Rat Breeding?

[Gomojoe]

When is it advantageous to breed your own rats? I'd imagine if you don't have enough snakes you'll end up with quite a surplus. I figure right now with one BP eating rat pups, that I'm spending $18 a month. What costs are related to breeding rats?


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[Bigfish1975]

There are a few things too consider before breeding rats. My motivating factor was a growing collection/ food bill. Do you have space for these. Can you keep up the husbandry on a normal basis. Not just for your own comfort, but also the rats tend to produce better.If you're just getting started, you obviously need to look into habitat. I built an 8 tub set up and I probably ran about $100 I'm guessing. Thats wood, tubs, hardware cloth, water bottles etc. As far as ongoing cost, basically bedding and food. I clean once a week and that seems to be good. I run 1.3 in 6 of the tubs. 2 tubs are for weaned and growers. Also for set up cost, consider you initial breeding stock. Good luck

[WingedWolfPsion]

Pros:
You always have a selection of different sizes of rats ready to feed off.
Excellent if you're producing hatchlings, and don't have a local supplier of live rat pups.

Cons:
Expenses include the feed, and their bedding.
Very labor intensive--you'll spend a lot more time cleaning and caring for rodents than you spend on your reptiles. How much is your time worth?
Stinky. You should clean at least once a week, but with lots of rodents, there's still an odor.

Conclusion--when factoring in the feed, bedding, and time, they are not less expensive to raise than it would be to buy them. It's up to you.

[RichL]

I do not remember where I saw it, but I read a forum where someone worked up a 'cost' list. They figured out how many snakes it would take before it started saving you money ( not counting your time invested ). They figured you would need at least 15-20 snakes before you started breaking even with the initial investment + the amount of time it takes to get your colony producing where you are feeding strictly from your own colony. The more snakes you had after that point, the better it became.

As mentioned though, you have to account for the amount of time you will be paying for the rodents and still buying food weekly for your snakes. It will take time to establish your colony to be able to supply food to snakes of different sizes without having to buy any.

Once again though, that wasn't including the amount of time you spend with the rodents. I will try and find that post and link to it if possible.

[MrBig]

I have a decent sized colony and it still doesn't keep up with my 20+ snakes. I simply use it for hatchlings and the smaller ones and to fill in around the frozen orders I still place. On average I'll spend about 2000$ a year on food and bedding for rats and frozen feeders to fill in.