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  1. #1
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    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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  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran KING JAMES's Avatar
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    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).

    I Gots Me Some Snakes...








  3. #3
    BPnet Veteran CptJack's Avatar
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    Re: Need help on what size tubs

    Quote Originally Posted by KING JAMES View Post
    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.
    Last edited by CptJack; 04-20-2014 at 02:46 AM.
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  4. #4
    BPnet Veteran KING JAMES's Avatar
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    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

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  5. #5
    BPnet Senior Member Marrissa's Avatar
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    I agree with only feeding F/T for now. I'm at seven snakes and am finally at the point where I do not feed any F/T anymore. Before then it wasn't much worth it. I started trying my hand at breeding rats when my clown girl wouldn't switch off live. Now it's just easier to feed everyone live. But with one snake you're going to be way over your head unless you CO2 and freeze right as they reach the desired size. I guess if you still want to go that route, you should have a litter, CO2 and freeze when they're at the right size, wait till your down to five/six F/T or so then breed again. You'll have oodles and oodles of food for one snake though. You'll be spending more on food and bedding for the rats than just buying F/T.
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  6. #6
    BPnet Veteran CptJack's Avatar
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    Re: Need help on what size tubs

    Quote Originally Posted by KING JAMES View Post
    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.
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  7. #7
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    Racks are really the only good way to keep rats. Once you have experienced the ease of use, you will never go back to another method.

    I would build one rack using medium Home Depot mixing tubs. Six levels high is a good manageable height with these.

    For one snake, I would suggest that you keep two pairs of rats. I would leave the male and female together all the time. Note the date when litters are born and make it a point to pull them off the mom when they are 21 days old. This will give the female at least a week after you pull the babies to recover a little bit before the next litter is born.

    You can move the babies down to the other tubs as you pull them, separating them by sex. This makes it very easy to grow them to the exact size that you need and you can pull them and freeze them at that point.

    If you end up with waaaay too many rats you can try selling or trading some. This is usually pretty easy when you have maybe a dozen extra every month.

    Good luck.

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