Rat Colony

[Don & Sally's Zoo]

We're thinking about breeding our own rats since our snake collection has grown a bit. How is the odor is with rats? I remember when we used to breed mice years ago the urine was pretty strong and that was with frequent (3 times per week) cage cleanings.

[Denial]

I dont breed mice I tried many years ago and they were just to smelly for me. But we have started breeding asf and rats and we only clean once a week. And the smell isnt horrible but we also have a building for them

[LaFilleClochette]

rats smell pretty bad, especially of you have a bunch. We have 4 pet rats and have ot clean the cage out every other day. at first we had them in the same room as the snakes, but have since moved them to separate rooms because the snakes kept thinking that it was dinner time every time we opened their tubs..

[cobweb2000]

rats smell pretty bad, especially of you have a bunch. We have 4 pet rats and have ot clean the cage out every other day. at first we had them in the same room as the snakes, but have since moved them to separate rooms because the snakes kept thinking that it was dinner time every time we opened their tubs..

That's weird because I have 11 pet rats in my bedroom and 2 doing QT in a tiny little room and no one coming over to my house can smell them. I have them all litter trained though and keep them on fleece that is changed every 4 days with that cat litter made from recycled newspaper in the litter boxes.

OP, they 'shouldn't' stink. They are very clean animals that groom themselves as much as cats. What they need is ventilation and enough room in their cage so they don't have to sit in their own waste and a decent diet; that should keep the smell down with weekly cleanings. They are no where near as bad as mice. If you have bp's, you may want to look into ASF's instead of normal rats. They breed much easier and are also very clean with little odor.

[Don & Sally's Zoo]

OP, they 'shouldn't' stink. They are very clean animals that groom themselves as much as cats. What they need is ventilation and enough room in their cage so they don't have to sit in their own waste and a decent diet; that should keep the smell down with weekly cleanings. They are no where near as bad as mice. If you have bp's, you may want to look into ASF's instead of normal rats. They breed much easier and are also very clean with little odor.

That's good to know that they are not as bad as mice. We don't have BP's ....RTB's that range in size from 4-8ft and then a pair of 6-7ft Burms. I would just do ASF's but I don't believe they get big enough for our needs.

[Kesslers Kreatures]

Yeah, I have 2 trios going in one room and they are in the same room as our snakes and they dont smell. I mean if you let it go too long like 3 weeks without a change in bedding it gets smelly but besides that not too bad.