Other rat breeders please read?

I have the best little ratty boy in the world. He is not the most handsome guy in the world but he is my heart rat and he means a lot to me. When he was two weeks old he was badly injured and could not nurse with teh other baby rats and so I had to hand feed him from that point on. It means the world to me to have rats from him one day, but he will not breed. At the moment he is a year and 2 months and although he is happy and healthy he is not interested in other rats at all, male or female. He would rather lay around with me all day on teh couch and groom me, rather than hanging with the other rats. Have any other breeders had this problem? I am fairly experienced with rat breeding, although I don't consider myself the ultimate expert, but I have never had a male rat not interested in breeding. Any tips? I have 14 other males and 14 females and none of them has this problem.

He has attached to you. It is a psychological problem. If you keep him with the other rats and stop hanging out with him he may become interested in the other rats. On the other hand he may always be more interested in you than in his own kind. You haven't experienced this with other rates because you didn't have to hand feed the others. The hand feeding created a very strong bond between you and him. You became his surrogate mom.

you may want to take him to your vet and ask for a blood test to be done to check his hormone levels. They MAY just be too low. Its the same in humans...too little estrogen or testosterone and the person becomes uninterested in sex.

Haha! This is just like my boys, lazy lazy. Much more interested in food than ladies.

If he spends a lot of time out with you that may be to blame for the disinterest. You know the way they get jumpy and excited when they need to get out of the cage? I don't think it's a hormonal imbalance, I would agree with the others and say he needs to spend a little more time being a rat and a little less being king of the sofa! (just until he's breeding of course... I love my sofa kings!)

Good luck for lots of grandbabies!

I agree with everyone else; the cause may be that he is very bonded with you, and it's well-known that rats tend to show favoritism towards either their buddies or their human!
What you should do, for the best chance of him passing on his wonderful genes, is put him in a cage with at least two other suitable females (if you haven't already!) and put a cage VERY close to his with all his male friends. When a female's scent is in the air, males go crazy trying to get to it and also they create competition amongst eachother over that female. If a male is unable to smell her scent and sees his buddies courting her, the behaviour alone will indicate it's time to mate, not to mention all the complex chemical signals rats use to communicate!
Also I don't want to sound preach-y, but Mycoplasmosis is known for causing sterility, especially in males, so if there's ANY chance he might have an infection (even the start of one) take him to the vet and get some antibiotics (depending on the case they're usally pretty cheap). Watch him closely for wheezing and sneezing and lethargy, and keep the cage "spotless" clean! = )
Feel free to email me with any questions; it is so rewarding to see a great rat pass on his greatness!!

The rat thinks hes human i think I would put him with a female rat for about two weeks in the same cage he should get the idea or put him with a female that you know is in heat. I'm sitting with my favorite female rat thats in labor right now.

Hope this helps