There is unlimited ways to set up a cage suitable for rats, let your imagination run wild!

Rats love clutter due to being a prey species so lots of hiding places is a must, they’re intelligent and naturally curious so the busier the cage the better.

Our favourite bedding to use is the Superior kiln dried pine shavings (must be kiln dried as standard pet store shavings haven’t been heat treated to the degree to destroy phenols in the wood which when wet are toxic to small animals).
It’s cheap and lasts a long time!

Polar fleece bedding is a controversial topic as opinions are quite split but I find especially for older rats it’s a perfect option, faux grass mats can also be used but be aware these need to be washed and scrubbed down with F10 vet grade disinfectant often but a good cheap option nonetheless.

Rats natural needs are digging, nesting, running, climbing, hiding, playing and exploring so plenty of space to do this is ideal. If you can’t make a deep base, having a dig box is a great way to enrich these busy little minds.

Our birthing cages currently aren’t shown here so with the next litters I’ll add them in too.

(All cages pictured are our previous and current set ups)

05/03/2024

Some more baby spam, mink, cinnamon and fawn little girls ❤️

23/02/2024

These little badger lookalikes 😍
Most likely Chinchilla in black but will see in a few weeks if any silvering takes place to know for sure.
This litter is an absolute rainbow with a touch of Merle, Chinchilla, cinnamon, mink, agouti and fawn.
Very excited for the future prospects here!

19/02/2024

Bunny & Chase’s litter all good so far, no Chinchilla in here but we do have Merle, fawn, agouti, mink and black hoodies 😊

This is the litter I had potential concerns of Megacolon coming up so will be watching of any signs closely and humanely euthanising before it causes too much distress, fingers crossed we don’t have it happen but the next few weeks are paramount

15/02/2024

The perfectest little face ❤️

Mink Merle Blazed doe born to Bunny & Chase

03/02/2024

Chase (Mink Berkshire) has been paired to Bunny (Variegrated Chinchilla) and we have welcomed beans this afternoon.

Chase is brother to Cayden and just like him he is relaxed, unbothered and an overall softy.
His health just like that of his family’s who I have data on has been perfect thus far, he was also cleared of any unusual heart rhythms and is also father to my second line of buffs and minks who have nothing short of amazing personalities.

Bunny is a silly little thing and the cheeriest out of her litter, she was the most confident and relaxed from the beginning so we are very pleased her personality has continued to shine.
She is sister to Oreo 💚

03/02/2024

Cayden (Cinnamon Berkshire) has been paired to Oreo (Agouti Chinchilla) and we are eagerly awaiting beans due to arrive on the 12/02 or close by!

Cayden is a very easy going relaxed guy who isn’t bothered by much at all, his health and that of his family who I have data on has been some of the best I’ve come across, he has been screened for unusual heart rhythms and is clear so we are very very excited for this lot, crossing all fingers for some of his hardy genes to be passed on, he also carries RED (red eye dilute) so we are expecting quite the mix 😍

Oreo is an independent sweetheart and very mischievous, her family thus far has excellent health also so we can only hope this is carried forward into the next generation.
Oreo carries Merle from her father’s side so we are very interested to see how these guys turn out!

03/01/2024

‼️LONG POST‼️

So, why is it important to me not to release any bubs just yet, especially to people I don’t know?
The reason is, if I were to release rats from a new line say at the recommended 8 weeks, even if they’re emotionally sound and healthy up until that point there’s no saying what will happen after they’ve joined their new home.

Recently I’ve experienced hormonal aggression in my Chinchilla line which showed up at 4 months, if I had released part of this litter, I would of unknowingly adopted out aggressive rats which is not only a stress and emotional strain to deal with but also costly to fix.
This isn’t something I’m willing to risk and until I’m satisfied I’ve managed to breed away from it they’ll be staying with me.
Because of this recent issue I have to pair my variegated chinchilla doe (one of the only ones who doesn’t show HA) and outcross to one of my calmest males despite his colouring and marking which will produce high white marked rats (DWS) despite being chinchilla or not and yep now comes in the risk for megacolon.
A risk I was aware I would potentially face.

So why not just scrap this line? (Can technically not even be considered a line yet), well to stop now means I’ve added an additional 10 rats with no purpose and if I were to start with new rats there’s nothing saying I won’t run into similar issues or worse.
So where to go from here?
Push forward, making the best decisions I can and evaluate each rat and litter going forward which will most likely mean losing the chinchilla coat and marking all together for now.

Am I opposed to this? Definitely not, my aim is for health first and foremost whether they be agouti hooded, blazed, spotted or your very common mink.

One thing whilst running the rescue is seeing just how rife heart issues are within our population. It’s devastating to say the least as not only is it everywhere, it’s hereditary and incredibly difficult to breed away from.

Well guess what? My second line has confirmed heart issues lurking about.
They have nothing short of amazing temperaments but also very questionable health…
Off to a really bad start you could say! I agree!

So, what to do? Watch and wait and further assess in a few months time, it might even have to wait until early 2025 to see whether I continue them or not. Honestly I’m not sure at present.

Ideally, I’d like a larger pool of non related rats with more family data on..what would this mean?
It would mean doing another pairing or two and use this coming year as an experiment and choose the best rats from this larger pool to move forward with because I will have more data to go by and it will help this project immensely overall in the long term despite the initial strain but it would also mean slowing the rescue side of my life right down as there’s only so much I can do.

I could also call for volunteers and fosters to help run the rescue side but I’m not quite ready to take that leap as again there’s only so much I can manage alone.

