Rat Caging

What do you keep your feeders in? Right now I have my two small rats in a 10g aquarium. I plan to move them into a 20 gallon will this work when they are ready to breed and carry them till they are full grown? And if so do I just put and keep the full grown male in there with them (when I buy him when they are old enough?). :confused:

I am so confused about the whole rat thing. :confused:

I have two 10g's and a big sterilite tub which I know I have to watch for chewing. I also picked up a new cage which I'll try to post pic's of.

Wire or lab style cages (such as these) http://www.bigappleherp.com/bigapple...roducts/110100 are better than tanks (easier cleaning and better air circulation)

I use rat racks from freedom breeder.. expensive but so worth it.

I just use tanks now but I only have 2 rats so far. I like to keep my rats in the freezer much more!!

I have 2 10g tanks, one 20-long tank, and one large deep r-maid. The tanks work great; no one can squeeze out between any bars like in cages, and the r-maid is working well too. I used it in a pinch when one of my tanks broke, and decided to keep it for my male and whatever female he has to breed.. put charcoal-grill grates on top weighed down by bricks and it works great! but 10-g tanks are the way to go.. get one for each female and a few spares, and lids, and weights, and yer all set.. ask around at pet stores for any that may be broken and therefore cheaper, though I can get brand new ones for a mere $5 at the LFS.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shelby

Wire or lab style cages (such as these) http://www.bigappleherp.com/bigapple...roducts/110100 are better than tanks (easier cleaning and better air circulation)

I use rat racks from freedom breeder.. expensive but so worth it.

---

You got it shelby I picked up one of those at the show.Now I'm kicking myself for not getting an extra one.

I like to keep my rats (20+) in tanks also. I find that a 20 L is plenty for a female to raise a litter of pups....I find that in a 10 gall the females cannot get away from the babies constant desire to nurse, so she gets frustrated.

Plus tanks are easy to keep clean, that is until I can afford some pro breeder racks...LOL!

I keep a pair in a 40 breeder

Here are the ones I use ...

http://www.rodentracks.com/Rat_Rack_6stackf.jpg

My wife keeps a pair in this one ...

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ap/pregenc.jpg

And I occasionally use this one for a grow out ...

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...idratcage1.jpg

Bryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

I keep a pair in a 40 breeder

---

I sure hope they are separated somehow, being as they are TOO young to be breeding, not to mention hairless. Hairless rats need haired buddies to keep warm enough. Try and put a divider in that tank and get another pair, one male and one female, that both have hair. Put them with their respective buddies, and leave them alone for a few months so you KNOW they are old enough to breed. 2-3 month old rats surely aren't big enough or old enough to have babies(they CAN, but it doesn't mean it is right).

Okay well I had my two female rats in a 28qt tub and they started chewing it even though I put chew toys in it. But I liked using it better than the 10g tank I have them in now.

So my question is for the ones that use the tubs how do you keep them from chewing the tubs? And what sizes tubs do you use and how any rats per tub?

I didn't seem to have a problem with chewing. The inside of mine is all curves so there really isn't any real easy spots to grab with those teeth.
I ended up with the wood racks like the picture in the thread above. I got mine from WildBill. Don't know if he is still offering them, but I love mine, and will most likely copy the design with different bins when I need to expand.
Given wood stuff to chew, and maybe some catnip, they tend to not chew. But you might just have chewy rats! LOL
Wolfy

http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/.../newSetup2.jpg

and
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...8/newSetup.jpg

Even these thick cement tubs my rats chew through the inside, with nothing but smooth sides to grab on.... it just takes a while, like pushing over a coke machine :)

I just pop rivet some aluminum patches over the holes, and that makes it g2g... Im sure eventually I will just replace them, but an entirely patched up tub would be more secure anyway i guess :)

Bryan ... if I tried to use that chair I'd end up on my back with 5 gallons of water on me ... I have a hard enough time on the ladder.

The first wood rack I showed I keep 1:4 in ... Its a 60L tub
The 1st picture of the rubbermaid tub My wife keeps a pair in ... but it could easily hold 1:3. Its 72 quarts
The Long Iris tub will hold varying amounts ... up to 30 weaned or 20 smalls or 15 mediums. Ive never tried keeping breeding colonies in it. No idea of voluem capacity.

To make the lids for the iris tub or rubbermaid tub the instructions are at http://www.rodentracks.com/Rodent_Rack_Tub.html. Just adapt the lengths to accomodate your tub.

Ive never had a rat chew through the tubs in the wood rack. Cant even see places where they have scratched either.

Bryan

Where do you get the tubs you use in the rack systems (the black ones) and how much do they usually cost plus shipping?

The black ones can be found at home depot in the masonry department. The are called mixing tubs. Bigger ones are 9.98 and smaller ones are 4.98

The ones from lowes are similiar but are thinner plastic. I thought about using them but after picking them up they are too flimsy. Same price as the ones at home depot.

Bryan

Okays thanks

One more thing about the caging I'm not understanding quite fully. How many males in one cage vs how many females? And when not breeding (so you don't over breed your stock) where do you put the males?

Lets says One tub you have 2 females and one male. Then after you breed do you place the male all by his self in another tub? Do you get him a buddy? Or do you keep him with the non pregnant female and just move the pregnant one into another tub?

Too many questions in my head...Sorry.

I keep mine 1.2 all the time. I don't remove the male. Some people do, and that's fine too.

So its okay to keep the male in even with the babies? Well then what do you do then the babies when they are weaned, I assumed you just move then to a new tub/cage until they reach the desired size right?

Thanks for all the information!

Once males have been in with the ladies they hate going back to the "male cage". If there are other males in there it will usually result in a fight ... this can kill your males.


In the small tubs I keep 1:3 or 1:4 ... it really depends on what they are being used for ... pinkie and fuzzie tubs usually have 1:4 as I pull the babies pretty quickly. If I want to grow out the pups then I keep them in a 1:3 tub.

In the larger tubs I keep 1:5. This seems to be a good number regardless of whether they are pinkie/fuzzie tubs ... or grow outs.

Once they are weaned they get seperated by sex into tubs ... I usually keep about 10 weaned in a tub and the numbers lower as they get bigger ... The main reason for 10 to a tub at weaned is chances are youll get at least one smart rat that will figure out how to get food and water and the others will mimic it. At around 60 grams they go 6 to a tub and around 90 grams they go 4 to a tub (if females) or 3 to a tub (if males).

One male can easily take care of up to 10 females ... One of mine takes care of 15 ... these are future breeders and he is around 600 grams ... I definetly want his genetics passed on.

While I really like the bigger tubs they are too deep for pups and weaned to get at food and water ... it took about 8 lost litters before I figured out that was the problem.

Bryan

PS today I found a 90 gallon tub ... its about 6 ft long 3 feet wide and 12 inches deep. Im thinking this may make a good grow out tub for males. I'll post pics if i decide to get it ... but its $50 per tub.