I've been thinking of breeding my own rats, just a 1.3 or 1.4 set up to support my Ball Pythons. I'd prefer they were feeding F/T and will try and convert them as originally planned, but I'd though I'd give breeding a small manageable amount of rats a try.

I'm looking at getting a breeder tub and all for starters and not use any fish tanks. I'm thinking of getting two tubs and just rotate as they need cleaning for ease of maintenance.

I was wondering where you get your starter rats for your colonies? Are these the rats from local pet shops? Are they a special strain of rats? Should I start out with small, medium or large rats? Would I be better of getting two males, just in case?