getting into breeding rats and got questions

here in a few weeks going to have to start breeding rats (never breed rats before so got no clue) what size tub or tanks should i use can at first use tanks when all said and done want to have a few racks of them for breeding any ideas on what size totes or tubs to use and how many per tub(i have read rats need more space then mice) don't really care if need to go with a huge tube to have more then 2 females per male.

any and all advice will be thanked

My advice, as always, is to build a rack from the beginning.

The large mortar tubs from Home Depot are by far the best tubs for running rat colonies.

I personally build my large mortar racks 5 levels high. This keeps the height manageable. I really don't like having to use a step stool to get into the top tub (and I'm 6' tall, so 5 levels is really the most manageable height).

Now you have 5 levels available. You have to ask yourself, "how many rats do I need?". You can usually count on 8 babies per month per female when you run this type of set up. So if you need 50 rats per month you would need to have at least 7 females.

You can run anywhere between four and eight females in these tubs with a male. Six females is pretty roomy until the babies get up to weaning size.

Connies (littleindianagirl) site (Metal Monkey Exotics) has a lot of good info. I would suggest going there. :)

going to have at least 20 regular female adult ball pythons and 5 males(males will be color morphs) to begin with plus 8 or 9 bloods along with a trio or 2 of all the smaller python species. then once eggs start hatching and babies are sold going to reinvest the money into color morphs of the ball pythons and add a few more green tree pythons

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ice#1

going to have at least 20 regular female adult ball pythons and 5 males(males will be color morphs) to begin with plus 8 or 9 bloods along with a trio or 2 of all the smaller python species. then once eggs start hatching and babies are sold going to reinvest the money into color morphs of the ball pythons and add a few more green tree pythons

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big difference between a debate and an argument

you sound like you intend to have a bunch of snakes. Some of those will require a hefty food bill.
How much space do you have to work with?
What climate do you live in?
What is your start up budget?

start up budget is 5 to 6 thousand. space to work with is i got 2 12x24x8 foot rooms that aint being used for anything other then collecting cobwebs. live in central Illinois so cold winters and hot summers (not the worst for either but it can get that i know of -50 to highest i have seen was 115 with heat index for cold was with wind chill

i got tons of wood already for making the racks and i work in construction so building is no biggie know a Lil bit about wiring so doing that myself wont be a big deal either when i put the heat tape in the racks for the snakes

once i reinvest getting 3 lines that make blue eyed lucies to help cover for the less expensive morphs

Breeding rats is fairly simple, but made easier when you have well built racks, and good stock to begin with. To produce healthy litters, get healthy breeding females.

If you are just starting out, I suggest one female rat per snake you intend to breed food for. This way, you can ensure you have enough in case a female has a small (or kills) litter.

I always like to make sure new people realize that it does take work, dealing with smell and patience to get a good colony underway. Once you have a good base of breeders, it is easy to maintain consistent production.

That sounds like a terrible problem to have LOL.

The first room would have:

6 x CB70 racks (stacked 10 high)
10 x Sterilite shoebox racks (3 wide x stacked 12 high)
1 large incubator (walk in?)

The second room would have:
8 x six level large mortar tub rat racks (1.6 rats per tub)
8 x six level large mortar tub rat racks (grow out racks)

With this set up you could be producing up to 400 ball pythons per year and feeding them all with your rodent colony.

If I were you I would just specialize in balls, but that's just the voice of experience speaking LOL. The bigger stuff doesn't sell as well as it used to.

others snake was planning on getting was stuff like children pythons ringed python spotted pythons amazon tree boas rosy boas. stuff like that but like i said just 1 or 2 trio's of the others

my state says we can't own anything 8 foot or bigger so staying with-in that size range

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ice#1

others snake was planning on getting was stuff like children pythons ringed python spotted pythons amazon tree boas rosy boas. stuff like that but like i said just 1 or 2 trio's of the others

my state says we can't own anything 8 foot or bigger so staying with-in that size range

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no money in childrens


amazons are hit or miss in value.