Is it possible to breed rats in an apartment?

As my collection has been growing so has my frozen rodent bill. I've been thinking about setting up a 2 or 3 breeding groups of 1.3 or 1.4 to try to help lower the cost and supply the live prey that some of mine prefer. I know rodents tend to stink and I live in a two bedroom apartment. Is it possible to do small scale breeding in an apartment? I've also been debating about if I should breed rats or ASF. Any advice or opinions are welcome.

Yes you can and rats or asf's are the thing to breed. You would think mice smell less but their urine actually puts off the most smell. I have 4 breeding colonies of 6 mice, 5 colonies of 5 rats, and grow out tubs. All in a storage closet. I'm picking up 2 colonies of asf's and a few more rat and mouse colonies in a couple days as well. I have to take some pictures. I don't have time right now. Give me an email and I'll get back with pictures and everything.

d.scott.benn@hotmail.com

Do you ever notice cooking odors or the smell of cigarette (or other) smoke from other apartments in the hallways of your building or in your own apartment? If so, you're probably asking for trouble with that particular odor-producing activity you're thinking about starting. ;)

By the way, are all your animals enumerated on your lease or otherwise known to your landlord? If not, once someone comes into your apartment investigating those rodent odors....OOPS!

I've bred rats before. I had a 1.3 and each female gave me apx 12 babies. I used bounce sheets and an air purifier to reduce the smell. Wasn't too bad, but I'm sure if you put them in a room you don't go in very often you should be fine. Also changing the bedding every 5 days or so really helps as well.

It can be done but I would first look at the cost of breeding rats on a yearly basis and then compare it to buying F/T. I'd also recommend asking around for cheap good food, bedding, and cage set-up for the colony.

I change my rats every 2 days and I have 2.6 u don't even know I have them. The bedding i use is only $6 for a big bag at Walmart.

We do. It is a little smelly and I am going to go pick up a DIY air purifier this weekend. We live in a 1 bedroom so there is no where else to put the rats. They are usually out on my porch if the weather is warm enough, but lately they have been inside 24/7 because it has been so cold.

I also have 6 bins running 1.4 with babies so they are a little crowded. I clean 2x a week to try and keep the smell down. I don't believe the smell sticks to items like cigarette smoke does, but I could be wrong.

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Originally Posted by scott808

Yes you can and rats or asf's are the thing to breed. You would think mice smell less but their urine actually puts off the most smell. I have 4 breeding colonies of 6 mice, 5 colonies of 5 rats, and grow out tubs. All in a storage closet. I'm picking up 2 colonies of asf's and a few more rat and mouse colonies in a couple days as well. I have to take some pictures. I don't have time right now. Give me an email and I'll get back with pictures and everything.

d.scott.benn@hotmail.com

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Thank you. I sent the e-mail. :)

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Originally Posted by jfmoore

Do you ever notice cooking odors or the smell of cigarette (or other) smoke from other apartments in the hallways of your building or in your own apartment? If so, you're probably asking for trouble with that particular odor-producing activity you're thinking about starting. ;)

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Smoking isn't allowed in my building so I don't notice that, but I do occasion smell food someone is cooking, but the kitchens are very close to the doors, closer even than the bedrooms. I was just wondering if it was possible to keep the smell down by changing the bedding frequently or using a certain type of bedding. I also don't plan on doing large scale breeding.

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Originally Posted by jfmoore

By the way, are all your animals enumerated on your lease or otherwise known to your landlord? If not, once someone comes into your apartment investigating those rodent odors....OOPS!

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I appreciate your concern about my leasing arrangements but I won't get into trouble for having all of my reptiles. They don't know the exact number of reptiles in my apartment, but before I got my first one I asked if I could have one. I was told that they don't care about caged pets so only my dog and cat matter and I pay a monthly fee to have them ($20 for the dog and $10 for the cat). I don't support keeping anything that is in violation of a lease.

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Originally Posted by cmz1234

I've bred rats before. I had a 1.3 and each female gave me apx 12 babies. I used bounce sheets and an air purifier to reduce the smell. Wasn't too bad, but I'm sure if you put them in a room you don't go in very often you should be fine. Also changing the bedding every 5 days or so really helps as well.

