What gives...

I'm getting a little discouraged at rat breeding, they're not producing the way i thought. this was supposed to be easy. I'm sorry to keep complaining but i've followed the advice given by plenty of experienced breeders. we've added dog food to their diet, left them alone, the only time we bother them is to clean, add food & water on every friday, other than that when i get home from work in the mornings i toss in a carrot in each tub and they will not be bothered at all after that. anyway one of the females was HUGE, i mean she was outta control huge, when i went to toss in a carrot tuesday morning it was visible that she gave birth, so i let her be, then wednesday morning when i tossed in the carrot i took a quick look and there were noy even one alive, all i saw was 2 dead. this is not the same female from my last complaint. am i the only one with bad luck? could the females just not be good breeders?

First times mommies sometimes will do that. I had to start over with new colonies of asf's, finally starting to see lots of babies.

Are You housing the pregnant females individually or leaving them in a group?

For maximum production pregnant females need to be housed by themselves.

I've been leaving them in groups, i think it's about time i start separating them.

i kinda do a mix, i give 1/2/3/4 rats to 10g when they drop litters ( just depends whats available or full ) I'm also runnin 5 or so in 20s and 7 in a 30. another also just gave birth in the rack, but i don't really have anywhere to put her so shes staying in the rack slot dedicated to preggos. the other 4 racks have a male and ~10 females ( depending how many are in mom tanks ). I'm getting an average of ~75 or so babies a week i think. haven't really had too much issue with them eating them. and i tend to mess with em quite a bit. iv also seen the dad rats help out on occasion, before i switched to the system i use now

perhaps your rats aren't as used to humans? just a thought based on my observations of my rats

If you're ever out near Philly stop by and I will give you 1.4 that will breed and do well for you. A lot of time its also your breeding stock.

Watch your temps...rats tend to do better in 70-80 degree tempatures.. any hotter and nurseing mothers will dehydrate and kill and eat the young for moisture and to replace the electrolytes they are looseing from the heat and nurseing (even with water present). If you suspect that this is the case, you can suplement their water with Pedialyte the clear sugar free kind, it's like gatoraid only easier on their systems with less sugar.

Hope that helps

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Watch your temps...rats tend to do better in 70-80 degree tempatures.. any hotter and nurseing mothers will dehydrate and kill and eat the young for moisture and to replace the electrolytes they are looseing from the heat and nurseing (even with water present). If you suspect that this is the case, you can suplement their water with Pedialyte the clear sugar free kind, it's like gatoraid only easier on their systems with less sugar.

Hope that helps

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if they have access to water then your statement in untrue.

Rats kill offspring when they feel they can not sustain the entire colony, then they weed out the weak.

My building hits 90's most of the summer. Many southern breeder's buildings are not temp controlled.


I would say you either have a bad female or a bad male.

Retry with different breeding stock.

I would take Tom up on his offer if you are capable. He has some good breeding stock....I know, much of it came from me :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

if they have access to water then your statement in untrue.

Rats kill offspring when they feel they can not sustain the entire colony, then they weed out the weak.

My building hits 90's most of the summer. Many southern breeder's buildings are not temp controlled.


I would say you either have a bad female or a bad male.

Retry with different breeding stock.

I would take Tom up on his offer if you are capable. He has some good breeding stock....I know, much of it came from me :D

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Just relaying what I've seen out of the couple of hundred we produce a week over the last 4 years of breeding our own..Just one option as to what might me going on..Just my two cents what ever its worth.

I've also seen them have liver deficiency's cause them to eat their young, anemia, E-coli, and Kidney failure for what ever reason seem to cause them to off their young.. again just all things that we've seen over the years as to why this happens..

also the mom might not be killing them, they might just be dieing and the mom is cleaning up the bodies, they'll do that too.. :gj:

As for us Southern breeders I've seen most of the place's that breed rats in 4 states and all of them were cooled in some manner. Even RDR in MD uses big Swamp Coolers to keep his rats cool..it's all in what works for your rats..

If it gets really hot, the humidity from bedding(shavings) will cause respiratory issues which can lead to death. I personally switch to pellet bedding in summer months to help avoid this. This is one of the many reasons I frown on the "big tub" caging so many people seem so happy with.

and I do agree, 70-80 is an optimal temp but not crucial. My rats see 90's in the summer months ( I have fans in my building) and see a low of 45 in the winter.