Breeding rats in bulk

Hi everybody,

My name is Mark and I am from Australia. I own an Australian Bredli Python. He is a fantastic animal and handles extremly well.

I have been having trouble obtaining frozen rats for him to eat. I have decided to breed my own. I have also decided to breed rats for other python owners who are having the same problem.

I am after some information on large scale breeding. Such as the cage system and watering system. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

Hi Mark, and Welcome to the site!

I had my own rattery for a number of years, only I bred for show animals, not feeders, but the breeding is the same no matter what.

The cheapest way I found to do it was this:

Housing: You can use rubber maid or sterilites, whatever is available to you. Punch holes into the container along the sides, several rows if you must. You are trying to get good air flow. Also, to keep along the air flow and ventilation.. cut out a square in the top of the lid (good sized), and cover with fine wire, like chicken wire, drill holes along the big hole you cut to wire in the chicken wire you are going to be covering the hole with.

Feeding: Feed them rodent seed, you can buy it in bulk in feed and grain stores. Also, I fed mine table scraps, anything we would eat.. and fruits and veggies. Also, you can feed them dog food, but please dont feed them any dog food that has RED DYES in it, red dyes are bad for our snakes.

Breeding: Generally, on a large scale breeding, you will want 1 male to up to 4-6 females. You can leave your males with thier harem even while they are raising thier babies, he will not usually eat them... but they will eat babies that are not theirs. Females go into heat cycles every 4-7 days, pregnancy lasts 21-27 days. The babies are generally weaned at 5-6 weeks of age. Also, most rats are sexually mature at that age. Be very aware, females go into heat IMMEDIATELY after they deliver thier litters, so, a female will get pregnant right away, she will wean the babies earlier though because she knows she has a new litter on the way. Any female thats pregnant or nursing needs lot of protiens in thier diets, it fattens them up and thier babies through the milk, keeps them healthy too. You can at some point freeze your rodents for later use, I can direct you as to how to euthanize them humanely if you would like. Feel free to PM me on that. Also, you may want to separate any male babies from thier fathers soon after they are weaned, I have seen the males get brutal with thier own male babies after they are older. Also, be aware that packs of rats have a pecking order, females included. So, if you find that you have a rat or a few that are whiney or squeek alot more than others alot of times for no apparent reasons, thats what breeders refer to as NERD rats, they just have social issues, does not mean there is anything wrong with them, but rat packs will often "pick" or designate a few for guinee pigs, meaning, it is those who get to try new foods, and if they die from it, the pack wont eat the new food, it is all dependant on social order. It is normal.

Hope this helps ya.

I dont know anything about breeding rats .. i just wanted to Welcome you to the site! Glad you could join us :). Good luck with your endeavor. Is this a business you are hoping to start .. or something you are doing as a hobby?

Thanks Jeanne and Carson.

I am hoping to eventually turn it into a business. There is a huge demand here, but the supply is unreliable at best.

Thanks Jeanne for the information, I appreciate it.

Mark

Newbie here. We are keeping a number of cb right now so it was natural to start a rat colony. We should be over run by rats in 3 months and im interested how to kill them humanely for later use?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by markalston

Hi everybody,

My name is Mark and I am from Australia. I own an Australian Bredli Python. He is a fantastic animal and handles extremly well.

I have been having trouble obtaining frozen rats for him to eat. I have decided to breed my own. I have also decided to breed rats for other python owners who are having the same problem.

I am after some information on large scale breeding. Such as the cage system and watering system. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

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I don't breed on a large scale (only for my needs) but as far as housing goes a rack system (commercial or homemade) with watering system will definitely be a must, this is a pic of the one I made

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...er/RatRack.jpg

The DIY is available here on this forum http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=41913 bigger racks such as this one http://www.ralphdavisreptiles.com/in...ves/oct-03.asp can also be built.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bobyball

Newbie here. We are keeping a number of cb right now so it was natural to start a rat colony. We should be over run by rats in 3 months and im interested how to kill them humanely for later use?

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The humane way to euthanize feeders is by using a CO2 chambers, I don't have a big need so I only use a small paintball canister and 15 quarts tub (total cost $50)

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...O2Chamber2.jpg

if you need to euthenize a lot of feeders you will need to go bigger.

Haha, this thread is only from 2004.

Thank you for the post. Painless, clean and quick.Exactly what I was after.. I,ve also been told to keep the rodents frozen for 30 days before use to kill off parasites and to use within six months.
Does anyone know of a rodentpro type place that sells rats here in Canada

can you keep your rat colony outside, they live in the wild around where i live, i see them all the time.

would they survive?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by patthesnakeman

can you keep your rat colony outside, they live in the wild around where i live, i see them all the time.

would they survive?

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If you keep them outside they are exposed to the elements, insects that can pass illnesses to them, and exposure to wild rats, who could be carrying any number of diseases, including rabies.

Wild rats don't live nearly as long as those that are kept domestically.

I think the average lifespan for a wild rat is maybe a year? Plus, they dont have access to underground burrows, where the temps are more stable. If you kept them in the garage or a nice shed, I wouldnt see the harm. A lot of people do that, just be prepared to make sure there are no wild animals joining in, and it doesnt get too hot or cold.