And here's my colony & other pets

Here's my colony

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture548.jpg

This is Adam & Eve
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture552.jpg

and Pappa & Coco
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture553.jpg

and Mamma & snake food, snake food, snake food, snake food....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture550.jpg

and more snake food, snake food, snake food, snake food....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture549.jpg

And although you can't see these guys, these are pet rats Szchiga & Szchigade
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture554.jpg

Another pet rat, Yoda
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture555.jpg

My faithful dog, Jack
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture056.jpg

and our beautiful German Shepherd, Sage
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...athers/sge.jpg

And our Umbrella Cockatoo, Sidney
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...Picture557.jpg

Nice setup on the rats. I dont think i could ever bring myself to keep them tho.

Nice setups! Thanks for sharing them. I'm thinking about setting up a breeder or two myself.

Thanks!

Breedling your own rats is the way to go. I'm saving SO much money now that I've started my own colony.

I'm even having some luck getting my corns and ratsnake switched over to them. They are very willing to breed
and They can produce a batch of babies about once a month. 11 babies per female x 3 females (in my case) = 33 rats a month.
Figure the petstores are gonna charge anywhere from 4 to 7 bucks per rat ....that's at least $132 bucks a month saved.

Well worth it.

Yep, the math definitely works out on the side of paying for food, water, and substrate over paying for each rat at the store. It also doesn't hurt that both my kids have volunteered to help take care of breeders and don't mind the fact that they're food. I think, as small as my collection is, one pair is probably all I need, and just keep the male and female separate until it's time to make more food. What I'm trying to work out, though, is whether it would be all right to keep the rats in the same room as the snakes. Common sense says put them elsewhere if I can, but it really is the easiest/best place for them in my house right now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marla

Common sense says put them elsewhere if I can, but it really is the easiest/best place for them in my house right now.

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Thats what i would think too. You wouldnt want anyone to get the *sniff* of the rat and go into hunt mode.

It is a fairly long room, though, and I would put them at the opposite end, but I'm sure they'd still be able to smell them. Maybe I just have to wait until I can get the other side of the basement organized enough to have a place for them over there.

I would breed also but i love my weekly trip to the pet store too much :)