Breeding rats outside?

I'm allergic to rats, I've been able to deal with breeding them so far but not well. Right now I have them in the reptile room. Not the best set up but thats all the room I have at the moment. My boyfriend works with tools a lot so I cant keep them in the garage due to fumes.

My question is, I live in northern California, Not for from Napa and sacramento. Is there a way to keep them outside in a shed year round without it being detrimental to they're health? Has anyone tried this? This is just for the rats/mice, not the snakes they'll be kept indoors.

the biggest things are:

1. keeping the rats cool.
2. keeping the ammonia levels down because rats have very sensitive lungs
3. keeping wild rodents out, they steal food, contaminate food, spread parasites and other unwanted things, etc.

as long as you can keep those things up you're golden. People i know with their own rodent colonies not in their homes basically have a mini house outside for them.

A Garage or even ventilated shed would be a much better Idea.

Something a bit more inclosed. and if its placed somewhere in shade to keep the temps down. a good fan for ventilation would help that too.

But no I would not place the racks directly outside. the above mentioned reasons are a good start.

Shawn

I didnt say dirrectly outside, I said in a shed.

What I was thinking about was get I don't know like 2 of the window fans, one the right way to bring in cool air in the summer and one to take out the air from the shed to help remove ammonia?

Keeping them secure form outside animals is your best option. Temperatures can range from 50-80 and be fine.

I currently keep all rats/mice at 80 and thye breed VERY well. Consistent temps seem to be the way to keep them breeding consistently.

I keep mine in a Ted shed and have no problems...I have insulation but still use fans and keep the door open as much as possible...I am located in south florida so heat is a problem specially around the summer time...

I hate to resurrect an old thread but I was just wondering about this. I'm not at the point of breeding my own rats yet but someday I'm going to need to and I'm allergic to the little buggers, too. Did you ever do this? Were you successful?

My uncle gave me his box van that doesn't run anymore. It's winter, an it can get cold, so we insulated it and put in a heater. All my ASFs and mice are doing just fine in there :)

I also live in northern cali, Sacramento actually. My rat guy breeds his in a shed outside with a ventilation fan. His rats do get Respiratory complications from the cold weather but nothing to severe it seems. He has had wild rats break in and he has had rats escape to the yard. He seems to produce enough for his needs which is a decent size collection and a few extra.

I plan to start a small breeding project for my collection soon, due to living constraints it will be in my garage which for some reason I do believe is warmer than the inside of my house during the daytime when nobody is at home. Here in nor cal the seasons as of late have been quite good temperature wise for breeding, except during the winter months where it has been chillier than rats would prefer.

My question is does anyone here have experience successfully keeping rats in the garage where outside temps range from 38F to 92F AVG?

I'm going to have no choice but to run a space heater during the coldest parts of winter and a small AC unit during the hottest part of the summer. It gets to be about 100 degrees F and it stays that way for a couple of months. The other thing I could do would be to freeze water in water bottles and rotate those in the cages to help keep them cool, too. I used to keep rabbits and we would do this for them when they were outside because it got so hot.

Hey Amanda, I live in Florida and we are going to get a mid 30's night tonight. This is the second winter my rats have been outside. The first, I would bring them inside when it got in the 30's, this year I simply cover the mesh screen on top of their bin in bedding for insulation, add newspaper, and wrap the rack in a plastic sheet. I have found there to be a 20 degree difference inside their newspaper nest and covered rack than the outside temp. The ammonia can get high with this method so clean bins are a must.
I have yet to dose with Tylan for RI, while last year I was dosing continuously. Last year I lost 3 rats (all very new to the colony) and this year with my established colony, I have only lost two that were sudden deaths.

I hope this helps! I bet in an enclosed area outside with this method you wouldn't need to use a space heater.

For the summer, I am sure they stay in the shade and run a box fan pointed down into my rack. Everyone was much happier and I had no losses. It kept the air circulating and the bedding drier. I noticed an increase in litters (too hot to nooky!) and a decrease in how much they drank and urinated. Just be sure to haul old bedding away when you change bins and it will keep the smell to a minimum as well.

I am new to breeding and live on Lakeland. So the heat would not cause a problem as long as there is fresh air at all times in a shed? Thanks for the info.

I have no experience breeding rats although i'm looking to start as well. However i have had around 10 hamster before in my youth and we have keep them succesfully in the garage, all of them live to ripe old age of 2 to 3 years. I live in Canada so in the winter it can drop before 0 degree celsius. The garage is usual only a few degree hotter than outside.

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Originally Posted by BERNIE45

I am new to breeding and live on Lakeland. So the heat would not cause a problem as long as there is fresh air at all times in a shed? Thanks for the info.

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Just be sure the sun doesn't hit them at any point during the day or they will surely bake. I would not keep them in an enclosed area without an exhaust fan and a fan blowing across the bins. Keeping them in a shaded garage would be good if it is cooler than the outside temp and add a few box fans that blow across the rack and they should be happy. Just be sure to be very diligent about clean bedding and fresh water as you would any animal.

Thanks again for the info..

I also live in California (Mojave Desert) I keep my rats in a well ventilated shed. It gets really hot here. I had a portable A/C, but that thing crapped itself and I got a window a/c. Works for me. It's not a huge shed, only a 12 x 17. It houses a 20 tub FB (1.4 in each) 2- 5 tub birthing racks, 15 tub birthing rack ( 2 moms in each) 7 tub grow out rack and a 5 tub holding bin. The a/c is set to 70 until about 7pm. (got as hot as 105 here already) electric bill only increased to around $20 a month.