Another Rat Rack Thread

[stupidcracker00]

Ok, I have looked everywhere on the internet for a DIY rat rack that can hold 6 tubs high and I'm not sure if I found the right one.

Ideally, I want to keep 12 females and 2 males and breed one female a week alternating the males every other week. I would like to build two 6 tub racks and keep 1 female per tub. After each female breeds, I would like to keep the female with her litter in that tub until they are ready to be fed off. Is this possible? If so, would I need to separate the males from the females? And could I use the medium size concrete mixing tubs or would I need the large style? If I can use the medium size, I found blueprints I can use to make a 6 tub rack. But I figure I need a large size...

Please let me know any thoughts or advice you have for this set up.

Thanks,
SC

[Andybill]

I keep 2 sometimes 3 females per "regular" size tubs and it works out well for me. I alternate between males each week but I dont leave my males with the females, I have a separate tub for my breeder guys. Some folks on here will leave a male with the female when her litter drops. I just dont like to do it. I have a 7 tub rack system and I have 13 breeder females. Like I said it works well for me. I have heard females will share the work as far as caring for pups I have not yet bred all of my females and when I started I only had a few female breeders. Each one was in their own tub. I should have a pair of moms drop around the same time in a couple weeks though so I will see how that works out!

[stupidcracker00]

I keep 2 sometimes 3 females per "regular" size tubs and it works out well for me. I alternate between males each week but I dont leave my males with the females, I have a separate tub for my breeder guys. Some folks on here will leave a male with the female when her litter drops. I just dont like to do it. I have a 7 tub rack system and I have 13 breeder females. Like I said it works well for me. I have heard females will share the work as far as caring for pups I have not yet bred all of my females and when I started I only had a few female breeders. Each one was in their own tub. I should have a pair of moms drop around the same time in a couple weeks though so I will see how that works out!

Ya well the reason I want to keep 1 female per tub opposed to multiple females is because I want to be able to raise the pups up in the same tub they were born in. My question is this: would I have to separate them from the mom or can I just leave them in there with her until they are ready to be fed off. My other question is how big does the size of a tub have to be in order to do this? Let's say the mom has 8 pups. Would the medium size tub be big enough for her and 8 medium size rats? Or does that call for the large tub? If the medium size is fine, I found the perfect blueprint from here:

http://www.rodentracks.com/Small-Tub-Rat-Rack.html

If I need the larger tubs, I need somebody to help me out in building one that can hold 6 large tubs. Then I would build 2 so I could have 12 total tubs. I will house my extra male that I am not using in a simple rodent cage you can get from petsmart or something while the other male is in with a female.

This is the blueprint I found that I really like, the problem is it holds 4 instead of 6. Could somebody tell me how to mod it to fit my needs? Im not too savvy with engineering to do it myself.

http://www.rodentracks.com/Large-Tub-Rat-Rack.html

My last question is this: If I can keep the mom with her pups until they reach medium/large size, do I need to separate the male pups from the female pups? Or can I leave them together? I ask this because I wouldnt want them to start breeding with each other when they reach sexual maturity.

I know there are a lot of questions here, but I desperately need them all answered before I can start on my project.

Thank you so much,
SC

[Andrew21]

Once the pups are sexually mature they will breed. You'll have to seperate them. They'll breed with mom as well.

[Inknsteel]

I use the small concrete mixing tubs for my rat rack. I leave my males in with the females and babies though and I have no problems at all. I followed this thread for the plans:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Rat-Rack-Build!

The small tubs he used in this build are big enough for a 1.2 colony. I leave the babies in the same tub until they're ready to be fed off (usually just a week or two after weaning, the whole litter gets fed off at once). I haven't ever had a problem doing it this way, although you can't really control the staggering of production this way. Some weeks I will have 2-5 litters, some weeks I have none...

[stupidcracker00]

Once the pups are sexually mature they will breed. You'll have to seperate them. They'll breed with mom as well.

Ok so how long does it take for them to be sexually mature? And if I do separate them, is it ok to swap out pups with other moms? Like move all the female pinks to a mom and all the males to the other mom?

