Replacing one in an established colony of rats?

[SquamishSerpents]

I have a 1.4 colony set up, and they simply have not produced one single litter for me since I got them. Probably been about 2 months now, if not a bit longer.

I got out of breeding ASFs and switched to regular hooded rats when a guy I know decided to get rid of his. He basically said, come get them and they're yours. So we went and picked them up, but at the time all the breeders were split into bins, and we only had 2 big shipping totes to bring them home in. So when I got home, I separated them into male and female, and then put them into mixed up 1.4 colonies. (Didn't keep their previous groupings)

Anyways, because of this I have no idea how old the male is, nor the females. I figure it's just the male that is a dud, because I've seen him/heard him trying to mount the females but there just haven't been any pregnancies.

Should I try to replace the current male with a new, younger one? Or should I just euthanize the entire colony and start from scratch?

[DooLittle]

I would try a new male first. Breeding rodents doesn't seem to be as productive as you would think. We gave up on rats, went to add's and I have 15 fatty little babies in there right now.

[SquamishSerpents]

What is an ADD?

We have 4 other colonies that are breeding very strong. Like, SO MANY babies it's unbelievable. I was able to feed each and every corn snake we own yesterday, and still have about 15 to be euthanized and kept for future f/t use. I also left about 15 in the grow up bins to grow up for our handful of live-only feeders.

I know that replacing a male with ASFs is a huge no-no as they will kill the male, so you think hoodeds might be alright if I do that?

[wolfy-hound]

I've shuffled males with regular rats with no real issue. 2 months might be slightly premature. When I got my colony, I had the same problem. The whole colony was in two bins and I had to make new breeding groups. It took a couple months for everyone to settle in.

Replacing the male can make a huge difference though. If your females aren't producing, switch the male out and see.

[SquamishSerpents]

Really? You think 2 months is premature? The females were all very up to size before I grouped them, and everybody else has been poppin' out babies since day 1. So I'm 99% sure it's just the male.

I think I will switch him out and see what happens. Guess I just have to stick around my office for the next few hours to make sure I don't hear any alarming squeeling.

[DooLittle]

What is an ADD?

We have 4 other colonies that are breeding very strong. Like, SO MANY babies it's unbelievable. I was able to feed each and every corn snake we own yesterday, and still have about 15 to be euthanized and kept for future f/t use. I also left about 15 in the grow up bins to grow up for our handful of live-only feeders.

I know that replacing a male with ASFs is a huge no-no as they will kill the male, so you think hoodeds might be alright if I do that?

Stupid auto correct, and I missed it. Asf's.

[SquamishSerpents]

Ohh okay, I get it now, lol.

We switched from ASFs because they would produce great for about 2-3 months, and then just come to a dead and complete stop. Then I'd have to euthanize and start all over again, since unfortunately I don't have the space to keep growing up replacement breeders.

Not to mention you have to grow them up for 3-4 months before the females will even start breeding, and THEN you have to grow them up even longer before they're big enough to be a substantial meal for an adult ball python.

Such a pain in my you-know-what, so I gave up.

So far our hoodeds have given us 5x the babies our ASF colonies ever did, and we've only had them for a few months!

Also I didn't like constantly being bitten by the naughty ASFs. All of my hooded rats are super tame, they all let me pick them up and move them around no problem. I love them so much more.

Anyways, I've put the new male in. A cute brown dumbo!

[Wapadi]

When we first started rats, I switched out the males a couple of times (I had 2 sets going) and all of my females ended up pregos eventually! I would say give it a little more time or just switch two males. Our rats never fight unless 2 males get together....