We have touched on this question in our FAQ, however, we have received a few questions and have decided to elaborate further.
We are aware that some breeders justify breeding a rat for a second time based on "outstanding maternal characteristics" we, however, do not necessarily agree with this.
To explain, we are going to break this statement up into separate parts:
"Outstanding"
What are you defining as outstanding? Because the term "outstanding" indicates that the rat stands out above all the other rats, that the rat is better than any of the other rats you have.
If you have to re-pair the doe instead of a daughter due to her "outstanding" maternal characteristics, why aren't her daughters better than her? Why aren't you progressing the line?
"Maternal characteristics"
These may vary depending on the breeder, but we see maternal characteristics as things such as; feeding her babies well, grooming them, displaying no maternal aggression, maintains good temperament, etc. (Now in our mind, these are very standard characteristics breeding does should have, especially if you intend to adopt any of the babies out).
Therefore, if you are breeding pet quality lines with "outstanding" temperament, all of your rats should display these characteristics anyway. When using the word "outstanding" it may come across that the majority of your rats do not, in fact, have these characteristics.
HOW are they defining as "outstanding"? WHAT are they comparing their does to? Their own stock or other breeders stock?
It's so important, as a breeder, to explain and define things properly. especially on websites and social media posts. There's too much "grey area" when using this term.
Instead, explain and elaborate. Especially when trying to educate your audience.
I only pair a doe a second time if:
They are an exceptional doe and I do not have a daughter better than them.
I am always trying to make progress in my lines. I put a lot of work and energy into the rats I produce and I often hold back a few generations before I even consider adopting out.
Occasionally, I will have a litter than ONLY produces bucks, in this case I would have to re-pair the doe if I wanted to continue to line breed the line and prevent outcrossing. (This can be said for a litter that ONLY produces does, as I also maintain the same principle with my bucks.)
Sometimes I might only have a few does in the litter, and if the does I produce are not better than their mother I will opt to pair a son back to his mother in order to progress my line that way. This, however, is rare.
If the above scenario was to happen, I would then consider pairing the son to his mother AND a daughter, even if she was not as good as the mother. The reason for this is so that I can see what the rittens are like from both does and this helps me gather information to better improve my lines.
I need to re-pair to confirm genetics.
This is another valid reason to re-pair a doe. It's so important that, as a breeder, you know your lines through and through. This can only be achieved through pairing and record keeping.
Ethical breeders keep records on their lines. These records are important for breeders to track the entire history of a line. All the way from genetics, to temperament, to littermates etc.
You can't always blindly trust pedigrees, no matter who they come from. I've received pedigrees from established breeders riddled with errors. It's always best for a breeder to develop their own records and do their own research into the lines they breed.
In conclusion.
Justifying breeding a doe for a second time because of "outstanding maternal characteristics" is, in our opinion, an illogical reason. If a breeder wants to use these terms then it's important to explain their reasoning, as this phrase is so open to interpretation and makes it seem like the other rats they have are sub-par.
Don't ever be afraid to ask questions. If you see something on a breeders website or social media, don't be afraid to ask questions. If they get defensive or block/ignore you. Then that says all you need to know about what kind of breeder they are.