Rat Questions- Please Help

Latteron down the road Im thinking of breeding rats, but Im not sure of a few things. My first question is if I kept rats in a tub wouldent they chew through it? I was kinda thinking of keeping them in a 10gal. tank, would that work? Any suggestions? I really can use some help thanks guys.

Read and try this.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56321

Works Great!!

I dont think Ill need somthing that big. I figured 1 male and 2 females is all Ill need. that is why I was wondering if I could use 10gal because thier small and t othe best of my knowledge rats cant chew glass :D.

You cannot keep 3 adult rats in a 10 gallon tank. The build-up of ammonia in such a short period of time would kill them.

Your going to need another male anyway, to keep the breeder male company while the females are resting or rearing their offspring. The females need to be separated from the male before they give birth as they go into heat right after having the babies, and can become pregnant again right away. This is not good for her or the developing or nursing babies, and can result in small litters, debilitated female rats and thin pups. SO, you'll need another female rat too, to keep the resting female company when she doesn't have a buddy. You will need 1 tub for the males, 2 tubs(one for each female while they are birthing, since baby stealing can occur and babies can get hurt and even killed), a resting female tub, and 2 tubs for separate sex weaned babies. They can get pregnant as soon as 5 weeks old, so it's best to wean them at 4 weeks and separate by sex so this does not happen.

So no, 10 gallons do not work unless you're using it for ONE female rat and her offspring(but even then, that small of a tank cannot be used for long, only until the babies are 2 weeks old or so, then they need a bigger enclosure).

I raised rats for a while. But I made a huge math mistake. I didn't have enough hungry snakes to keep up with the rats. I quickly became over-run with rats. My entire living room was filled with rats. And they are very hard to get rid of when they reach adult size. (which happens very very fast)!!! I was fortunate to find someone to help me out. I posted on Craig's List and recieved only ONE response. The enormous space requirements and cost of feeding dozens of rats was not something I planned very well for. I breed mice now for most of my snakes and just buy rats as I need them. Another problem I ran into was that baby rats are just so darm cute that I became attached to them which made feeding them off very difficult for me. If you do proceed I would caution you to keep things managable.

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Originally Posted by Chris Rossi

Latteron down the road Im thinking of breeding rats, but Im not sure of a few things. My first question is if I kept rats in a tub wouldent they chew through it? I was kinda thinking of keeping them in a 10gal. tank, would that work? Any suggestions? I really can use some help thanks guys.

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10 gallons tank can only be used for birthing and nursing (Aka maternity tank), however you cannot house a breeding trio permanently in a 10 gallons tank.

You can build a rack or you can house them in a tub without any issue if well done.

Here is what I use when I quarantine new rats

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...uarantine2.jpg

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...uarantine1.jpg

Just make sure there are no ridge in your tub that rats can start chewing, also avoid putting holes on the side as it can be ground for them to start chewing their way out.

WHat I was thinking of doing was keeping one male in a 10, and hten have a female in a 10 when her babies are wenned Ill put them in thier own 10 and then seperate the sexes into 2 different 10. Or if thier are any tubs like the one showed on the link but smaller. My main consern is the rats chewing through the tub and getting out. If that happend you wouldent see me on the fourms anymore because my parents killed me:D.

I have been breeding for over a year and no one ever chewed anything or escaped.

How will you keep a breeding trio? Y

You will need something bigger than a 10 gallons for a breeding trio (It is recommended to start with 1.2)

Males are also larger than a females and I would recommend something larger than a 10 gallons tank to keep a male.

Babies grow very fast and will not be able to stay in a 10 gallons very long either.

If you plan on having different setups male, females, babies I would recommend a rack.

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

WHat type of Tubs should I use? WHat should I do to keep the rats from chewing on the tubs? Also hou should I have the rats put together, 2 Females in one tub and a Male in his own tub? Then have 2 other tubs for the babies?

Here are some stickies to get your feet wet from the top of the feeder section. If you have some more questions after reading these, I'd love to help! :gj:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=39864

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=41913

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=38830

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=52894

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=39864

You should never keep a rat in an enclosure by itself. Rats are very social animals. They NEED company in order to be happy and healthy. It's very sad to see a single rat in an enclosure.

Unless they are rearing a litter, then it is preferred that they be by themselves.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Unless they are rearing a litter, then it is preferred that they be by themselves.

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?? Should rat's be by themselves? I've never thought you'd say that... typo maybe?

I said that wrong..

Unless they are rearing a litter, then yes, they should be with other rats of the same sex(or opposite sex if breeding).

SORRY!

