Thoughts on rat breeding

I personally am thinking about breeding my own rats because I have 4 snakes and I plan to get more. Shipping always cost way more than the actual rodents and I’m wondering what some pros and cons are. I don’t have any local breeder around me so I can only buy online.


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What would your goal be by breeding rats vs. buying them f/t online?
Cost saving? Food Reliability? Quality Feeders? - Which of these is most important to you?

I was thinking the same thing lil while ago lol... theirbreeding cycles are quick, I believe female rats can get pregnant very soonafter she has her litter, so you will have a lot of babies in a short amount oftime and won’t be able to feed them hoppers to your snakes (pending snakes sizeand they will grow too and you won’t need hoppers)... I did read a thread onhere or somewhere- if I find it I will attach the link -

something about 1 male 2 females.. but you will have to make sure their husbandryfor them is good as well .. You could lose babies and that will defiantly be a setback…and you will have breaks and have to buy F/T eventually as the babies will needto grow… so it will be a while before you would be able to build a rotation

also rodents also poop and pee constantly... so if the smell is not an issue,cleaning their enclosure will be an added chore as well as the snakesenclosures – and you do not want to try to clean your snakes enclosure afterdealing with them rats for sure... To be honest PETCO (NOT THE MART LOL) theysell their F/T sm rats for like $13-$14... I’m in NJ so idk if it varies inother states but if not there may be a local breeder or someone on here who youcould link with possibly to get your supply... but breeding rats will deff banother investment - time, $, stress, etc.

I mean with 4, if you get a large enough collection yeah that may be the bestoption but for 4 snakes you'll have your year supply in possibly a few monthsso .. idk ..if all that is not an issue .. Go for it! And you can be the next Articmice or Rodentpro lol.. and I supported you so don’t forget about me … ill takea few batches of rats for my troubles lmfao!!

My 2 cents:

If you want a bigger collection of snakes, start budgeting. Electricity, vet bills, back-ups and redundancy for equipment, cleaning supplies, feeders, etc.

Then, consider the time, effort, and money that would go into raising feeders. I like my rats, but they are time consuming, their caging and feed and cleaning supplies all cost money (I go through a LOT of paper towels, and am always scrounging for free newspaper), and they do smell, even though I clean and disinfect daily. The output isn't always even either. Even with breeding rats, I am waiting on a frozen Big Cheese order because some pregnancies I thought were assured, didn't happen on schedule.

Rats will take your hobby from casual to high maintenance with daily chores.

I’ve had pet rats before so I’m aware of how much care goes into that. I’ve also done quite a bit of research so I know what they need and how things work. I personally like spending time on my animals and I’m not looking to have a huge amount of rats but breeding seems like a better choice for my future plans with my snakes. I’ll also probably still buy frozen rats until my rats are established and breeding.


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