Is it possible to breed rats in an apartment?

As my collection has been growing so has my frozen rodent bill. I've been thinking about setting up a 2 or 3 breeding groups of 1.3 or 1.4 to try to help lower the cost and supply the live prey that some of mine prefer. I know rodents tend to stink and I live in a two bedroom apartment. Is it possible to do small scale breeding in an apartment? I've also been debating about if I should breed rats or ASF. Any advice or opinions are welcome.

Yes you can and rats or asf's are the thing to breed. You would think mice smell less but their urine actually puts off the most smell. I have 4 breeding colonies of 6 mice, 5 colonies of 5 rats, and grow out tubs. All in a storage closet. I'm picking up 2 colonies of asf's and a few more rat and mouse colonies in a couple days as well. I have to take some pictures. I don't have time right now. Give me an email and I'll get back with pictures and everything.

d.scott.benn@hotmail.com

Do you ever notice cooking odors or the smell of cigarette (or other) smoke from other apartments in the hallways of your building or in your own apartment? If so, you're probably asking for trouble with that particular odor-producing activity you're thinking about starting. ;)

By the way, are all your animals enumerated on your lease or otherwise known to your landlord? If not, once someone comes into your apartment investigating those rodent odors....OOPS!

I've bred rats before. I had a 1.3 and each female gave me apx 12 babies. I used bounce sheets and an air purifier to reduce the smell. Wasn't too bad, but I'm sure if you put them in a room you don't go in very often you should be fine. Also changing the bedding every 5 days or so really helps as well.

It can be done but I would first look at the cost of breeding rats on a yearly basis and then compare it to buying F/T. I'd also recommend asking around for cheap good food, bedding, and cage set-up for the colony.

I change my rats every 2 days and I have 2.6 u don't even know I have them. The bedding i use is only $6 for a big bag at Walmart.

We do. It is a little smelly and I am going to go pick up a DIY air purifier this weekend. We live in a 1 bedroom so there is no where else to put the rats. They are usually out on my porch if the weather is warm enough, but lately they have been inside 24/7 because it has been so cold.

I also have 6 bins running 1.4 with babies so they are a little crowded. I clean 2x a week to try and keep the smell down. I don't believe the smell sticks to items like cigarette smoke does, but I could be wrong.

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Originally Posted by scott808

Yes you can and rats or asf's are the thing to breed. You would think mice smell less but their urine actually puts off the most smell. I have 4 breeding colonies of 6 mice, 5 colonies of 5 rats, and grow out tubs. All in a storage closet. I'm picking up 2 colonies of asf's and a few more rat and mouse colonies in a couple days as well. I have to take some pictures. I don't have time right now. Give me an email and I'll get back with pictures and everything.

d.scott.benn@hotmail.com

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Thank you. I sent the e-mail. :)

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Originally Posted by jfmoore

Do you ever notice cooking odors or the smell of cigarette (or other) smoke from other apartments in the hallways of your building or in your own apartment? If so, you're probably asking for trouble with that particular odor-producing activity you're thinking about starting. ;)

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Smoking isn't allowed in my building so I don't notice that, but I do occasion smell food someone is cooking, but the kitchens are very close to the doors, closer even than the bedrooms. I was just wondering if it was possible to keep the smell down by changing the bedding frequently or using a certain type of bedding. I also don't plan on doing large scale breeding.

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Originally Posted by jfmoore

By the way, are all your animals enumerated on your lease or otherwise known to your landlord? If not, once someone comes into your apartment investigating those rodent odors....OOPS!

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I appreciate your concern about my leasing arrangements but I won't get into trouble for having all of my reptiles. They don't know the exact number of reptiles in my apartment, but before I got my first one I asked if I could have one. I was told that they don't care about caged pets so only my dog and cat matter and I pay a monthly fee to have them ($20 for the dog and $10 for the cat). I don't support keeping anything that is in violation of a lease.

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Originally Posted by cmz1234

I've bred rats before. I had a 1.3 and each female gave me apx 12 babies. I used bounce sheets and an air purifier to reduce the smell. Wasn't too bad, but I'm sure if you put them in a room you don't go in very often you should be fine. Also changing the bedding every 5 days or so really helps as well.

It can be done but I would first look at the cost of breeding rats on a yearly basis and then compare it to buying F/T. I'd also recommend asking around for cheap good food, bedding, and cage set-up for the colony.

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Thanks. :)

I do still need to price it out, but even if it costs a little more than f/t it might be worth it for my snakes that don't take f/t very well. Live rodents cost significantly more than frozen and I could save on gas.

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Originally Posted by marriedtothegame

I change my rats every 2 days and I have 2.6 u don't even know I have them. The bedding i use is only $6 for a big bag at Walmart.

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Thanks. :)

There are a lot of farm stores around here so I might be able to buy bedding cheap there too.

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Originally Posted by aldebono

We do. It is a little smelly and I am going to go pick up a DIY air purifier this weekend. We live in a 1 bedroom so there is no where else to put the rats. They are usually out on my porch if the weather is warm enough, but lately they have been inside 24/7 because it has been so cold.

I also have 6 bins running 1.4 with babies so they are a little crowded. I clean 2x a week to try and keep the smell down. I don't believe the smell sticks to items like cigarette smoke does, but I could be wrong.

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Thank you. :)

I was planning on putting them in my spare room or my living room. I think cleaning regularly will keep the smell down. I don't want to smell them so I won't let it get so bad that my neighbors can smell them. I can't imagine the smell sticks like cigarettes either.

You'd be fine so long as you do like you're planning: change the bedding frequently and rats or soft furs. Mice are NASTY for smelling, especially their urine! One thing about Norway rats is that they grow to size faster than what do soft furs but they can also grow too large in that your snake wouldn't be able to eat it. It isn't too much of an issue if you're wanting holdbacks/grow outs but just something to be aware of. I know soft furs take a good while to mature enough to be able to reproduce, which if you go in knowing that and plan accordingly...anyway.

You really won't save any money raising your own, unless you can sell off some of your "extras" and/or if you have enough snakes that it makes sense economically to raise your own. It is pretty cool to see them produce and know that you raised what you're feeding your animals and when (or if) you get into the genetics of coat type/coloration/pattern, etc. then it gets to be almost as much fun raising the rats as it is the snakes, lol! Here's a few options as far as ready-made racks if you don't have access to woodworking equipment or don't want to build your own:

http://boamaster.com/catalog/Rodent_...acks-18-1.html

The price for the economy rack is right about what it cost me to build mine of the same style only with a few more tubs. Food for thought, if nothing else. Good luck and hope that helps!

Wow! Looking at your collection list, I'd say you'd more than likely save a lot of money raising your own versus having to pay for shipping frozen feeders. I know mine all prefer live (some will take f/t but they all seem to do better on live) and the cost of shipping sometimes exceeds the total of the feeders when I was buying frozen.

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Originally Posted by youbeyouibei

...One thing about Norway rats is that they grow to size faster than what do soft furs but they can also grow too large in that your snake wouldn't be able to eat it.

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That's why God invented freezers. :P