How big of a colony would I need?

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Originally Posted by monkeywrench133

She actually doesn't have a problem with rats. Mice are a different story because she kept them as pets when she was a kid. Also, I've got a half acre lot with several out buildings I could convert into Rat Condos.

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That's cool then! But be forewarned some of those little hoppers are cute!

With that number to feed I might be inclined to go frozen if you have the freezer space - just to save myself the effort and room it would otherwise consume. Call me lazy :P

Thanks Daniel, Yeah, I was thinking that starting small would be my best option. But I know that lots of folks here do raise their own, so I thought I would ask the question.

Smulkin.................................Lazy:P

Just to give you an idea of a smaller rat colony for breeders/feeders. I have the following rats which feed the following snakes each week. I have a current total of 34 rats feeding 4 ball pythons (the BCI and milksnake require outside purchases for their feed). This is what I've got in my colony as of today:

Cage #1 - large main wire cage holds my male breeder rat and whatever female is currently rotating in with him for breeding, I pull the females out as soon as they show obvious signs of pregnancy

Tank #1 - holds one female rat and her 12 day old litter of 15 pups (actually 13 as two were fed off this past Thursday to my smallest BP)

Tub #1 - holds one pregnant female due to deliver in about 1 week

Tub #2 - holds a breeder female and her 3 day old litter of 12 pinks

Tub #3 - females only - holds 3 weanling female feeder rats and one female rat that is being raised as a future breeder (she'll go to the male at age 4 months)

Tub #4 - males only - currently none but would be for male feeders

With this colony I'm just keeping up with my requirements and once my two big females return from their breeding contract I will be short so I'm actually starting a second breeding colony soon.

They are on some nice shelving I bought from WalMart....cost me all of $17.88, is plastic and easily scrubbed, takes up hardly any floor space. They don't smell much at all if they are kept clean, not overcrowded and their tubs, tanks or cages have good ventilation as well as in a room with decent ventilation.

I usually let my breeder females rest for a week or two between litters, especially big ones, to get them back up to condition before putting them back in the main cage with the breeder male. They just go in the females only tub for that time.

Hope this helped give you an idea. Just the way we do it, not the only way LOL. I love breeding my own feeders and don't find it a ton of work really. I'll have to take a pic of my new rat rack....it's saving me a lot of space for very little money. Eventually I'm getting rid of the last 10 gallon tank I'm using. I love the 50 qt (11"widex26"longx16"high) clear rubbermaid tubs much better than glass so other than the large main cage I'm going with all tubs in the future.


~~Jo~~

Wont the rats chew out of the tubs though? ALso do you have a link to the rat rack like where you can buy it. I might get one today.

I use a homemade rack for my rats like below.

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

I like this because it doesnt take up very much space. I run 1.3 rats per tub and don't seperate anyone out unless needed. I find keeping the females in with the males they usually are expecting within a week or two of weaning babies. I am currently keeping 12.36 breeders and feed Tekland rodnet chow. I use a combination of kiln dried pine bedding and shredded paper (from junk mail, newspaper ads, and business paperwork). Rats seem to love the paper for nest building and it save me some cost on bedding. I find the only time I have seperated rats is when I see a couple babies that look smaller than the rest, I will "adopt" them out to another mother. I clean cages once a week, and fill water bottles twice a week. Other wise I try not to disturb them and they seem to do very well.

I think I covered most of the stuff that was talked about! LOL!! I love talking about the rats. I also put the weanlings in a large aquarium so I can watch them and laugh. They are so fun to watch bounce around and wrestle!

Bill

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Originally Posted by amg20102006

Wont the rats chew out of the tubs though? ALso do you have a link to the rat rack like where you can buy it. I might get one today.

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If there are any sharp edges inside the tub they can chew out. The inside should be smooth to the touch. Thats why I use concrete mixing tubs in my racks, they have rounded corners and no "edges" to chew.

Bill

Like Bill said you need tubs with smooth interiors but you do have to watch for chewing just in case. I feed and water daily and check them in passing once or twice daily so I'd catch them if they started that up.

I usually make sure they have things like empty toilet paper cylinders and stuff like that to chew on and so far none of them have chewed at all on the tubs. Ripped up pages from old telephone books are great fun for them. They chew on it, drag it around and build nests out of it and heck it gives me something to do with those darn old books laying around LOL.


~~Jo~~

Ok, I took the plunge last weekend and bought 2.4 rats and set up 1.2 colonies. One in a 15 gallon, the other in a 10 gallon. 2 of the females appeared pregnant when I bought them, so I put them in seperate cages. The female in the 10g had her litter two days ago. I left the male in with her. She had a litter of 8 or 10 pups, I couldn't get an accurate count. Today, there were 2 left. I caught the male eating one, but don't know if he killed it or what, there were a couple dead pups in the nest, but they had no bites on them, so I'm not sure what happened there.

The pregnant female in the 15g long had her litter today, 9 pups. I removed her and her litter to a tub temporarily, and took the other female's remaining two pups and put them with her. So far, she's taking care of all of them well.

So here are my questions

1: Is a 10 gallon tank too small for 1.2 rats? Could the rats in the 10g have been overcrowded, hence the eaten/killed pups?

2: Will a male rat kill the pups of another male, as lions do when a new male assumes alpha position? Since the females were pregnant when I bought them, I highly doubt the male with them was the father.

3: Are some females just bad mommies?

Quote:

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1: Is a 10 gallon tank too small for 1.2 rats? Could the rats in the 10g have been overcrowded, hence the eaten/killed pups?

2: Will a male rat kill the pups of another male, as lions do when a new male assumes alpha position? Since the females were pregnant when I bought them, I highly doubt the male with them was the father.

3: Are some females just bad mommies?

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Yes a ten gallon is far too small for 3 adult rats plus a litter.

Male rats are usually good with thier own young. I'm not sure how they react to young they perceive as not their own quite honestly. I don't allow my breeder male any access to anything younger than 5 week old male weans which are his offspring.

Yes some females are not good mothers especially on first litters and especially if they are crowded and stressed by the other unfamilar rats in a small enclosure. The female may well be a good mother in a situation she couldn't handle and therefore disposed of her litter (if indeed the mother did and not the other adults). I purposely breed my small colony with paired females. They go in with the male together, they are females that know each other, once they are both pregnant they go to maternity tubs....one female per 50 quart tub where they stay till they wean their litter at 23 or 24 days.

I cycle paired females so if one female has an overwhelmingly large litter they other female can foster some, or if a female dies or rejects her litter, I always have another female with similar aged young that will take over.

I don't keep my male in with the females after they are pregnant as he will re-breed them within 48 hours of delivery and for me, I don't want my females both nursing and carrying developing fetuses at the same time. Not saying anything is wrong with piggyback breeding, I just don't believe it is productive in the long run myself.


~~Jo~~

Has anyone done a cost analysis to see how much it costs per medium-large rat to keep fed? Im just curious how much of a savings it is for people vs using a local pet store.