Thinking of starting a colony... I know a handful of things but not everything

Ah, alright then, I'll get a nice little stable set up for my handsome buck and a larger enclosure set up for my females, that settles that.

In a mortar tub 1.5 is fine and if you get to many freeze them. I like to separate my females because I need sm. Rats more than pinks or crawlers.
Removing the female once she is preggo helps her because she can focus on producing more milk for that litter in which they grow faster as opposed to feeding her babies and also trying to grow some babies in her belly...
I also cap my limit on 3 preggos per tub as they will help each other out but not be over crowded.

But If I am needing smaller rats I wil not take out and just mass produce pinks. But I will not keep her with the pinks If I need some larger ones I will use surrogates. Males will not hurt the offspring nor will other females. If they do they are missing something in there diet.. Whether it be water or some sort of nutrients.. Hope this helps... Imma rodent Veteran HAHA

Also I forgot to mention that I use pine bedding for my rats. Most pine bedding is kiln dried so the oils that are harmfull are no longer present. So you can use pine just make sure that it is kiln dried. I get a bail of it for 6.85 and that lasts me about 1-2 months depending on how often I clean their tubs out.

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Originally Posted by BLong7211

Also I forgot to mention that I use pine bedding for my rats. Most pine bedding is kiln dried so the oils that are harmfull are no longer present. So you can use pine just make sure that it is kiln dried. I get a bail of it for 6.85 and that lasts me about 1-2 months depending on how often I clean their tubs out.

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Thanks for reminding me!


I use Pine PF flakes. They are large flakes of pine and give little to no dust. If that is not available I will use the largest shavings I can find. They give off less dust therefore better when your snakes eat em and better for the rodents them selves.

I use kiln dried pine and have for years without issue...I feed 6f.

I only separate babies once their eyes open and never remove a male. My 1.4 tubs average 40-60 pups per month or they are fed off. I keep records per tub not rat.(sorry too many racks, it would be a full time job)


cleaning....baking soda then pine....will last a week easily.

Equine fresh is okay, but no nesting material unless you provide it...its dusty and when it goes sour...it goes severely. The pellets become very wet sand dust looking material. I have 2 bags left I do use on occasion if I have any rats left over after pick up.

Rodents, I breed rats, gerbils, asf and apm currently.

So, just to clarify, two large tubs with all the amenities would handle a 1.3-4 colony?

Also is there any special diet/food you'd advise for the pregnant females?

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Originally Posted by Deborah

To reduce smell I use Pine Pellets (Equine Pine, Equine Fresh), very absorbent and goes a long way.

Once the female is ready to give birth I offer wood shaving in addition to the equine pine.

Pellet type substrate is the best substrate I have evern used and would never go back to anything else.

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Same here and I like it much better than wood shavings alone. It is dusty, but much easier to clean than wood shavings.

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Originally Posted by Chaossoldier11

So, just to clarify, two large tubs with all the amenities would handle a 1.3-4 colony?

Also is there any special diet/food you'd advise for the pregnant females?

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I feed all my rodents LabDiet's Rodent Diet 5001: http://www.labdiet.com/pdf/5001.pdf. I use the cement mixing tubs like the poster that posted pictures of their rodent rack. I normally keep 1.3 - 1.5 in them.

But if i just got two big tubs, no rack, and possibly one smaller tub for after the delivery, would that work? I'm not really worried about space. I just want to know if the number of tubs is ok.

Yeah that would work there is a nice DIY on a rat tub using sterilite tubs from walmart. Which I used at first. worked out pretty good.