Re: Help me plan/setup a feeder colony? (rats)
I'm in the same boat Gin though I know my local pet store will take any overflow but till I get my numbers to the amount I like to have on hand my breeder male is baching it with some bigger male weans and my available females are just hanging out together in another big tub and doing whatever female rats do when left to themselves (probably rat gossip about the stud rat LOL).
~~Jo~~
Re: Help me plan/setup a feeder colony? (rats)
lol rat gossip...!
Yes, your biggest trouble with breeding rats, is usually what to do with the extras. That, and buying bedding. :)
Re: Help me plan/setup a feeder colony? (rats)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ginevive
lol rat gossip...!
Yes, your biggest trouble with breeding rats, is usually what to do with the extras. That, and buying bedding. :)
I have the ~15 gallon tubs i pictured above. 6 per "colony"
1 for (male and 2-3 ladies)
1 for (2-3 ladies "chilling", or emergency maternity tub if too many are preggy)
2 for maternity (subtract the number of ladies from the above tubs when you put one in here)
1 for male feeders
1 for female feeders
That puts me at 4 tubs for 6-7 breeders, i think that should be a fair number, and if not, I can always get more :)
Im going to have 4 colonies, so about 24 ladies producing... my friend has 30 ladies producing and cant keep up with his snake needs (he has 50 snakes). I plan on having 20-40 hungry females, so Im pretty sure I shouldnt over produce (especially with keeping males and females seperate, and not allowing instant-repregnancies with the females, giving them time to regain strength, etc.
Re: Help me plan/setup a feeder colony? (rats)
oh and for bedding I will probably stick with aspen once I used up my 13.5 cubic feet of pine i bought from walmart for $15... or start using the pine just for the feeder cages and use aspen for the breeders
Re: Help me plan/setup a feeder colony? (rats)
here is the food list we've compiled so far, we still need to find peanuts and sunflower seeds
Lab BlocksDog FoodTri pastaCheeriosPuffed Wheat
Puffed Rice
RaisinsMultigrain cerealSplit peaLentilsOats
Ends up being about 155 lbs of food so far... we will see how long it lasts :P going to seal it up in tubs