Rat breeding setup

I am going to be using one 20gal tank and I wanted to know what bedding would be best. What do you guys think about this stuff that i found at petco?

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PLEASE resize your pictures! They are HUGE!

Carefresh is crappy bedding, it doesn't absorb well and it sit all soggy doing nothing. It can be dustier than pine too.

Tanks SUCK for breeding rats in, they don't get enough air movement and ammonia builds up and soon your rats have Myco.

If your not going to use tubs and racks to breed in do yourself a favor and use wire cages.

(I used tens for preggo mommas, that is acceptable but short term only) IMO

Aspen is the only bedding I'll use, period

I didnt want wire cages because my parents already feel uncomfortable. And what is Myco? So tanks are thaaaat bad?

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Originally Posted by DJ_Bizarre

I didnt want wire cages because my parents already feel uncomfortable. And what is Myco? So tanks are thaaaat bad?

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years ago tanks were it....and people bred rats and life went on.

small scale a tank will work and so will your bedding. Tractor supply will sell you a bale of kiln dried pine for about $6, that will serve your needs fine. If you are picky, you can buy a bale of aspen for about $11-14.


If you don't want to deal with a 50 lbs bag, Mazuri sells a 25 lb bag also. But economics says the larger bag is better. Small scale, I would stay tried and true and all should go smoothly.

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Originally Posted by DJ_Bizarre

I didnt want wire cages because my parents already feel uncomfortable. And what is Myco? So tanks are thaaaat bad?

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I use the clear Sterilite containers from Walmart and they run me under $10 I used my soldering iron to put the holes in it for airflow (alot of others use wire mesh) and yes it took alot of holes. I have not had any issues with them chewing out. You can get the containers with locking lids as well. For bedding, I use the pine shavings from Wal-Mart as well. 3 cu ft for around $7. I know some people here will say that the pine is unhealthy for the rats, but I have not had any issues and have used it from day one.

Lots of people use pine and never have a problem. I get my pine from the feed store and it runs $.99 for a 9CF bale.

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Originally Posted by izoid

Lots of people use pine and never have a problem. I get my pine from the feed store and it runs $.99 for a 9CF bale.

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I have not been able to find any deals like that in my area! 9CF for .99 cents is a great price!

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Originally Posted by izoid

Lots of people use pine and never have a problem. I get my pine from the feed store and it runs $.99 for a 9CF bale.

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Kiln dried pine "works", regular pine shavings are POISONOUS to rats.
Got red nosed rats? lol.

Tanks SUCK for Norway rats, especially tall tanks, since the ammonia can't escape, not good!

I keep asf's in tanks with good air flow over the tank and it works, but not Norway rats.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

Kiln dried pine "works", regular pine shavings are POISONOUS to rats.
Got red nosed rats? lol.

Tanks SUCK for Norway rats, especially tall tanks, since the ammonia can't escape, not good!

I keep asf's in tanks with good air flow over the tank and it works, but not Norway rats.

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I'm going to double check mine tonight but I believe they are kiln dried. No red noses here, unless they get into an odd scuffle.

So then i shouldnt get that cotton stuff ryte, ii was curious bexause it said high on lile neutralizing odor, low dust, and high absorbancy, i was thinking a 20gal long for a 1.3 ratio

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Originally Posted by DJ_Bizarre

So then i shouldnt get that cotton stuff ryte, ii was curious bexause it said high on lile neutralizing odor, low dust, and high absorbancy, i was thinking a 20gal long for a 1.3 ratio

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Kaytee has those big bags of Aspen that I use for my rats. I use them for my snakes too. They're about $15 for the biggest bag though, so the kiln-dried pine is definitely much cheaper.

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Originally Posted by PghBall

I have not been able to find any deals like that in my area! 9CF for .99 cents is a great price!

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I mistyped, should have read $4.99, still a great deal!

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Originally Posted by izoid

I mistyped, should have read $4.99, still a great deal!

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No doubt. I will have to start checking around again.

I pay $5.79 per big bale of pine shavings.

I'm sure that if I bought in bulk I could do better, but it is super high quality stuff.

So i know aspen is absorbant because its in my display tank but does it work well with rat odor

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Originally Posted by DJ_Bizarre

So i know aspen is absorbant because its in my display tank but does it work well with rat odor

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Just my opinion, but I think that pine does better keeping down the odor.

I get 10 cubic foot compressed bags of aspen that un-compresses to 18 cubic feet for $18

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Originally Posted by DJ_Bizarre

So i know aspen is absorbant because its in my display tank but does it work well with rat odor

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Personally, I sprinkle sweet PDZ underneath the bedding on my rat tanks. I buy it from the Tack and Feed store that I buy the Mazuri 6F rat food that I use for the rats.

Some of the people here use that other bedding (can't remember the name) that absorbs ammonia which is the same as what sweet PDZ does.

Most people don't bother with it though. It's not too bad if you clean at the very least - weekly.

if you use tanks just set you a lil personal fan to blow air across the tops of the cages thats what i do but i plan on switching to totes so i can use a rack system