Celebrating 13 years of breeding!
Deer Creek Rattery was founded in February 1997 but did not get it's 'official' rattery name until 2000. It was named after the place I was living at the time. My rattery initials are DCR.
I'm a member of the North American Rat Registry (NARR) and all of my rats are being registered with them.
I'm the
founder and president of the Great Lakes Fancy Rat Association. We are a social club based in
Michigan
that
has fun events such as summer barbecues, holiday parties, dinner meetings and educational
exhibits. We go to several pet
expos every year so we can share our love for rats with the public. Our club is free to join and we
welcome all rat lovers, even if you aren't from the
Great
Lakes
area. We
currently have members from the US,
Canada
and
Russia.
If you would like more
information about the club, e-mail me at glfra@glfra.com Please note that this e-mail
address is strictly for the club. Any questions for availability of rats, litter information and general
rat questions should be sent to rats@deer-creek.us
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Closed Rattery, Visitors and the Rat Room
Due to the risk of illnesses from outside sources, I do not allow visitors inside the rat room. If you have rats on reserve from me, I will normally meet you at a separate location. I will not bend on this policy as it protects my rats from potential disease.
The rats have their own room in my house. It is a huge, bright and sunny room with a large 4' window and lots of space for their cages, extra food/bedding and our playtable. I raise my litters in my livingroom so they are exposed to more sounds and sights. They are handled frequently. They have an EcoQuest Living Air Classic Purifier in their room that keeps the air fresh, clean and pollutant-free. This purifier has proven to be a wonderful investment. I highly recommend this product for pet owners as well as non-pet owners. This is a non-smoking household.
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Varieties
Body Types: Standard ears, dumbo ears, and dwarf. I am not working with manx at this time but will be working with it again in the future.
Colors: Russian blue, American blue, Midnight blue, their dilutes and Siamese/Burmese
Markings: Self, Irish, berkshire, shadows, mock-agouti, and tortishell
Coat Types: Standard coats, satin coats and occasionally 'Harley-coats'. I rarely work with rex coats as I do not like them very much.
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Socialization
My rats are handled from day one, sometimes within minutes of their birth. Proper socialization is the key to a wonderful pet. Each rat is given individual attention, out of cage playtime and lots of love daily. Even though I have many show and breeder-quality rats, they must first be pet-quality.
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Caging, Bedding and Feeding
My rats are fed a high-quality lab diet with various fresh fruits and veggies. They are also fed a high-quality dog food with a Suebee-type mix to provide a variety of foods. Nursing does, growing rats, and elderly rats are supplemented with extra protein and fat. They are kept on flaked Aspen bedding with strips of fleece for nesting material. My cages consist mostly of various sized Martins Cages or SuperPet cages. Litters are raised in large converted Sterilite tubs with wire mesh on the sides. These cages provide the rats with adequate
airflow, plenty of room for wheels, hammocks and toys as well as a safe environment.
Rats are provided with safe wheels for exercise, hammocks, a
hidey-house (usually a plastic igloo), cardboard tubes, a water bottle and a food dish. I make my own fleece hammocks, fleece cubes and other fleece cage accessories for my rats.
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Quarantine and Vet Care
I quarantine any and all rats for a
minimum of 3 weeks in a separate building/location before coming here. My
rats get vet care if needed by a qualified small animal veterinarian.
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Feeders and Culling
I am neither for, nor against, the raising of rats as feeders but I do not sell my rats as feeders. I do, however, feel that it is important that even
feeder rats are treated humanely and killed in as humane a manner possible. Please do not contact me if you have the intention of using my rats to feed another animal.
I am officially neutral on the ethics of culling litters or unhealthy rats. Whether or not
you choose to cull, I feel that any rats that are killed, whether for
feeders or to reduce litter size, should be killed as humanely as possible. I do not cull healthy or tempermentally sound animals. However, I do not believe in keeping tempermentally unsound, aggressive, or chronically ill animals. They are euthanized humanely. In order to maintain a high-quality breeding group, the best animals are chosen for breeding and the pet-quality animals are placed in carefully selected adoptive homes. I will occasionally cull runts out of larger litters if I feel they will not grow or thrive like they should. I NEVER cull animals based on color, type, or other frivolous reasons.
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Linebreeding and Inbreeding
I am very pro line and inbreeding. It has both benefits and
risks and only each individual can choose whether or not they think one
side outweighs the other. I choose to linebreed and inbreed heavily because I've found it has strengthened my lines and improved them through the years. I prefer not to outcross unless the outcrossed rat will help fix a problem or to add a particular gene to the inbred line.
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