As you can see, breeding is not easy as I have fast realised, decisions are not taken lightly, a lot of thought and mental energy goes into all this each and every day and have many sleepless nights trying to figure out how I can benefit the rat community and population in WA the best I can.

It’s a scary place to be in, something I fast came to learn is whether the rats are from breeders, pet stores, feeder breeders and the casual gumtree breeders these issues are EVERYWHERE and it is truly luck of the draw what kind of rat you’ll get!
This will take a considerably long time to get somewhat of a handle on if at all!

If I even manage to breed healthier, stronger rats and only get to share them with a small pool of homes, I’m ok with that. Small progress is still a step forward.

21/12/2023

Meet Apollo & Adonai, two beautiful buff boys from my second line.
We ran into a few issues early on and despite some heartbrake I’m determined to push forward with this line as all the pups have inherited their gorgeous mothers personality and their fathers chilled out easy going nature.

Their sisters who I’ll introduce soon will continue the line for 2024 aiming towards early March

21/12/2023

Young Percy (top) was our only Chinchilla buck in our first litter, we have high hopes for him continuing the line late 2024 whilst Oreo (previous post) and potentially Bunny (Variegated Wedge Agouti) will be entering the world of motherhood this coming January if all goes according to plan 💚

21/12/2023

Over the next few weeks I’ll be introducing my lines thus far, meet Oreo- a cheeky doe from my Chinchilla line.

The parents and pups have exceptional health so far which we can only hope to continue.

Chinchilla was not something I originally intended to work with and if it wasn’t for the founding sires strength, fearlessness and tiptop health I wouldn’t of decided I had a valuable opportunity that I just couldn’t say no to.
Despite it being beautiful, the risk for Megacolon is quite high if genetics aren’t taken into account, there is a lot more data needed on these types and I’m actively learning as I go and am determined to make them as safe as possible.

09/12/2023

Care & Ethics:

After entering the world of rats and whilst running a rescue I was utterly shocked at the state of health of our rats and after many months contemplating on how to change it, I realised ethical breeding was going to play a huge role in changing the future.

Rescue has my heart but seeing the potential educated breeding can make I have fast fallen in love with that too.

I believe to make change we need full litter data and to do this I need to keep track of my rats throughout their lives so I can make sure I go forward with each pairing to continuously improve their genetics with each generation.

My does will only be bred once, twice if it is to either save a line or that they have previously done fantastically well and it aligns with the overall purpose.
They will be bred between 6-11 months whilst bucks I aim to breed no younger than 12, preferably 18months as this gives more time for any potential hidden health issues to arise.

My breeding goal is to strengthen the health of WA rats and I believe to do this, it needs to be relatively slow in order to track and collect any issues that arise within their lifespan.
My rats are first and foremost my pets and live in same s*x colonies where they are given daily enrichment, free roam time, daily human interaction and routine vet care so I make sure I’m not missing anything as heart issues and compromised immune systems are a pandemic in our state of residence.

As this is a very new project started in 2023, I have started my lines with the most robust rats in my care who I have somewhat family data on.

Even though WA doesn’t have standards or a governing body I choose to follow to the best I’m able, the NFRS Australia guidelines, linked below ⬇️

https://nfrs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/NFRS-Code-of-Practice-October-2019.pdf?

https://nfrs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Code-of-Ethics-November-2016.

I am also fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Chinchilla who is not commonly seen.
This is a dominant marking and fading gene who poses risk of Megacolon if genetics are not taken into account.

Just like any line, health or behavioural issues can pop up early in life or later and needs to be documented accordingly to minimise further and future risks and damage.

I’ve created this page to document my journey and share my love of rats with you.

07/12/2023

Welcome to Alabaster’s,

We are an ethical, evidence based rattery who is currently preparing to be open to a few pre-approved homes in early to mid 2024 subject to conditions of keeping open communication and swiftly letting us know if and when any health or temperament issues arise so we can track and make the best choices going forward

Our aim is for purity and to us that means aiming to breed strong, confident, emotionally sound rats with a robustness of health.
This is, overall, a long term project with the need to collect as much evidence on health in our lines as possible restricting our adoption process to a small number of homes until 2025/26.

Our rats will leave at 7-9 weeks onwards, 8 is always recommended as the standard but after dealing with well over 150 babies I’ve noticed significant variations in maturity. 6 weeks and under is absolutely not acceptable unless they’ve come from an orphan situation and have shown they’re ready.
If breeders sell willingly at 6 weeks they are not taking into account their rats needs. Please do not support this.

We will be closed during the summer months each year as this is when rescues need help the most.

Page will continue to be updated as the months go on.
Watch this space 👀

Address

Roleystone, WA
6111

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Alabaster Rats - ABR posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Videos

Sleepy bean 😴

Sleepy beans 😴

Love’s beebs

Love’s litter inherited all the markings, Chinchilla being a dominate gene was expected and fawn/argente was also expected with agouti x buff pairing. RED (red eye dilute) in agouti will produce fawn/argente and it looks like we’ve lucked out with 3 little fawn chins, something I was very excited about as a prospect!

Petals beebs

Cute boys!

Gotta have a good clean whilst playing 💪🏼 grandfather, sire, son & half brother with plans for Adonai (buff) to father the next 🥰

Found this cheeky little bugger in my pillow! Seems like he made a lovely little nest for himself..even had a piece of food in there 😂

We’re growing fast!

Bunny & Chase’s litter all good so far, no Chinchilla in here but we do have Merle, fawn, agouti, mink and black hoodies 😊 This is the litter I had potential concerns of Megacolon coming up so will be watching of any signs closely and humanely euthanising before it causes too much distress, fingers crossed we don’t have it happen but the next few weeks are paramount