Optimal temp(climate) for rat breeding

So I'm going to start breeding rats in the spring and I'll be doing it in my shed in my backyard which stays the same temperature as it is outside pretty much year round. Since I live in central Illinois where it can go below zero in the winter and well above 100* in the summertime, I was wondering if I should come up with some kind of climate control for the shed. I've already decided that if it came to it I could insulate the walls of the shed and run electricity out to it and have an air conditioner in the summer and a space heater in the winter to keep it at optimal temps, I'm just wondering what the optimal temps would be to keep them first, alive and healthy and second breeding consistently.

Thanks,
Greg

Bump for a little bit of help? Please??

i breed rats i keep them between 78 and 80f. mine breed like crazy at this temp.

Norway rats will breed best between 70 and 80 degrees. They can survive if it gets a little colder but production may drop off. If it gets too warm though they'll start dropping dead.

Thank you both for your help.

I agree between 70 and 80 is a good temp and production is great. Not sure how low or high you could get before production stops

Around 68-75F seems to work best. 80F is a bit warm.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by m00kfu

Norway rats will breed best between 70 and 80 degrees. They can survive if it gets a little colder but production may drop off. If it gets too warm though they'll start dropping dead.

---

Some of mine die in the winter too.

Mine breed from 45-100...I only breed a couple thousand a month, what do I know.:rolleyes:

if you are running racks, remember ambient air temp in the room is different than temps and humidity within a rack. You need to account for waste management, humidity, crowding etc...these play more of a role in sucess than the actual temp does.