Looking for advice from "the experts"

[Chaossoldier11]

Ok so I'm thinking about starting my own colony soon. I'm probably just going to use two or three big free standing tubs (no rack) with wire mesh tops and all that good stuff. Most likely with 1.3-4 to start with.

Now for my questions, first if there are any criticisms/advise regarding my plan above.

Also what kind of rats (species/breed) do people recommend? I'm looking for rats that will make good breeders as well as good pets. I'm not really interested in ASFs.

I guess we'll open the floor with that but there will probably be more questions coming.

[Jenn]

I don't consider myself anywhere near an "expert" but I do raise rats and mice. I haven't had to purchase a rodent for a long time now so I must be doing something right. I just went down to the local pet store one day and bought a male and two females. I started out with white rats and along the way I noticed a patterned rat and held that one back. I always try to hold back breeders that are friendly or have an interesting pattern.

The two things I would point out...

It's a ton of work, and it's all about the scheduling. You don't want to wind-up with a bunch of rats that are too large for your snakes to eat.

[Chaossoldier11]

And what do you recommend I do to help avoid that? And do you by any chance know/remember what breed/species it was that you bought?

I'm looking for something that is both a hardy breeder and a fun pet.

Also if you have any advice about stuff that I haven't asked about feel free to throw that at me too.

[Jenn]

As far as pets go just about any rat or mouse can make a great pet. They are very social animals and will bond with you if you handle them from a young age. I had a mouse early on that I became quite close to. My entire mouse breeding stock came from this female (Campbell).

That said, I wouldn't recommend making friends with, naming, and handling feeder rodents. Unless you're heartless feeding off pets and their babies is very difficult. At least for me it is.

Breeding rats is not rocket science. Put two together and in a couple weeks you have 13 or so. It doesn't take long for them to grow so just add up your snakes and do the math.

[Chaossoldier11]

well what would you recommend for a starting # of breeders? at the moment I just have 1.0 normal balls but am soon getting another. the reason my proposed amount of initial females is so high is to ensure that I don't run out of feeders in the time between litters or that they don't grow too big (my current snake is just a baby so can't handle anything much bigger than a fuzzy and he only takes live. the female I'm getting soon is bigger so will be able to take some of the larger ones. but I'm just wondering what you, or anybody else for that matter, thinks.

And thanks a lot for everything so far, keep it coming! it's really helping a lot.

[Jenn]

I didn't even think about breeding rats until I had about ten adult BP's. You just don't have enough hungry snakes yet to make it work.

Of course this is just my opinion but I do love to say I told you so.

[Jenn]

I don't mean to rain on your parade. Sounds like you really want a pet rat. You should just pick up (ONE) rat and keep her as a pet. That way when you are ready to start breeding you will have a solid background and experience with keeping them. Like I said, be careful. They are so darn affectionate it can really change how you feel about feeding them to snakes.

[Chaossoldier11]

Ok, fair enough. I was just planning on selling all the extras but if you don't think that'd work...

I was just trying to avoid the $5 a week fee and maybe even make a little bit of a profit. I definitely have the space for the rats and I know I have a place for the extras to go. Do you think that would be a viable operation or not? I knew that my snake(s) would not be enough to warrant the colony but do you think it would be worth it if I sell the "spares"?

[Jenn]

That's a question only you can answer. If you don't mind the smell, and the work, and being tied to you rodents everyday, then go for it. I wouldn't do it just for the money though. Keep in mind that a bag of lab block is $30 bucks and bedding is $6 a bag.

You could always start out with a pregnant mouse for now. At least that way you could feed off the babies if you can't find a market for them.

[Jenn]

I forgot to mention that pet stores (just like you) do not want large rats. Time will be working against you here.