New To Rat Breeding. Have some questions.

Ok So due to Dora being changed from Mice To rats this week and an imposible mission to find rats in my country (some how they are currently out of stock) and due to love to have a new pair of pets around my house i decided to buy 4rats from my usual breeder (tough he's not always available latly due to work) 2 adults female and male and 2 small ones wich one already fed to Dora and the other is for next week. So the Three other rats are together now but i wanted to confirm some questions.

I know i should remove the male to give the female a break after breeding for some weeks, but should the male be remove when the female is pregnant or after she gives birth is ok? also is it true that the male rat can eat the pups or this is a rumor ?

something about feeding , unfortunatly in my country we don't have rats as pets so i couldn't and Never in my 19years living in malta saw any rat/mouse food for sale (they are seen as pests here). Now i read many times that hamster food is not ok for them for some reason, mine contains (11.5% Raw protein, Moisture 10.2%, Raw Fat 5.2%, Raw Fibre 8.3% , Ashes 4.1%, Calcium 0.62%, Phosphorus 0.32% and Sodium 697ppm.)

Now the breeder told me he feeds them a mix of rabbit and chicken pellets.
Of Course im no expert and just a n00b in breeding rats, so can anyone suggest something not expensive to feed for someone who can't buy rat food?

You can leave the male in with the litter, mice are the ones who eat there babies. Sooner or later you'll have to come up with a rotaion so you breed just enough for your needs, if you don't you'll be overun with unwanted rats quickly. A low protein dog food will work since there might not be a rodent block available in your country.

I hope this helps

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Originally Posted by Emilio

You can leave the male in with the litter, mice are the ones who eat there babies. Sooner or later you'll have to come up with a rotaion so you breed just enough for your needs, if you don't you'll be overun with unwanted rats quickly. A low protein dog food will work since there might not be a rodent block available in your country.

I hope this helps

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can you name me some brands of low protein dog foods? Purina, Science Plan, Pedigree, Eukanuba?

You can check Senior dog foods I'm pretty sure they have a lower protein percentage. Go with whatever brand your comfortable with.

Also watch out for dog foods that contain certain red dyes (red # 40 I think) as this might cause problems with your rats. Pedigree is one of those dog kibble's that contains red #40.

You can give the female a break if you want. I intend to give my girls breaks once my colony is big enough. You can give them a 2-3 week break after they wean the babies. This gives them enough time to put some weight on and recover from the litter. If you want to give her a break, pull the male BEFORE she gives birth. Female rats can become pregnant again within 24 hours of giving birth.

thanks alot guys for the reply , but don't dog food usually be in hight protein since dogs diet must consist mostly of meat? (well i feed my dog raw). btw is the food i posted the percenteges of in the first post not good for them if they eat it all and not choose what they like ?
thanks again!

Commercial dog food isn't as high in protein as it should be. Good for you for feeding your dog raw. My ferrets are on a raw diet.

I believe a rat's protein intake should be around 15% I think, or less.

Found this for you. http://www.ratfanclub.org/nutreq.html

I try to do about 19% protein for the rats. Do you have pig farmers where you live? Hog feed is ok for rats. It has the correct protein and is pretty cheap. A commercial dog food is ok as long as the protein is not too high. Its hard to find one with the correct content. The problem with dog food is it will greatly shorten the life of your rats. If you plan to rotate out the breeding females every few months it shouldnt be a problem if you have no other choice.

The male rat should not hurt the babies as long as he is the one who fathered them. Just be sure there is only one male to each group of females.

You could check out this post for some ideas of how to make your own rat food out of a mix of ingredients:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=28391

you want 16-18% ideally