rats to snake ratios-neccesity farming

This will be the birthing/nursing bin. Wondering if I should get another because of two different ages of litters? Also plan on getting water bottles and pine shavings.http://i739.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps3gwzvdqc.jpg

They need more than holes for air. They're not snakes. They need at least the entire lid to be an open vent.



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Yes, they'll need a lot more air circulation than those little holes will allow. A popular way of adding circulation is to cut out big holes in the sides and/or top and use hardware cloth to cover the holes. Here is a thread that describes how, altho the links to the pics seem to be broken:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...1-New-Rat-Bins

Here are some pics of my "bin cage" that I used for my pet rats. They were about 4 weeks old at the time and the mesh is 1/2". I soldered holes about every 1.5" and "wove" the mesh on with aluminum wire. You will need good tin snips or other metal cutters to work with the mesh.

Whole bin
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...gefromside.jpg

Closeup of side mesh
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...vingonside.jpg

Closeup of outside of top
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...idecloseup.jpg

Closeup of inside of top.. Note that the wire overlaps where the cut is so that they cannot chew the plastic
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...idecloseup.jpg

Well now ya tell me.
They did all right last night but noticed there was a lot of humidity in the bin early this morning so I put the two smalls in the little bin and cut several more holes in the lids and sides of both. Tonight I'm going to figure something better out. Thanks for the pics and help guys.

No problem. The wire mesh / aluminum wire I found at lowes in the "electric fence / cattle and chicken fencing" area. It was next to the chicken wire. I'd get the galvanized as it holds up better to rusting. If you do cut holes in the sides for mesh, make it pretty high above the bottom, like about 5-6" they will kick bedding out otherwise.

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Originally Posted by sunnyscales2day

I've looked into that, and while it would be cheaper, my human housemates would never go for a freezer full of rats. I can get away with stashing one still in it's baggie and box and the grocerie bag i walked out of the store with. But only if I stick it behind the ice bin. Buying a deep freeze is out of the question at the moment, but I will be getting one eventually. Im thinking a handfull of rats in bins kept under my bed or in my closet would solve most of my problems. So what the general consensus seems to be is 3 females and 1 male. I can feed the some babies off as I need to while some grow bigger. If its anything like gardening I should be able to keep things in balance. I still have questions about rat husbandry- but I will continue reading on in the forum. Thank you all!!

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double check craigslist for someone getting rid of a mini freezer or a full size fridge/freezer bought my rat freezer off craiglist for 50$ and it was well worth it trust me