Rat Husbandry

I'm thinking of starting to breed my own rats for my 8 BPs, 3 Kings, and 1 Cornsnake and want to keep the breeders healthy and happy for as long as possible. Do they need anything in their cages/tubs besides a water source and a food source? Do they need anything for exercise or chewing like you would need if you were keeping a rodent strictly as a pet? As I type this I'm envisioning a hampster cage but do rats have different husbandry requirements?

Thanks!

I use a combination of tubs and tanks for my rats. I also build them hides with untreated lumber that they love to chew on, takes care of a hide and a chew thing. my tanks have wheels in them but my tubs do not.

I handle my breeders almost every day and let them run around. They are good pet types. There are a lot of plans in the section that you may look at. I especially liked the stick for the low space system. It is much like what I am doing.

Hope that helped.

Google "rat rack" and check things out.

If you are going to breed rats there is no better way to do it.

All you ever wanted to know about rats can be found here :) http://www.afrma.org/rmindex.htm

I have a rack for my breeders and a couple plastic tubs for my grow outs. They have food, water, and bedding. Thats about it. I use aspen as the bedding so they burry into it to hide if they want. Most the time they all huddle together and play with each other.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tomfromtheshade

Google "rat rack" and check things out.

If you are going to breed rats there is no better way to do it.

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Agree, wire is a huge hassle, tanks aren't very good for health reasons, and it's so easy to clean and maintain tubs vs anything else.

I socializing baby rats for pets also and there is no easier way to do it than to open a tub and have easy access to them.

Wheels are bad for their backs.

Food, water, and something to chew on (table scraps work) is all they need. Throwing in an empty box you don't need is also nice, as some are shy, or it's a good place to keep warm if it gets cool in the area they're in (especially if you get some hairlesses).

Use tubs with a cut out with 1/2 inch wire on the top of the lid or on the side high enough for babies can't get out and you have as little kick out as possible, but you NEED ventilation. Even just this works:
*90qt bin*
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7049/dscn2018a.jpg
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/6170/dscn2028p.jpg Accidental, but some food fits
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/3127/dscn2027n.jpg Close up.

Male temp bin:
*16 qt?*
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/8348/dscn2029k.jpg
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/2640/dscn2030u.jpg Close up.

Heres my setups

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q...R/IMG_0550.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q...R/IMG_0549.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q...R/IMG_0548.jpg

I have the wheel in the first tub cause when i first got my ASF set i thought it would be nice to have a wheel for them to play on. Never Again! None of the babies see a wheel.