Rat Breeding Learning Curve..

So how much of a learning curve is there for breeding rats? What are some of the newbie mistakes to watch out for?

Over-thinking it, lol! Seriously, they're as easy as can be. I couldn't grow a hardy mum with a 40 pound bag of Miracle Gro and Martha Stewart to tutor me but I've had no problems whatsoever raising rats. The one thing I'd say is to keep in mind how fast they reproduce; I have nine snakes I raise mine for and I'm currently sitting at 85+ feeder babies from 16 breeder females.

I raise mine in racks and have a lot of luck doing it that way. It's also nice to have a few empty tubs, if you elect to separate the moms/babies into birthing tubs or if you pull the males out. There's no right or wrong to it, just whatever works for your situation. Buy good stock for your breeders and if you can, talk to the person you're getting them from about what size litter they came from. I cherry-picked mine to be from larger litters (15+) and it's worked out well thus far with mine producing larger litters themselves. Holding back a few females from every couple of litters will keep you supplied with feeders, as they take about 4 months or so to raise up to breeding age. Other than that, I'd say poke around on this thread and read some of the stickies and you should be good. Add a male and female(s), give them 21-23 days and voila! babies, lol!

Start with good stock. For the last year or so I would occasionally purchase rats from a local reptile shop and those rats always died within a week or two. I thought it was something I was doing wrong until I tried raising some that I knew were from a good source and they (and their litters) are thriving just fine.

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Originally Posted by youbeyouibei

Over-thinking it, lol! Seriously, they're as easy as can be.
Buy good stock for your breeders and if you can, talk to the person you're getting them from about what size litter they came from.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

Start with good stock. For the last year or so I would occasionally purchase rats from a local reptile shop and those rats always died within a week or two. I thought it was something I was doing wrong until I tried raising some that I knew were from a good source and they (and their litters) are thriving just fine.

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Completely agree. Start with good stock and they are very easy.
The only real issue we have run into is alot of the females will end up on the same cycle:rolleyes:! So we would have little lulls in production. To overcome that we just added an additional breeding group and a few more females to rotate into our other breeding groups and it seems to be working better for us now.

One other thing. Feed them a good high quality food. It will help with production levels and also with the smell some.

The main reason I ask is that a friend of mine keeps warning me that it's so much harder than I think it will be. He raises his own rats and has had issues. He keeps saying, "you'll see. They'll eait their babies. Changing tubs takes hours; they get sick; they'll get lice; etc."

Until I ordered the Native Earth Rat food, he was feeding his rats dog food. I can't help but think that many of his problems were caused by using dog food. he piggy backed some food on my order...

Anyway, I hope I really am overthinking it. I'm just wondering because of all he keeps telling me.

thanks guys!

If you feed them a good diet, keep them with fresh water and clean cages, you shouldn't have issues.

If he's having tons of issues, he should probably look at what he's doing wrong. I rarely have babies eaten, never have had lice, and once I got the routine down, I can fill all the water bottles in about five minutes or so, and clean all the bins in about an hour(about 20 various bins/bottles).

You do need to think ahead to what you'll do with all the used bedding, and make sure there's good ventilation in the area you keep them. Racks make everything so much easier, and have a few extra bins(easier for cleaning and for replacements if rats chew them).

Newbie mistakes to me... don't mess with the babies too much, let the moms care for them. Feed good food, and don't let them run out of water. Don't keep biters, chewers or troublemaker rats. Don't forget to figure in space to raise replacement breeders and your feeders.

Yea I think a big part of it is the diet. If you feed dog food, be prepared for stinky rats and canabalism. I even had a rat a little bigger than a weaned rat get canabalized when I was feeding dog food. Needless to say I stopped that quickly after. When I was a kid I had pet rats that we fed normal pet rat food from the grocery store and they we're always having healthy babies and I wasn't even trying to breed them. As long as you keep em clean and fed properly, it will be one of the easiest things you've done

Wow. Sounds like your friend needs to maintain his colony more. It's actually pretty easy to breed rats. It's not rocket science. Put male with a few females and let them do their buisness. All you have to do is clean at least once a week and maintain food/water. What I found easier and faster to clean is to have a big trash can nearby.

Clean and good bedding prevents sickness. I personally use Native Earth Aspen shreds and wood stove pellets from Home Depot($5/40lb). They work great. I clean enclosures at least once a week. I haven't has a respiratory infection yet. Types of bedding makes a difference in health along with good food.

Like others have said, get a good stock. I personally got newly weaned babies from a number of sources and raised them up to know me.


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If you can afford it and got the time, Do what i do, clean every 2-3 days with fresh kiln pine.

Keeps ammonia down to reduce RI and myco flare ups as well keeps them healthy with non stained fur.


Its as simple as set them up and forget about them for few weeks till babies come

I got a personal stock, I can't figure this out, the rats I profit off of, are crazy breeders, but the two females and one male I have nothing for 4 weeks. Kind of up setting. I think I might have one female right now in there that is prego. but I am not too sure

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Originally Posted by crepers86

I got a personal stock, I can't figure this out, the rats I profit off of, are crazy breeders, but the two females and one male I have nothing for 4 weeks. Kind of up setting. I think I might have one female right now in there that is prego. but I am not too sure

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How old are your rats? Are they mature enough?
If nothing happens in 22-23 days then something is wrong.

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Spending a little time interacting with them can go a long way in making breeding your own feeders a more pleasant task. They're neat animals with individual personalities. It's also nice to have them used to human interaction...if all you do is clean and feed, they're more likely to be nervous and skittish. Breeding/cleaning/feeding rodents can become a grueling chore as well, so it's best to try to find some enjoyment in it so not to burn yourself out quickly.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

How old are your rats? Are they mature enough?
If nothing happens in 22-23 days then something is wrong.

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The male is a large and the females are medium rats actually on second thought I think I will say the females are of large size now. They do a lot of playing and eating I just wish that they would breed

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Originally Posted by crepers86

The male is a large and the females are medium rats actually on second thought I think I will say the females are of large size now. They do a lot of playing and eating I just wish that they would breed

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Not being a smartass, honestly asking: are you sure you have males and females both and not all the same sex? It should be pretty obvious once they're to that size...no mistaking the males, lol! When they're younger it can be harder to sex them but if they're not breeding and are of that size/age, that's odd, to say the least.

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Originally Posted by ClarkT

The main reason I ask is that a friend of mine keeps warning me that it's so much harder than I think it will be. He raises his own rats and has had issues. He keeps saying, "you'll see. They'll eait their babies. Changing tubs takes hours; they get sick; they'll get lice; etc."

Until I ordered the Native Earth Rat food, he was feeding his rats dog food. I can't help but think that many of his problems were caused by using dog food. he piggy backed some food on my order...

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Careful what you say Clark, your friend is on this forum. You are quoting me out of context. My rats have never had significant problems eating offspring, nor have I had any rats die from respiratory problems. I clean my cages weekly. Yes, I fed my rats dog food (since I saw no reasonable alternative living in the boondocks) till you suggested that I piggyback some food on your order. My rats did get lice shortly after I allowed you to put some rats in my shed that you got for free (my bad). I have almost eliminated the lice now and yes it is hard to keep rats. I work 50 hours a week, go to school full time and keep 35 snakes as well as a rat collection, not to mention I'm married with 4 kids. I just think that since you are so busy and have the money it's easier to just buy them frozen in bulk like you have been. I would if I could. Why add one more thing to the plate?