Few Rat questions?

[escomaya]

Hey guys wats new since you guys all love me so much, I know none of you wouldnt mind answering a few of my random ?s

Im done with mice, worst things ever to try to breed if you ask me, sorry they just take way too long to grow, they stink, and u have to feed several of them, there just not my cup of tea

Anywho..... Im sticking to ASF and Rats, Have my ASF for my keepers, and Rats for the not so sure ones and future hatchlings. I just got my rats today from a local guy I found on the web. I ve never seen this- All my Rats 2.4 are yellowish with brown or black heads??? Is the yellow mean they are dirty..urine?? or maybe just the type they are?

2. What is the average weight of a newborn rat(pinky) a day or 2 and what about a weanling??

3.Food - I have dog food which I give my ASF, which has been working fine the last 3 months now, and dry pasta every few days, will rats be fine on that too??

4. AGE??- My rats are between 160-210 grams. Around what age do you guys think they are, and how soon will they be ready to breed

5. After having ASF, I am now scared of being bit from the bigger rats, I hear they're pretty chill, just want to get some extra feed back. Also do rats run away or jump out of cages?

thank you ahead of time

[Aeries]

Well, I have no idea about the weight. Rats will be best on rat food, most people will probably try and dissaude you from the dog food. You might be able to get it in bulk from something like a farm store. Rats become fertile from 6-12 weeks old, but most will suggest you hold off until about 3-4 months.
Rats usually have a great attitude, and most of the time I would have no worry about being bit. However, get them in a corner or try and manhandle them, and some will bite. I have one rat who descided he would not be picked up by the scruff, and after having a scar on my thumb from a bite, I just pick him up around the middle with no problem.

[FatBoy]

Hey guys wats new since you guys all love me so much, I know none of you wouldnt mind answering a few of my random ?s

Im done with mice, worst things ever to try to breed if you ask me, sorry they just take way too long to grow, they stink, and u have to feed several of them, there just not my cup of tea

Anywho..... Im sticking to ASF and Rats, Have my ASF for my keepers, and Rats for the not so sure ones and future hatchlings. I just got my rats today from a local guy I found on the web. I ve never seen this- All my Rats 2.4 are yellowish with brown or black heads??? Is the yellow mean they are dirty..urine?? or maybe just the type they are?

2. What is the average weight of a newborn rat(pinky) a day or 2 and what about a weanling??

3.Food - I have dog food which I give my ASF, which has been working fine the last 3 months now, and dry pasta every few days, will rats be fine on that too??

4. AGE??- My rats are between 160-210 grams. Around what age do you guys think they are, and how soon will they be ready to breed

5. After having ASF, I am now scared of being bit from the bigger rats, I hear they're pretty chill, just want to get some extra feed back. Also do rats run away or jump out of cages?

thank you ahead of time

You can answer almost all of your age to weight questions by going to rodentpro.com they have weights to age charts. I will not bash dogfood, I use dogfood that has all the same nut values as mazuri 9F. Our rats are pretty cool. They will crawl out of the tubs while cleaning but rarely try to get away. We can handle them fine without getting bit.

[Wh00h0069]

The other questions were answered, so I will not re-answer them. I usually start breed my females at around 150 grams.

[Clear]

I usually wait to the 240gram mark to breed mine, but I have had some to get accidently bred at 200grams and she only had 6 babies. I was using dog food and the hair was so oily it was horrible and the smell, ugh horrible. See if you can find a local seller of mazuri 6f or 9f (9f is more expensive). My rats do climb out of the bins when they are open but they never run for freedom they just crawl around and smell all the other rats. Good luck with the ASF!

[littleindiangirl]

Females reach sexual maturity between 5 and 6 weeks of age, however this is often not the wisest weight to begin breeding them at. Being pregnant takes a lot of energy away from the mother, and can effect litter size and weight on weaning, and her own weight and health.

I stick to the "5 months or 250 grams" rule. Female rats can reach 250 grams very quickly if fed a good rat diet. I think my youngest girl to reach that weight was only weaned for about 5 weeks! She came from a wonderful line of large girls, and her first litter was either 16 or 17. HUGE compared to what most people get.

My rats have always been on Mazuri 6F (16% protein, 6% fat), and just recently I began to purchase 9F. ( same protein and 9% fat).

ASF's are often sexually mature at 2 months (between 54 and 63 days) of age. That isn't a guarantee that they will breed right away and get pregnant. I have had females in a colony wait until almost 3 or 4 months before they dropped a litter.

But my quickest was the colony I started from my first original animals. I left the father with two of his daughters the week they weaned, and 2 months later, I had 2 litters, with 35 between the two of them.

I always recommend a rodent diet over just dog food. There is a mix that Becky (satanicintention) has around the forum here that uses dog food with lab block, and she swears by it. A problem with a lot of dog foods is they are incredibly greasy, too much of one thing or another, red dye, etc etc...

A high quality senior dog food that closely mimics the ingredients and percentages of other Rat diets will help give them a more complete diet.

And how do I know it's worth it? One of my oldest Norway rat females this past week (approx 17 months old) just gave birth to a litter of 13 pups. She has been on my regular schedule like in Lord Jackels "Should I breed, how many to breed" sticky her entire life, and she is not the only one. I have ASF females right at the year mark still producing babies.

While it's out of the norm for an older gal to have such a large litter, I think we as a hobby don't realize the full potential a good diet and humane treatment does for our feeder production.

Okay, that was long, sorry but I was on a roll.

[escomaya]

Could I put both my rats and ASF on a Mazuri 9f diet? I only want one type of food which will suit both of their needs.

Are rats usually more tan/yellowish than mice and ASF?? Seems my rats are not as white as I would have expected, I just recieved them yesterday.

[littleindiangirl]

Could I put both my rats and ASF on a Mazuri 9f diet? I only want one type of food which will suit both of their needs.

Are rats usually more tan/yellowish than mice and ASF?? Seems my rats are not as white as I would have expected, I just recieved them yesterday.

Yes, you can feed them the same diet.

ASF's can have the white spotting, that is actually white unless they are fed a very fat diet. It will make their fur extra greasy. A norway rat that has white spotting may not remain a brilliant white, but if it's a tan beige color, then it isnt an albino.

Do you think you have albinos?

An albino will be quite white all over with light pink eyes, and with no dark spots of color anywhere on the body.

A siamese rat which is on the same locus as albinos, (like a siamese cat), will have brown color in the cooler extremities of the body like the tail, feet, ears and most prominently the nose. (and the rump too) It's a gradient of color, and their eyes will be a bit darker than an albino, but still very red color.

I know that may not make a bunch of sense, but it is possible for you to have some abino rats being fed a poor diet giving them a yellowish greasy look.

If not albinos, then it is perfectly natural for them to have a yellow, beige or red color and not be dirty or greasy, it's just gene's at work.

[escomaya]

No they are not albonos for a fact, borwn eyes, brown head, spots on tail, just their white parts are more yellowy.

If thats how they are, I feel calm now

thanks for all the feedback

[ThyTempest]

I pretty much follow the same rule of thumb for everything that Connie said. We held off breeding all of our female until 300 grams, but I think 250 is fine, but no lower. As for feed, I would supplement some extra protein with the ASF's. Our production has been sucking since we switched ours to Mazuri. Just food for thought.