Buying breeder rats.. questions.

[MikeC1212]

How much do you guys pay for your breeder rats? Do you just buy them smaller and let them grow into breeders? I ask because I live in a small town with 3 pet stores. 1 never has anything(seriously, they must rob banks to stay in business). Another is okay, I guess. It's hit or miss on the feeder selection. The last is probably the best all around but they never seem to have anything bigger than fuzzies. I take a 30 minute drive(one way) every 5 days to get a feeder for my bp and I always have to choose between bad and worse! I hate feeding a few rats, then having to switch to a mouse b/c there are no rats. Then back to a rat then mouse... rats.. etc.
The guy seems pretty stingy with his breeders too, so IF he decided to sell them, I wonder what I should be paying?

I'm not trying to breed for 1 snake. I'll have 5 within a couple weeks and I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to feed them. I don't really want to buy frozen, my wife really doesn't want them in our freezer. I realize that might be the best/easiest thing to do though.

I don't know much about breeding as far as numbers go. If its a good option for me/even possible to accomplish for the number of rats im looking for, I'm asking somone to show me the way.. as far as how many females/males, how many keep together and in what size enclosure, and what it will take to have 5 rat pups/weanlings every 5-7 days.


Advice, please?

[lord jackel]

You really don't want to buy old breeders (they are usually used up...that is why they were sold off). Most will buy young rats and raise them up. This way you know what they ate and how healthy they are. Not to mention interacting with them makes it easier when they have babies to be able to look at and mess with the babies.

As for where to get them...I hate pet stores (the rats are usually overly imbred and sickly) but not everyone has access to anything else so sometimes you just have to take a chance.

Better options: any reptile shows near you (usually you can pick up rats from there to raise up), rat breeders (ideal but if they find out you have snakes they will go postal on you and refuse to sell them...not to mention they usually have a bunch of hoops you have to jump through), people from this site (or others) who might also breed rats. Where do you live?

Hope this helps,
Sean

[Royalherper]

Around here (SE Michigan), small and medium rats cost $3-$4 each and a large rat will cost you $5-$6 each. I started out buying medium sized rats for breeders. I house them in 10 gal. tanks. I pair them up when they don't have babies. They like company. I always have two males. That way when they aren't breeding they have someone to hang with. If you are going to want a constant supply of pups and fuzzys, you will need 5 or 6 females. They have a gestation period of 21 days. They should have a couple weeks off between feeding their babies(weaning them) and breeding agagin. Rats grow pretty fast, they will be too big for a baby bp in about 2 to 3 weeks. If you end up with too many rats you might be able to sell them to one of the three pet stores in your town. Thats what I do.

[rabernet]

When I started, I picked up two young females, probably a month or two old from Petsmart. I raised them up until they were breeding weight (250 grams) and then I went and got a male black hooded from a feeder bin at Petland.

I slowly added females who I quarantined, and raised them up too. Stick with hoodeds or selfs (solid color) and avoid the ones with blazes on their heads.

I have bred some females that normally you'd be advised not to breed for risk of having mega colon babies (Yin and Yang) but only because I know my two males (Caesar and his soon Moose) have never thrown mega-colon babies. I also knew if mega-colon presented itself in their litters, they would be retired from breeding immediately.

Since you're just getting started, stick with the hoodeds, barebacks and selfs. Look for alert rats, those without the red in their eyes and on their noses (I forget what that's called - but when they are stressed or sick, they get it), nice clean, smooth coats (you don't want hair standing up on its ends). I also like calm rats, not those that are so freaked out when you hold them.

Rats are a lot of fun - my breeders are also considered pets in our household, but then I'm not breeding on a huge level. I love taking my breeders out for play time. I try not to do so with their babies, unless I plan to hold them back, because I get attached too easily.

[MikeC1212]

I live in Minot ND. Pretty sure there are no shows around.. I wouldn't be able to travel much farther than Bismarck even if there were. That's a couple hours away. The next most populated place would be Fargo. IF there was anything around there, Imagine me telling my wife I want to drive 10 hours round trip to buy rats, lol. While it's that important to me, she would just think I'm an idiot.

I was only considering buying adults because I'm moving back to NY when i'm out of the military(june08). If I try to raise them, I wouldn't be able to breed until i'm almost ready to move. I'll definitely be breeding in NY.. because i'm sure i'll be getting more snakes then.

What I don't want: To go to one of these lame pet stores for 5 feeders and come home w/ 2 mice hoppers, 1 rat fuzzy, 1 rat pup, and 1 weaned rat. That's better than nothing, maybe. But, if all 5 snakes are around the same size, I want all 5 to be eating the same thing consistently. That seems like it might make things easier for me.

Maybe frozen is the way..

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I started off my colony buying from Petco since I did not have any other option. I first bough 2 females (Small they were about 100 grams) and paid $4.99 each for them.

I raised them up and bought a male from Petsmart.

They started to mate when the females reached 250 grams.

Since than I have bought other females but mainly held back some that I produced.

I no longer buy females (I just old them back) and for the males I will either buy them when the one I have retire or trade with people that are local to me.

[Kagez28]

it might be a good idea to stick to frozen. breeding is a quite a bit or work.

do you like rats (as pets) cause you'll have to interact with them everyday, so if you don't really like rats there might be some issues.

also i know Sean has made a rat breeding chart, i would take a look at that, and make sure it's what you really want to do.

[littleindiangirl]

We bought rats from our local mom and pop store, and so far I've taken every single one to the vet with problems with RI's, poor skin, aggressiveness, and overall not good breeders. On the other hand, I bought 2 females from petsmart, and they are the healthiest rats we have. Odd I know, those 2 females threw 14 and 15 litters each, never have proyphrin stains, and are very sociable. Maybe we were just lucky that time. I'm convinced that the rats we bought from the mom and pop store are all severly inbred, and the males we bought from them will never be breed to those females. I have a dumbo bareback/variegated that has been with us for several months, and she still hasnt reached 250 grams. These are all things you must consider when buying from different stores. I've heard a lot of people say they bought from petsmart or petco, and their rats have been fine, but I have heard of disease carrying, parasite inflicted rats as well. Make sure to quarantine all your rats regardless, since young rats do not show sickness as readily as older rats. Just some things to think about.

[edit]
And observe all your rats daily!! Sneezing a lot, coughing, poor stool, scratching constantly, sores, scabs, all things that you need to look out for when choosing a rat as well. Just take your time and handle all the rats your interested in, ask the breeder questions, and go for the strongest, healthiest, and nicest rats you see. As far as i've heard, there are no health risks associated with hooded rats.