South Florida

Looking to start a small breeding rat colony. Any suggestions where/who to purchase the first breeders from? If I could pick-up in South Florida that would be terrific but willing to purchase online if there are recommended suppliers that do the over night thing.

I only want to start with 2-3 females because of the available space. I would give the females a good break in between litters. I figure I could supplement my F/T bill with the offspring from a small breeding colony AND it would be a fun project.

I live just north of Ft Lauderdale.

Is there nowhere to buy live feeder where you're at? That is where I've gotten my colony starters from in the past and I will do the same thing once I get home and start breeding again.

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

Is there nowhere to buy live feeder where you're at? That is where I've gotten my colony starters from in the past and I will do the same thing once I get home and start breeding again.

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Hi gsarchie - thank you for taking the time to reply. Of course there are places to buy live feeders, a couple are only 2-3 miles down the road from me but....

From what I'm reading on this forum, feeders doesn't necessarily make them good breeders...or am I wrong? I certainly could be (wrong)!!! Since I've never bread rats before.

Just so I'm clear, you're saying, live feeders, given time to "grow up" to proper weight and or age are good breeders?

Forgive my ignorance, I'm in the "trying to educate myself mode" ;)

My breeders were purchased from a feeder bin at a local pet shop and I have had several litters from them.

Fair enough...I'm just working off of the following: (because at this point in my breeder education it's all I really have to go off of). Thoughts please? Believe me, not trying to be argumentative :)

The only thing to really talk about is quality. Yes most people forget that quality is everything when it comes to your breeders. These animals are going to produce the ONLY food your prize snake will eat. You MUST make sure they are healthy and well taken care of. Your goal should be large litters, healthy babies (that could grow into great breeders themselves) and breeders that live a long fruitful life. With this said...DO NOT buy your breeders from a big box pet store. Ever wonder why when you walk into Petsmart all the rats are big...usually because they are left over breeders (from a rat farm) or what was left over after all the good ones were picked up, not to mention alot of them carry Megacolon and other undiserable genetic traits. (If you want all the gory details about pet store rats just shoot me a PM). Find a breeder, your local reptile show can be a good place, others on this forum etc. You need to feed them a complete nutritious meal (this means variety and/or specific high quality rat breeder food). And yes, you need a Vet fund ready so you can take them to the Vet as needed (again I won't go into details but rats are prone to all sorts of issues - PM me if you want more details)


From this thread: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Many-to-Breed

Those feeder rats will probably have high litters. since they are typically bred out to have a lot of babies. So you'd be better off buying some from a local store that breeds for feeders.

I understand your concern, but what you should realize (and you may already) is that you will be the one making sure that they are healthy and high quality feed for your snakes. Also, if the feeders that you already could feed your snakes are good enough to feed to your snakes that I would argue that both their parents and their offspring would be as well, as they would all have the same genetics. Make sense? Good luck man, and let us know how your project turns out.

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

I understand your concern, but ...

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Well that makes sense, I thought there was something I must be missing :D Thank you.