Male to Female Ratio for mice and rats

building a rack finally and wondering what do you guys think will be a safe number 1.? , the mice will be in the home depot 99 cent tubs, those are 14 x 7 3/4 x 4 1/2 inch and the rats will be in 22 x 16 1/2 x 6 inch tubs.

just asking for advise for people with more experience.

Ralph Davis does 1.5 or 1.6 for rats.

I have 1.2 mice in (14" X 10" X 3½") tubs, those are breeding and birthing tubs (males rotates between tubs)

I have 1.3 - 1.4 rats in (22¼ X 16¾ X 6¾) tubs those are breeding tubs, once pregnant the females are moved to smaller individual tubs for birthing.

I keep 1.2 mice per tub (26x15x10) together all the time. I just got a sweet trio of rats (Thanks to Fearless! :gj:) and I keep them in wire cages since my previous tub attempts with rats were disastrous. :) The girls live in a 2 story cage together and the male has his own single story cage. Once breeding and the girls are close to delivery, they each have their own 10g tank.

We use this....http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/rat_rack/ratrack.shtml

It works out really well. We move our rats around quite a bit, but when breeding we usually only do 1.2, although I think there is space for 1.4....maybe 1.5, just for breeding. If you use more than 2-3 females, you should probably separate them for birthing. Ours have not had any issues with communal nesting, though other people have, and to avoid the situation entirely, separate birthing is always the safe bet.

This summer I am hoping to build a rack like this...http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/rat...ing_rack.shtml

That way, we can increase production if we want, and I think I am going to make a level or two with 1/4" hardware cloth for our ASF's. Also, another benefit with the separate birthing is that you can know for sure which babies came from which moms. This helps a lot if you are selectively breeding for markings, colors, litter sizes, or whatever else your heart desires.

Hope this helps.

My rats are 1.2 and my mice are 1.3.

Heres my mice setup.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...g/100_1933.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

My rats are 1.2 and my mice are 1.3.

Heres my mice setup.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...g/100_1933.jpg

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Very nice setup! I never even considered those types of drawer organizers for rodents, too busy telling ppl why it doesnt work for snakes.

You just informed me of some easy overflow caging for me. Thanks!

No problem. Very easy to setup cost 7$ per drawer.

I use equine fresh pine pellets for bedding. this summer im gonna build rack to set them up on so i can wheel the around easier.

Hi,

Don't the waterbottles stop the drawers from opening? Or aren't the sides solid?

Neat idea though - no problems with chew outs or anything yet?


dr del

the water bottle does help keep drawers form sliding out. its like a lock in case they figure out how to get it open. and yes there's a solid outer side then the tubs. been in this setup for 4.5 months now and theres not a single chew mark and the 22 babies being curious as tearing up the paper rolls still dont chew.

im averaging 18-30 mice per month. all is well.