Housing/Setup questions and recommendations

Rookie here and I need some help please. By necessity and a little desire, I will be raising Feeder rats soon. I'm wondering about different setups for a small colony of feeder rats. I plan to have 2 males and half dozen or so females. I've read a lot of these forums and feel MODERATELY informed, but I'm hoping some of you might post some photos of how you have your feeding breeders housed for both the breeding and for the raising period. I'd love to see multiple setups so I can gat an idea of what will work in the space that I have.

Thanks in advance for any responses and especially photos of how you've done it. These forums are amazing and I can't thank you all enough for the wealth of knowledge that is here. You are all awesome.

Pete

I'm just starting in this too. I have a 1.3 group right now. I went with the DIY tub method commonly used on here for those that don't/can't do a rack setup yet. I followed this one here http://www.metalmonkeyexotics.com/blog/?page_id=982. I have one built right now and two more tubs the same size waiting for me to build tomorrow. One tub will be a grow out tub and the other I haven't completely decided yet. It'll probably end up being another harem tub when I get a female keeper from my breedings. I'll see what I need as I go I guess. My thought is everyone is different so what works for someone else might not work for me. Only way to know is to hit that point on my own. My space is a small open closet/cubby area is my room of our apartment so I've gotta work in the space I have available.

I read through about 75% of all the threads in the rat feeder section and still am learning as I go. They seem like pretty easy keepers and the one female I have that is overly friendly and begging for my attention all the time makes it so worth it. She's got a home for life.

That site is exactly the type of thing I'm looking for. Thanks a million Marrissa.

http://www.rodentracks.com/Rat_Racks.html

Large tub rack there. In the future if I build this I'll space the tubs out more so the lowest one is closer to the ground. As they are here, there isn't enough clearance to open the tubs with water bottles in. You could also use a watering system to avoid that problem.

4 tubs - 3 tubs with 2 females each. Rotate the male every 3 weeks. As the females are about to give birth put one in the empty tub and the other gets kept in the original tub. When the babies are about 2 weeks old you can put them all together in the original tub. If you need multiple sized feeders pull the males first at a smaller size and then 'grow out' the females in the tubs with their moms. They should be an OK size by the time the male gets back in the tub with them and would be gassed or fed before they get big enough to have litters or for the litter to be born if they happen to get pregnant.

I keep my breeders in a rack like this: http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/05/qazabe5u.jpg

I'll switch around males depending on my need, and I usually put females in their own tub when they're about to drop.

This is what I use for my ASF and growouts. Works pretty well for me, and I like the extra room.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/05/azazu6aj.jpg

Airflow is sufficient with just holes in the kids of those tubs? Also in the tubs, I don't see a food hopper. Do you just use a simple dish for food? ...and thanks!

I house norway rats in the rodent racks using the cement mixing tubs.
6 tub rack:
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb2d1a532.jpg


But I have a few stand alone clear tubs that I used for breeding in the past. Since I now use the rack, the stand alone tubs are used for some grow outs, but mainly ASFS (not pictured, but the exact same tubs).
Haven't had any issues with any chew outs or lack of air flow.

And food hoppers are a must have. Food in bowls are often soiled with urine and completely wasted when the animals scatter their food in their bedding. To be as efficient as possible with little waste, hoppers are the way to go.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...f/IMAG1083.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...f/IMAG1166.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...f/IMAG1169.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...f/IMAG1172.jpg

My first rodent breeding set up before upgrading to racks. 1 large communal tub for females and grow outs, 2 breeding tubs for several mothers and litters, and 1 male tub.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...f/IMAG1167.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dr. Pete

Airflow is sufficient with just holes in the kids of those tubs? Also in the tubs, I don't see a food hopper. Do you just use a simple dish for food? ...and thanks!

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It's kind of hard to see, but I have cutouts on each end for airflow. I also keep an oscillating fan going in my rat room, I think that helps tremendously. As for the food, I had wholly intended on making hoppers for my big tubs (I have 4 standalones atm), but my hardware store didn't have the right size I needed and I just never got around to it lol. So I just dump the food in a corner. I waste a lot more food than I should, but I'm okay with that :P

I'll have to get pictures later, but I use racks similar to those pictured above. I have 2 racks set up, 6 tubs each. I don't have all tubs filled up, but just rotate through them as needed, depending on if my rats are resting, growing, raising young, or breeding. I have water systems set up instead of water bottles, just because it's easier for me.

Nikki, that's also the type of thing I'm after. Thanks so much!