It can be done but I would first look at the cost of breeding rats on a yearly basis and then compare it to buying F/T. I'd also recommend asking around for cheap good food, bedding, and cage set-up for the colony.

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Thanks. :)

I do still need to price it out, but even if it costs a little more than f/t it might be worth it for my snakes that don't take f/t very well. Live rodents cost significantly more than frozen and I could save on gas.

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Originally Posted by marriedtothegame

I change my rats every 2 days and I have 2.6 u don't even know I have them. The bedding i use is only $6 for a big bag at Walmart.

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Thanks. :)

There are a lot of farm stores around here so I might be able to buy bedding cheap there too.

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Originally Posted by aldebono

We do. It is a little smelly and I am going to go pick up a DIY air purifier this weekend. We live in a 1 bedroom so there is no where else to put the rats. They are usually out on my porch if the weather is warm enough, but lately they have been inside 24/7 because it has been so cold.

I also have 6 bins running 1.4 with babies so they are a little crowded. I clean 2x a week to try and keep the smell down. I don't believe the smell sticks to items like cigarette smoke does, but I could be wrong.

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Thank you. :)

I was planning on putting them in my spare room or my living room. I think cleaning regularly will keep the smell down. I don't want to smell them so I won't let it get so bad that my neighbors can smell them. I can't imagine the smell sticks like cigarettes either.

You'd be fine so long as you do like you're planning: change the bedding frequently and rats or soft furs. Mice are NASTY for smelling, especially their urine! One thing about Norway rats is that they grow to size faster than what do soft furs but they can also grow too large in that your snake wouldn't be able to eat it. It isn't too much of an issue if you're wanting holdbacks/grow outs but just something to be aware of. I know soft furs take a good while to mature enough to be able to reproduce, which if you go in knowing that and plan accordingly...anyway.

You really won't save any money raising your own, unless you can sell off some of your "extras" and/or if you have enough snakes that it makes sense economically to raise your own. It is pretty cool to see them produce and know that you raised what you're feeding your animals and when (or if) you get into the genetics of coat type/coloration/pattern, etc. then it gets to be almost as much fun raising the rats as it is the snakes, lol! Here's a few options as far as ready-made racks if you don't have access to woodworking equipment or don't want to build your own:

http://boamaster.com/catalog/Rodent_...acks-18-1.html

The price for the economy rack is right about what it cost me to build mine of the same style only with a few more tubs. Food for thought, if nothing else. Good luck and hope that helps!

Wow! Looking at your collection list, I'd say you'd more than likely save a lot of money raising your own versus having to pay for shipping frozen feeders. I know mine all prefer live (some will take f/t but they all seem to do better on live) and the cost of shipping sometimes exceeds the total of the feeders when I was buying frozen.

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Originally Posted by youbeyouibei

...One thing about Norway rats is that they grow to size faster than what do soft furs but they can also grow too large in that your snake wouldn't be able to eat it.

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That's why God invented freezers. :P

I breed in my apartment with no problems at all. I have 5 females, 2 males, and a few misc ones just for fun.

I have an air purifier, and it works magic! Keeps the smell and rat dander down. Also provides air flow. So I highly recommend a purifier.

You can also litter train your rats. They're smart animals who are very capable of learning. Litter training keeps messes to a minimum. And dumping a litter box beats dumping a cage or tub.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by jfmoore

That's why God invented freezers. :P

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Hahahahaha! Shhh! That would refute my argument as to why I NEED to buy a blood python, to feed the "too large" of rats and retired breeders to, lol!

I tried to breed rats in my apartment. That ended after about a month. The smell was terrible. I completely changed the bedding out every 3 days and it still stunk. Can it be done? Yes. Is it pleasant? No

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I tried to breed rats in my apartment. That ended after about a month. The smell was terrible. I completely changed the bedding out every 3 days and it still stunk. Can it be done? Yes. Is it pleasant? No

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I'm lucky, i'm in a small room and use 56 Quart tubs. The smell isn't bad besides one rat who ALWAYS knocks over the water bowl :rolleyes: Tisk tisk tisk

Can it be done, as stated yes! of course! Should you? now that we can not answer. :P

I do breed rats in my apartment. I have my office set up in our master bedroom apartment, and that is where I keep my rats and snakes. They're probably not allowed, so I try to keep them a secret by keeping the cages in my closets. I just shut the doors whenever maintenance comes over.

