Optimal temp(climate) for rat breeding

So I'm going to start breeding rats in the spring and I'll be doing it in my shed in my backyard which stays the same temperature as it is outside pretty much year round. Since I live in central Illinois where it can go below zero in the winter and well above 100* in the summertime, I was wondering if I should come up with some kind of climate control for the shed. I've already decided that if it came to it I could insulate the walls of the shed and run electricity out to it and have an air conditioner in the summer and a space heater in the winter to keep it at optimal temps, I'm just wondering what the optimal temps would be to keep them first, alive and healthy and second breeding consistently.

Thanks,
Greg

Bump for a little bit of help? Please??

i breed rats i keep them between 78 and 80f. mine breed like crazy at this temp.

Norway rats will breed best between 70 and 80 degrees. They can survive if it gets a little colder but production may drop off. If it gets too warm though they'll start dropping dead.

Thank you both for your help.

I agree between 70 and 80 is a good temp and production is great. Not sure how low or high you could get before production stops

Around 68-75F seems to work best. 80F is a bit warm.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

Norway rats will breed best between 70 and 80 degrees. They can survive if it gets a little colder but production may drop off. If it gets too warm though they'll start dropping dead.

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Some of mine die in the winter too.

Mine breed from 45-100...I only breed a couple thousand a month, what do I know.:rolleyes:

if you are running racks, remember ambient air temp in the room is different than temps and humidity within a rack. You need to account for waste management, humidity, crowding etc...these play more of a role in sucess than the actual temp does.

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

Mine breed from 45-100...I only breed a couple thousand a month, what do I know.:rolleyes:

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Well I think you probably know more about huge colonies of rats, and therefore dont mind when some stop producing cause you still get huge results because you have a huge amount of breeders..but if its on a smaller scale say only 30 breeders, it might be a little different because you NEED all of your breeders to be producing regularly otherwise you wont have enough rats for your needs..

Just my :2cent:

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

Mine breed from 45-100...I only breed a couple thousand a month, what do I know.:rolleyes:

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that kills me!:D

I too breed a couple of thousand a month... Don't much keep an eye on temps. As long as it's not 35 or 100, they breed. I'm guessing my room stays around 72-ish year round, figure an extra 5 degrees for crowding in the tub....
the other one I hear all the time,
NEVER BREED RATS AND MICE IN THE SAME ROOM.
Whatever, mine are all in the same room, have been for years...

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Originally Posted by Powerspythons

Well I think you probably know more about huge colonies of rats, and therefore dont mind when some stop producing cause you still get huge results because you have a huge amount of breeders..but if its on a smaller scale say only 30 breeders, it might be a little different because you NEED all of your breeders to be producing regularly otherwise you wont have enough rats for your needs..

Just my :2cent:

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I run 1.8. If I do not pull 2 females on average weekly, my records tell me to dump the tub and replace it. If production slows, I know. You will experience fluctuation with seasons like you will with ALL animals that experience seasons.

Big difference between when you produce for yourself vs others. When you produce for yourself, you can try to account for slow periods and deaths. When you produce for others, one minute you had just enough, the next you are calling in favors to keep accounts covered. You account and produce. I hope and pray:rofl:

interesting...

It just blows me away that you guys produce thousands of rats per month...to me thats amazing. Props to you. I could never do it!! LOL :)

It's more of a chore than it's worth, that's for sure.
It's a catch 22, you either produce way too many, and people stop buying, or people are wanting hundreds every month, and you can't keep up.
Me, I've been in the latter for a couple of months now...

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Originally Posted by jasbus

It's more of a chore than it's worth, that's for sure.
It's a catch 22, you either produce way too many, and people stop buying, or people are wanting hundreds every month, and you can't keep up.
Me, I've been in the latter for a couple of months now...

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:bow::bow::bow:

I've said the same thing over and over. Same circumstances. My area slowed so I shifted effort to mice. I hate mice.

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Originally Posted by jasbus

It's more of a chore than it's worth, that's for sure.
It's a catch 22, you either produce way too many, and people stop buying, or people are wanting hundreds every month, and you can't keep up.
Me, I've been in the latter for a couple of months now...

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+1

I also breed rats, I have my rats with the temp around 78 degrees, anything more than 80 degrees seems to be a lil too much for them. They tend to drink allot more water and stop breeding. The hotter temperatures seem to do the same for my mice and gerbils too :/. Good luck with your breeding :)

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

:bow::bow::bow:

I've said the same thing over and over. Same circumstances. My area slowed so I shifted effort to mice. I hate mice.

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Mice stink. :puke:
Same boat there too lately... Usually I can't keep enough mice, now, I'm freezing a couple hundred a week just to get rid of them! But, as soon as I take down 20 tubs, I'll be short again...
What a pain.

I just had a guy back out on an order. Friggin' 50 smalls, 12 mediums, 12 Larges, 12 X Larges.

Its always nice to have to find a spot for all of those a$$hats for a week until someone else needs them. There goes a whole bag of food this week LOL. Now I lose another $12 on these rodents.

When someone cancels a big rodent order on you, after you already have it packed and ready to go, you should be able to legally kick them in the nuts.

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Originally Posted by tomfromtheshade

I just had a guy back out on an order. Friggin' 50 smalls, 12 mediums, 12 Larges, 12 X Larges.

Its always nice to have to find a spot for all of those a$$hats for a week until someone else needs them. There goes a whole bag of food this week LOL. Now I lose another $12 on these rodents.

When someone cancels a big rodent order on you, after you already have it packed and ready to go, you should be able to legally kick them in the nuts.

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Oh, come on. You're making the big money selling these things! what's a few rats?:D

I keep my little colony in my basement and the temp never goes above 80 or below 60. I applaud all of you guys/gals breeding in the thousands! It must definitely be a full time job taking care of that many rats/mice!

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Originally Posted by jasbus

Oh, come on. You're making the big money selling these things! what's a few rats?:D

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Yeah, especially on anything over a large, where you feed them and feed them and feed them for weeks and weeks and weeks LOL.