New Rat Room

This might be a little premature, as I am a few months out yet from getting everything going, but I wanted to share what I've gotten done so far.
My asf project went south. I had bad genes to start with and then the increase in the number of snakes I had to feed put a big hit on what I had left of them. I was down to one trio and the two females decided to chew the head completely off from the male. Those gruesome little buggers were nothing but a headache. I've got 2 females and 5 baby asf's left to feed off.
So, instead of spending a crap load of money every week feeding my snakes, I have decided to start breeding Norwegian rats. I have been picking them up as I can find them from reputable breeders willing to part. I am up to 1.2 adults, 5 younger girls that should be good to go in a month and a half or so, and I got my first batch of pinks today (13 from a first time mom and she is doing an awesome job so far). I ordered some frozen rats from rodent pro to cover the next 10 to 12 weeks of feedings or so, built another rack, and moved the whole operation into the basement. Here is what I have so far...
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/3492/00025151.jpg
I rebuilt the mortar tub rack for height clearance in the basement and put 1/2" screen on it instead of 1/4", I plan on using this rack for grow outs. I built the new 24 tub rack and plan on having 4.48 with the females cycling through every 12 weeks, so, if my math is correct, I should get about 4 litters a week. I don't have the plumbing and components for the water system on the new rack or the ventilation system for the room yet. I need a pay check or two before I can order what I need to finish it. I originally wanted to use kitty litter pans for the new rack, but after weeks of searching, I could not find any that weren't curved at the top. I went with these bus tubs from a local restaurant supply store. I picked them up for $4 a piece on sale. I realize that there is a chewing risk with these things. I figured I could just fabricate a bottom for them if a problem occurred. I know it's not an ideal situation. I was just making due with what I had available. Besides, these things seem way more durable than any other similar sized tub I have come across.
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/1443/00025121.jpg
I had gutted my wifes old stand up freezer to make an egg incubator, leaving her with a small 8 cubic foot chest freezer. I picked up a new 15 cubic feet chest freezer for my wife so I could inherit the old 8 cubic one, and so she would be less pissed about me gutting her stand up.
Overflow storage
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/1908/00025171.jpg

Lastly, here is a picture of my first girl's litter. Seeing these little guys is what inspired this post. After all the prep work I have put in, seeing this made me feel like this whole project has begun. I have another female looking like she will drop this week, but she isn't as cute as this girl.
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/5314/00025181.jpg

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I'm sure I will be back with more long posts as this project progresses. I'm basically learning from scratch with this stuff. Thanks for looking.

Looks pretty good!

Lookin good :gj:

looks great :)

A Very nice set up. Looks like you are well on your way. :gj:

Nice setup. I use the bus tubs also but I went with the larger High density ones. I think the only difference is the material and height is 2 inches taller. Anyway I have no problems with them chewing the bottoms aand at this point am not sure they have enough of a high point to get a hold of, at least on my half moon molds.

For anyone looking for litter pans.

http://www.ipetsuperstore.com/produc...-X-6~1463.html

Iris CB30 tubs are also great rat tubs. They are used in the Freedom Breeder rat racks.

nice job on that set up!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tomfromtheshade

For anyone looking for litter pans.

http://www.ipetsuperstore.com/produc...-X-6~1463.html

Iris CB30 tubs are also great rat tubs. They are used in the Freedom Breeder rat racks.

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Damn, I never thought to order pans online. I think I hit every store in a 30 mile radius looking for pans. Oh well, I'm kinda stuck with what I have at this point. I think I might get some of those for a three shelf rack and try to get a new trio of soft furs going for my picky eaters.

Niiiiice!!!

Looks great, and very professional!!

When I start breeding rats again this is totally what I would like to build. I know a lot of people make these but this setup to me owns!! Thanks for the inspiration!

It has been about 6 months now and I thought I would throw and update on this thread. We are weeks away from full production. The last of our little girls will be to size and ready to go into the rotation.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/8863/bothracks.jpg

We have had no issues with chewing. I don't think they can even get their teeth onto the ridges in the bottoms of the tubs. I am really liking these bus tubs. They are solid, and as long as no one is chewing them, I think they will last for a very long time.

We have found several people that want to buy our rats. Two people in particular have bigger snakes. We are going to need more grow out tubs, so I started looking around and found these big mixing tubs. 36"x24"x8"

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/9572/tubbytub.jpg

I'm considering making a 4 tub grow out rack with these big boys so I have more room to grow out some larges and extra larges for the interested buyers. It might be a month or more before I get around to building this thing, but when I do, I'll put up some more pictures.

That little dip in the top at the handle, great place for rat teeth..I've got hundreds of dollars and more that 3 dozen of those tubs chewed to hell and back.. best thing to do is right now pop rivet some flashing metal to the front and back of the tub at that dip so they can't get their teeth on it.. Same thing if it had the ridges in the bottom.

Other than that it looks great!!

Awesome job! Looks great.