Rat breeding questions and confirmation

I recently acquired a 1.1 housed in a laboratory breeding cage and I just have a few questions.

1) I use pine shavings, pine pellets, and vanilla in the water to cut down on the smell. Is there anything else I could do to cut down the smell even further?
2) How noisy are rats? I have them in my bed room right now and so far they seem to like to move around at night which honestly isn't that big of a deal for me as I am a heavy sleeper anyway but I'm worried that it might be too loud for my brother who sleeps in the adjacent room.
3) What's the average ratio of female rats to snakes? I've heard 1 female per female snake but that seems a little over kill to me.

Thanks in advance!

For feeding purposes you will need more rats than snakes as it takes time to grow them out. I have about 30 ball pythons and about 70 beeder rats. As for smell what are you feeding them. High protein diets will make their urine stink as for noise they aren't really bad but if you get a wheel it can be

As far as smell what you do and regular cleaning will help but there will be a smell no matter what especially if you have a strong sense of smell.

They can get noisy if they fight or get down to business.

As far as ratio it is correct for a proper rotation (avoid harem breeding) you will need 1 female rat per snake, less than that and you will fall short on production.

I actually run more than 1 female per rats simply because there can always be issues, female not working out or dying etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StillBP

For feeding purposes you will need more rats than snakes as it takes time to grow them out. I have about 30 ball pythons and about 70 beeder rats. As for smell what are you feeding them. High protein diets will make their urine stink as for noise they aren't really bad but if you get a wheel it can be

---

they're just in the breedng cage with nothing but food, water, and bedding. I'm feeding them oxbow adult rat feed for now as this is just a trial run.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Deborah

As far as smell what you do and regular cleaning will help but there will be a smell no matter what especially if you have a strong sense of smell.

They can get noisy if they fight or get down to business.

As far as ratio it is correct for a proper rotation (avoid harem breeding) you will need 1 female rat per snake, less than that and you will fall short on production.

I actually run more than 1 female per rats simply because there can always be issues, female not working out or dying etc.

---

I plan on cleaning every wednesday as that's when garbage day is. It's been two days and so far i haven't noticed any smell unless i go up to the cage and put my nose against the bars.

I guess i need to get a lot more females after this trial period is over and everything works out. Thanks guys!

Ventilation is very important to cut down on Smell especialy if you have them in your own room. cleaning the cages regularly and having some sort of fan/ filtration system will help tremendously. one thing to remember is that you will get use to the smell and noise but other people might not get that conditioning and get upset. babysteps in colony size and breeding frequency will help you determine what is allppropriate for your situation.