I do have some that prefer to be with 1 or 2 specific buddies, rather than in the main cages, or completely by themselves. I used to have a hairless boy who got stressed being with other rats and wouldn't eat. He got very depressed. Once I separated him out, he perked up and went on to be a fat and happy, sweet boy.

SO could I make a rack that holds 5 Jumbo Doskocil Litter Pans. Could I have 2.4, both Males in one tub. Then 2 Females in one tub then the other 2 Females in the other tub and the last 2 tubs be for the babies? WOuld that work?

Here are some pics of a maternity rack that I made about 2-3 years ago. Each tub will hold three or 4 adult rats, I usually have 1-2 females with litters in each tub, but I've had small breeding groups in them before and they work fine as long as I move the prego moms out.

Front
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ts/ratmat2.jpg

Side
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ts/ratmat3.jpg

Back
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...ts/ratmat4.jpg

These use Jumbo cat litter pans as tubs and I've never had a rat chew their way out of these.

Mark

I meant to ask this before Mark, where's the ventilation with the dog food covering the whole screen?

I made this same exact one, but I put in a wood divider for the food and water near the front of the tub. I meant to ask if you had done that later or just kept the dog food over the whole mesh?

what kind of dog food do you use???

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where's the ventilation with the dog food covering the whole screen?

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Thats right after I fill it, usually it's about half that within a few days, but it's never been a problem. The dog food is round and has plenty of air space around it and it doesn't appear to impede airflow.

The dog food is called sprout, it's the store brand from Mills Fleet Farms. (18% protein in the blue bag)

SO if I use Jumbo cat litter pans I can house 4 females together?

Two or three would be better, but four works for a while. The main problem with 10 gallon aquariums is that they're too tall so they have poor ventilation that traps the ammonia from rat urine to where the air quality becomes poor. This doesn't happen as easily with short tubs.

i just started up my colony about a month ago and went with ten gal tanks becaue i already had them. then i took the advice to use one of the stickers above about the rubermade tubs it is nice because i can still see my rats whenever i want without disterbing them throug the hardware cloth. my rats look and smell a lot better. bigger is better less smell less time cleaning cages.

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Originally Posted by Chris Rossi

SO if I use Jumbo cat litter pans I can house 4 females together?

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I house 2 females together at all times and my males rotate between each tubs.

OK SO what Ill do is make a rack that holds 6 Jumbo cat litter pans. The first one will be for 2 Males the next 2 will hold 3 Females each. Ill have another one for more females or males. The last 2 will be for the babies. How does htat sound? My other question was, should I just like get some rats from PetCo or should I get some AFS.

How bad do the rats smell, to bad to keep them in my bedroom?

They don't smell as bad as mice but I still wouldn't keep them in my bedroom. Maybe just a pair as pets, but not a breeding rack. Just me though. I'm sure lot's of people have rats in their bedrooms.

Well that is really the only place my parents might let me keep them, thier is no room in our garage, how loud are they at night?

You really wont know till you try. We had our rats in our bedroom for close to a year, I got used to the smell, so on most days I didn't smell anything at all except when it was close to cleaning day.

I also cleaned a lot in the bedroom, had automatic air fresheners, and an exhaust fan running 24/7. We also put an occilating fan in the corner of the room to keep air moving, and I hardly ever noticed anything. The fans weren't initially for the rats, but rather for the heat generated from Chris's electrical equipement, but it really helped. I like my house cold! :)

As to the noise, I slept right through it, but my bf Chris didn't always. He said they were loud or something, and I don't really remember them making any noise. I sleep like the dead though.

Ok then I wont here anything. When I fall asleep you cant wake me up eaisly. I like my room cold to:gj:.

You are asking all the right questions Chris. My rats woke me up when the were in the next room! I have had to get up and shut the bedroom door in the middle of the night. Rats are nocturnal. When you are getting sleepy they are waking up. I quess it depends on how well you sleep.

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Originally Posted by Chris Rossi

Ok then I wont here anything. When I fall asleep you cant wake me up eaisly. I like my room cold to:gj:.

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If you can live with the noise and the smell a few days before hand, I think you'll be ok.

I found that the automatic metered air fresheners really did help. Stay away from sugary smells, or citrus like orange and go more for like apple spice, fresh rain etc.

I found orange didn't cover up anything, vanilla wasn't too appetizing for my nose, I liked something spicy rather than sweet if that makes sense. It did the best job keeping everything fresh.

Right now, we have the rats in our laundry room, and are using a febreeze air freshener... some laundry kind of smell. It smells good in there!