Need help on what size tubs
Ok I only have one ball python but want to breed my own feeder rats for her I only want a one male to one female ratio so what size tubs should I get I want to get two one for the male to live in and one for the mother and babies to go in when she is Prego then when pupsare Weiner sized move her back in with daddy and let babies grow out in theothertub so what size plastic tubs or totes should I use what's better totes or like tubs that snake racks hold thanks and the smallest i can get away with is what im lookin for I live in small apartment thanks to all
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Re: Need help on what size tubs
Quote:
Originally Posted by
KING JAMES
A lot of people use cat litter box size tubs to house them in when they are keeping that few rats per tub. Keep in mind once your ball is eating larger smalls / mediums you will need room to grow these rats out a little longer than then would stay in the maternity tub (aka if she has a big litter 20...they will take up some room where a small litter would not).
Also keep in mind that if she's eating SMALLER rats, they're going to outgrow their usefulness as food before the snake gets to them unless they're killed off and frozen at home. Also they can reproduce really young, so to avoid a population explosion they're going to need to be separated by gender, as you said, by the time they're 4-5 weeks old or there's going to be a massive explosion. Even stocking the freezer, 3 big (or maybe 5 average) litters and that snake's set for a year, which is about as long as they keep frozen.
Re: Need help on what size tubs
Quote:
Originally Posted by
KING JAMES
Simple solution if you find yourself with to many rats.. get more snakes LOL Honest answer for just one ball python breeding rats is gonna be more time / money than it is worth. Buying f/t will be less smelly and less costly. If you still want to breed rats then I assume you want to treat them more as pets than as breeders (I don't consider them breeders if you are only pushing out 3 -5 litters per year). If you want them as pets then keeping them by themselves (in their own small tub with no other rats to socialize with) is a good way to end up with rats with attitude problems...bitey, skittish, etc
Yeah, you really need to not keep rats alone. In fact, if OP is determined to do this on such a limited scale I would recommend keeping 2 males, 2 females, putting the desired rats together to breed and then separating again. Rats kept singly are miserable, and feeders or not really not very fair to the rats. They're SUPER social, smart little animals. I kind of eyeballed the idea of using my snakes to breed rats. Then I realized I have 2 and no, bad idea. I still half think that pet rats are in my future again. Handling the freaking F/T ones makes me miss having them which is a bit insane, but there you go. But pets. No breeding, just a same sex pair. Because fiscally it makes no sense and I don't NEED that may rodents.