Welcome to Twisted Whiska'z Rodentry, we’re breeders of rats and mice in the Illawarra NSW
30/01/2025
You may think that a select few of us harp on about backyard breeders and why we encourage people to avoid them and pet shops at all costs. It’s not that we as ethical breeders are out to get them or that we don’t want the competition, it’s because behind the scenes, they are doing things incredibly wrong. Often they have amazing fb pages where they look practically perfect and they say all the right things but if you delve just a little deeper, you’ll find all the cracks and the unethical husbandry and breeding practices. And they won’t take any advice on board, they think they are fine and they get defensive and mouthy and call us bullies etc. which couldn’t be further from the truth. Take this little girl. She came to me a week ago. She’s still a baby herself and had a litter of two week olds on her. She weighed 167g. The same weight as most of my 5 week old babies. Ethical breeders won’t even pair their rats until they are at the very least 250g but most of us wait until they are either very close to or weighing 300g. Today, one week after she arrived, she weighs 207g, her 3 week old babies are still tiny despite having the best nutrition I can provide for the last week and she’s gearing up to have another litter in the next couple of days. And guess what?? I have three other rescue girls all in the same boat. And that’s another thing, I have taken on these babies because no one else would. I’m the one having to clean up after the disgraceful mess that a backyard breeder has caused. Me and other ethical breeders. You don’t see any dodgy breeders putting their hands up to take on rescues. Prior to getting these girls, I had done my own pairings and have a few litters due in the next week. Now while I have no trouble finding homes for my home bred rats, and in fact, two of the litters will not even be offered to the public, I now have the possibility of needing to find homes for potentially 40 odd black rats that all look the same. I will do it because I care and because I have the most amazing customer base that have put their hands up to take them on even not knowing their genetic or temperament history. But the reality is I shouldn’t have to. I take full responsibility for the animals I breed. If their families can no longer keep them or take care of them, they can come back here to a permanent home no questions asked. Being an ethical breeder is so much more than trying to make improvements to health and temperament, it’s making sure you are doing everything in your power to educate, support and sometimes, to clean up other people’s messes. Would your breeder or your pet shop do that for you?? Why should this little girl and thousands like her suffer through back to back litters when she’s still a baby herself? It’s just not fair.
