Rattie Enclosures!

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Originally Posted by JLC

The ultimate in recycling!!

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No doubt, when I was breeding rodents I gave them leftovers ALOT, rather than throwing it away. Now that we only have a couple as pets, who are getting up there in age, we do give them leftovers, but 2 rats can only eat so much.


Must learn not to cook for a freakin army in my house! I think it is such a bad habit I have cause even though I dont need to anymore with Bri, me and the kids.. I still cook for an army. But habits are so hard to break. Although, not sure I really want to break that habit as it has made is easy to feed others who show up unannounced at dinner time around here.. which happens quite frequently. And it does provide for a dinner or two afterwards.

Yep you can't beat rats for turning leftovers into this.......

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...er4daysold.jpg


~~Jo~~

Awww.. those are so cute!


Anyone that feeds those to their snakes are evil.

Wait till the ratties get bigger so your snake gets a real meal!! ;)

LOL oh don't worry nothing in this house is interested in those 4 day old pinkies. They need to chunk up a far bit before even Malachi, our littlest ball python would give them a second glance.

As far as the cuteness factor, baby cows are born cute too but I personally still love a big old T-bone steak on the barbie. :)


~~Jo~~

Oh Jo! What cute babies. Chunky little ones to start, so thats a plus for sure!

srozell- actually, if that size is all someones snake can eat, what are you suppose to do .. starve the snake till it can eat something bigger and less cute? Nope, dont thnk so.

The fact of the matter is, if you feel someone is evil to feed off something that young, then you had better tell that to those that slaughter our cows and chickens and such.... cause they slaughter baby cows for plenty of food purposes.

Believe me, CUTE does not stop me from having that nice juicy burger or steak or lamb roast..... we all got to eat and there is a food chain for just that.

Well said Jeanne!

The fact is I raise rats because I enjoy knowing my snakes are getting the best quality feed I can personally provide them and I quite enjoy rats as a creature unto itself. I also really like saving money LOL.

Doesn't mean in a flat second I won't grab a rat of whatever size and feed it off to a hungry snake...that's just a fact of life and part of our decision to live feed (please don't take that as an advocation of live feed only folks). Just another part of owning any rodent eating creature really.

One thing I am really big on is the husbandry of my rats. I figure these creatures supply me with a source of food, and save me tons of money so they deserve the best possible existance I can provide. Makes me nuts when I hear anyone being mean to rodents or not caring for them decently....without those furry little critters our snakes would be in major trouble.



~~Jo~~

A little late on this but, aspen for the rats and lots of left overs! Good, we usually have a lot that sit in the fridge until my boyfriend eats them. He can only pound so much with his skinny butt :P I'll give the ratties some extra dog food we have around here...thanks for the replies!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

The ultimate in recycling!!

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Actually there is one more step in the ultimate recycling ... Use the rat bedding in your worm bin or garden as compost, so that you can grow the veggies that you are going to feed to the rats. Also the rats will eat the live worms as an occassional "treat".

As aspen bedding is more expensive than either pine or cedar I use a cross cut paper shredder to shred newspaper, and lay that down as a 1/2" layer base. As rats love to dig around it all gets mixed up eventually ... but its also good for compost.

Just feeding regular dog food can give the rats "scabbies". The protein content should be 14-18% (ideal) and must be under 24% (to prevent scabbies). Also regulr dog food is so cheap because of the massive amounts of corn in it. Rats, dogs, and people have a hard time digesting corn, the vast majority of it comes out as waste. A good dog food will have either no corn or corn listed way down on the ingredients list (Nutro Natural for Seniors is a good dog food to use or compare to). Also you will need to feed less and will have to clean up less from a good dog food (usually these CANNOT be bought at your local grocery store, but CAN be from a feed store).

I feed the Nutro Natural for Sensitive Stomachs (my dog has a sensitive stomach) as a base. Each day I also add either tri-color pasta, cheerios, or quaker oats (for some reason quaker oats tend to make my males go into an immediate breeding frenzy). They also get a fresh fruit or vegetable 6 days a week. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, romaine lettuce, spinach, all types of squash, cored apple slices (apple seeds can be toxic to rats), and pears are the ones I use (citrus can also be toxic to male rats). Every other week they get a hardboiled egg, the other week they get chicken and turkey bones (with some cooked meat still on them).

Hoods for tanks are extremely easy to make. All it requires is 1/2" x 1/2" or 1/4" x 1/4" hardware cloth and a little patience.

Attatched are some pics of enclosures I modified for rats. The green one is an iris tree storage tub (about 48" long 24" wide and 14" tall) It has a "jungle gym" made from pvc pipe in it (this is a juvenile grow out enclosure). The blue one is one of my first attempts and is used to house females with litters (each female with a litter has her own tub).

Bryan

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...idratcage1.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...idratcage2.jpg