I use the small concrete mixing tubs for my rat rack. I leave my males in with the females and babies though and I have no problems at all. I followed this thread for the plans:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Rat-Rack-Build!

The small tubs he used in this build are big enough for a 1.2 colony. I leave the babies in the same tub until they're ready to be fed off (usually just a week or two after weaning, the whole litter gets fed off at once). I haven't ever had a problem doing it this way, although you can't really control the staggering of production this way. Some weeks I will have 2-5 litters, some weeks I have none...

So does the mom wean the pups naturally? And what size are the pups when you feed them off? I want mine to be medium to large.
And about the staggering... thats why I want to have mine very controlled to where I have 1 female giving birth every week. Ill put a male in with a different female every week rotating the males every other week. That should give me pretty consistent litters.

Thanks for all the replies!

[Inknsteel]

Ok so how long does it take for them to be sexually mature? And if I do separate them, is it ok to swap out pups with other moms? Like move all the female pinks to a mom and all the males to the other mom?



So does the mom wean the pups naturally? And what size are the pups when you feed them off? I want mine to be medium to large.
And about the staggering... thats why I want to have mine very controlled to where I have 1 female giving birth every week. Ill put a male in with a different female every week rotating the males every other week. That should give me pretty consistent litters.

Thanks for all the replies!

To answer your questions, I understand that rats become sexually mature between 6-8 weeks. I haven't really paid close attention, but that would be my estimate. Yes, it's ok to foster rat pups to other moms. They will generally take them in no problem. I don't know about separating by sex at birth, but you could do so after a couple weeks.

The mother rats will take care of the pups and will wean them. You'll notice at about 4-5 weeks, the rat pups will start eating the solid food and drinking from the water bottle. They could probably be separated from the moms at that point, but I've also heard to wait until at least week 6, but if they're just getting fed right off, there's no hard and fast rule. I typically feed when the rats are 50-75 grams, so technically probably considered small rats. I have some bigger girls who could take bigger meals, but I prefer to feed two smaller rats that pose a smaller threat to the snakes (since I feed live).

[stupidcracker00]

To answer your questions, I understand that rats become sexually mature between 6-8 weeks. I haven't really paid close attention, but that would be my estimate. Yes, it's ok to foster rat pups to other moms. They will generally take them in no problem. I don't know about separating by sex at birth, but you could do so after a couple weeks.

The mother rats will take care of the pups and will wean them. You'll notice at about 4-5 weeks, the rat pups will start eating the solid food and drinking from the water bottle. They could probably be separated from the moms at that point, but I've also heard to wait until at least week 6, but if they're just getting fed right off, there's no hard and fast rule. I typically feed when the rats are 50-75 grams, so technically probably considered small rats. I have some bigger girls who could take bigger meals, but I prefer to feed two smaller rats that pose a smaller threat to the snakes (since I feed live).

Ok thank you very much. So there really is no point to get the larger tubs for my purposes is there? I should be good with that rack that you showed me in the thread you posted?

[Inknsteel]

I think you'd be fine with those tubs... I have been using them for months now and have no issues whatsoever. I highly recommend going with a watering system over individual bottles too. I was using water bottles on each tub to start with and I spent more time washing and refilling water bottles than I was spending with the snakes. I bought a watering system from Reptile Basics and it's been awesome. One refill a week as opposed to 6-8 bottles per day.

[stupidcracker00]

I think you'd be fine with those tubs... I have been using them for months now and have no issues whatsoever. I highly recommend going with a watering system over individual bottles too. I was using water bottles on each tub to start with and I spent more time washing and refilling water bottles than I was spending with the snakes. I bought a watering system from Reptile Basics and it's been awesome. One refill a week as opposed to 6-8 bottles per day.

Ya that's definitely too much work. I've been planning on doing a watering system from the beginning. It's just so much more convenient.

So those tubs have been working fine with 1.2 and all their pups?? That's crazy. I might just have to do that an put the extras in the freezer. How could you pass up all those rats?? Lol