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Thread: Kangaroo rat breeding

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    Default Kangaroo rat breeding

    I'm thinking about attempting to selectively breed some kangaroo rats. They are wild out here so I could release the ones that are old enough to fend for themselves that don't have the traits I want and of course keep some for my tegu. I don't think anyone has really breed kangaroo rats. It seems like they would be an interesting pet to keep after they adapt to being in captivity as long as I can get them to breed, of course.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    It sounds like a fun idea but maybe one that should stay a fantasy. The rodents we buy as feeders or pets have been bred for domestic(or laboratory) qualities for thousands of generations before we see them. Kangaroo rats are wild animals. They have a strong instinct for survival and are attuned to fending for themselves in a harsh environment with harsh predators. They carry any number of diseases and parasites that could be passed on to you and your pets in a bite or scratch, through droppings, or just handling them (think fleas).

    Beyond that there are ethical issues, which not everyone may share, but this is what I'd consider: the existence of most kangaroo rats is threatened by the disappearance of their habitat and reduction of their population by human disturbance. Many populations lack a sufficient gene pool to recover from the kind of localized environmental catastrophe that a healthy population could absorb. Playing with the natural balance of a limited population by releasing "foreign" individuals can mess things up in complex ways. In some places and some species they have achieved legal protected or endangered status, so capturing them or purchasing w/c is illegal. Since lots of people laugh at the idea of protecting a rodent, most of them have no legal protection and are at the mercy of humans' sense of stewardship.:|

    If you still think you'd like to try it, you might find a zoo or desert museum that keeps kangaroo rats and arrange an interview with the house vet or managing zoo keeper to get a sense of their husbandry needs and clear expectation of what your interactions with them would be like.

    Sorry for the long essay. It's not all aimed at you; I think anyone considering any wild pet might want to consider these things.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central FL
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    They are threatened in TX, but I don't know if that applies in other areas....just saying. I agree with HM on this one. The big thing that pops into my mind though, is taking a WC animal into captivity and then re-releasing it. That practice can introduce new pathogens into the wild population that can harm an established group. Their immune systems just aren't ready for that particular germ. It happens when well-intentioned people relocate wandering turtles and when herpers re-release corn/rat/gopher/bull snakes.
    Laura R (FL)
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  4. #4
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    Dec 2010
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    Well, I doubt that the removal of maybe 3 or 4 kangaroo rats would really cause all that much of a problem and would open room for a few more to survive on the food that they would have ate. They are actually fairly abundant where I live. I see them and traces of them everywhere. They probably eat some of the alfalfa out of the fields. I think that it really would take less than 5 years to get a domesticated form. There was a project done with silver foxes where over 50 years, they were bred for tameness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox Kangaroo rats reach maturity much faster so the generations would be faster, about 2 months against over a year for dogs and I'm assuming foxes are similar so it's between 5-7 times faster per generation so 8-10 years for what they have now. Granted, I'm not a scientist so getting the proper traits may take a little longer. And I didn't consider the pathogens being released with them.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Chesterfield, VA, USA
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    I'd like to start by saying I love the enthusiasm you have for trying something new. And it seems like you've thought this out pretty far considering your plan and the wiki article you've posted. But to play devil's advocate the article even says at the top that it lacks the necessary citation to maintain credibility. And yes, the species is plentiful in your area but you also have to take into consideration that if it's plentiful in one place, and nowhere else, it's still endangered. That attitude it the reason brown praying mantises are so incredibly rare. I myself have seen teens fight one another to save and kill a single brown mantis. Controversy may defend them, but if there are any people who ignore it, the species may still die out.

    And you may not think releasing kangaroo rats into the wild will introduce problems, but like you said, you're not a scientist. Honestly that would be a job for a scientist. Again, I love the enthusiasm, and new ideas like that are what keep humanity as a whole from going into a stupor of boredom, but the kind of plan your suggesting really should be taken on by scientists. Sorry if all that came out as rude or anything.
    Last edited by Tesgura; 04-04-2011 at 12:09 AM. Reason: grammar
    Money is NOT the root of all evil, LOVE OF MONEY is. Far too many people get that mixed up.


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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    95

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    I didn't say that I didn't think it would, just that I didn't consider it. Now, after taking that into consideration, I'd just have to do some more culling.

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