I buy native earth lab blocks from nationalpetpharmacy.com. I add two bags of sunseed pine bedding to bring my order up to $49, which qualifies me for free shipping when I use autoship. You can set your autoship orders very far apart, so it's a great way to save money for most people.

I have a hoover brand air purifier in my room, on account of my horrible allergies, and the rat smell. It helps a lot with both, and I highly recommend air purifiers to anyone who breeds rodents.

I clean my cages every 5 days. I have homemade cages made of sterilite bins, so they are extremely easy to clean. I just dump the contents into a trash bag, wipe the entire thing down with clorox wipes, and put new bedding in.

I have food hoppers built into my cages, which helps tremendously with saving costs on food. The rats can no longer bury it, which means that I no longer have wasted food when I clean cages.

For euthanasia, I bought a C02 canister and regulator from amazon. You can get them filled at a local sports store (academy sports for me). I put the rats in a 10 gallon glass tank, put a towel over the top, slip the hose under the towel, and that's my gas chamber right there.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I tried to breed rats in my apartment. That ended after about a month. The smell was terrible. I completely changed the bedding out every 3 days and it still stunk. Can it be done? Yes. Is it pleasant? No

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I just think you need to be realistic. Sure it can be done but the cost savings and sacrifice probably are a wash or close to it. I wouldn't even attempt to feed my large collection by breeding if I didn't have a house and a garage. Many people here are feeding a few snakes and that makes sense to me. You have a large diverse collection that is going to require a lot of rats, time, and money. I change mine weekly in the garage and I couldn't imagine what that would smell like in an apartment regardless of air purifiers, wall wart smelly things, and etc. The one thing that no one has really touched on is the time it takes to clean, feed, and water a breeding colony of rodents. You're apartment is going to smell like a rat factory unless you're OCD about changing every 3-4 days. I'd seriously take some of these things into account before you jump into this. I recall a thread you posted awhile back about your time being minimum and collection size etc. I would really suggest that you consider if you want that time to decrease. Rodent breeding might be cost saving but it is also time costing.

I'd personally probably recommend finding a rodent breeder locally. I supplement the large amounts I breed with a rodent breeder. This has saved me lots of space, time, and insanity :) It's time consuming, stinky, and costly to raise rats up. That's why I mostly feed pups and weans to almost my entire collection. The big girls get smalls and sometimes mediums from the local breeder. It's worth $2 to save the time, hassle, stink, and cost of raising rats beyond weanling/small size.

Just some food for thought and playing some devils advocate before you think it is an easy road. As always I wish you the best luck on it whichever way you decide to go!

Regards,

B

I use to live in a one bedroom apt and bred rats. I also kept some for pets. I cleaned everyone once or twice a week. My apt didn't smell, in fact I had people tell me that they wouldn't know I had any animals (by the smell) if they didn't see them. And I kept the rats in the living room, by the door. Can they smell? Sure. But it depends on how many you have and how often you clean them. Also what you feed them. I find they smell less eating rodent blocks then dog food.

My rodent breeder uses corncob bedding for his rats. He swears by it, as it pretty much banishes all urine/feces smell.

We got the DIY air purifier today. WOW the difference!!!!

We have 6 bins running a 1.4 in most and all with pups. AKA Lots of rats in each bin (Thinning the herds tomorrow). They are literally in my living room and the smell is not noticeable.

Love this contraption!

I am excited to see if it helps with my allergy/cold I have had for the past month.

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Originally Posted by BPNoobie

My rodent breeder uses corncob bedding for his rats. He swears by it, as it pretty much banishes all urine/feces smell.

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I really love corncob bedding. It prevents RI as well as the odor.
But sadly, it's pretty expensive compared to other beddings. D: