Rats??

[ssscales]

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?

[Shelby]

First off.. you'll need two tubs for grow outs too (at least) one for male, and one for female weanlings.

Pet store rats should be fine.. large is good. The albino rats tend to be more prolific than fancy varieties.

[ssscales]

Right now and for a good 2-3 months all I am feeding them is rat pups. I guess it makes sense to have an extra tub for when I need to keep them till they reach weaned/small sizes.


What about 1.3 or 1.4 or should I have 2 males in the group?

[Shelby]

no need for two males. I keep mine 1.3, but that's because there's not enough room in the tubs for 1.4.

[ssscales]

What about bites?
I'd rather get bit any day of the week by a 6ft boa than a rat!!

[Shelby]

Haha.. me too.

Rats are not like mice.. a good tame rat will not bite. They actually make fabulous pets. The only time I've been bitten by mine is when fussing with new babies and the mom doesn't like it. Depends on the rat though, I have some that don't care if I take babies right from under them, and I have another that is quite vicious about her babies.

[wolfy-hound]

I haven't a problem handling any of my rats, including the feeders. All my breeders rapidly become afectionate and allow handling. MY best breeder I grabbed out of the bin of feeders for that particular feeding day. I had bought about 40 rats, and she was one of the lucky two that got to be put into the rat palace.
She had 9 pups first pregnancy. The pet store hooded rat had 4. The pet store hooded rat doesn't know how much closer to the feeder bin she is currantly.
wolfy

[Shelby]

4? Geez that's a small litter. Mine are turning out 12-16 a month normally now.

[frankykeno]

Rat are, in my opinion, way easier to breed and raise for feeders. The females seem to be very naturally attentive mothers. Rats are communal creatures and usually quite friendly if they are handled when young. We currently have 6 adults (2 are females just reaching their first breeding age at 4+ months) as well as 2 litters nursing (one of 15, one of 12 and another litter ready to be born in the next few days).

All of our breeding stock came from the pet store though I am now going to be raising my own future breeders. We have mostly hooded rats with one albino and one solid colored one. My best female so far is a beige hooded, my most nippy female with young is an albino. I use the same homemade rat mix Becky (SatanticIntention) does for my colony. The best part is rats do not smell awful like mice do.

We use Rubbermaid Latchable tubs (#3C91), 50 QT clear, 26.1" x 10.4" x 15.6" - $8.97 WalMart - cut out a center rectangle and then zip tie in some 1/2" wire mesh or such like to allow for good ventilation. There water bottles are also zip tied outside the tub with the nozzle fed in. These are pretty roomy tubs but I like giving the rats a bit more room to move around in. I got a great plastic rack from WalMart for $17.88 - DuraShelf (#9144), 4-Tier Free Standing Shelf, 300 lb capacity (75 lbs per shelf), no tools required to assemble, hard white plastic, 35.25" x 14.25" x 55.25". Holds 4 of these tubs beautifully, sets up in about 2 minutes lol. I'll try to post a pic later of the new rack and a close-up of one of the tubs.


~~Jo~~

[cassandra]

Rats are cool...good friend of mine in high school had a pet rat. She was awesome. Rode on my friend's shoulder like a parrot everywhere...=)