Keeping rats in a garage

I am going to start breeding my own feeder rats soon, but the only place I can put them is in the garage. I am trying to think of a cost effective way to keep the temperatures from getting out of control. There are no windows and its just a one car garage. I am in TN....hot summers, cold winters, mild the rest of the year.

Any help is appreciated!

i keep mine in the garage temps really arnt an issue as long as its not stifeling hot or below 50 they do really well, but seattle is more moderate temp cept for the past couple days but the garage is nice and cool (lucky rats)

I have been considering the same basic set up. I also live in TN. I am not worried so much about the winter, as that can be solved by a small space heater of some sorts, but the regular 95+ temps, for what can be weeks at a time, in summer have me worried. I have never really paid attention to what the temps in my garage are during the summer though, just never had any real reason to think about that in the past.

If anyone has any suggestions or experiences, they would be greatly appreciated.

John

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Originally Posted by rishnack

i keep mine in the garage temps really arnt an issue as long as its not stifeling hot or below 50 they do really well, but seattle is more moderate temp cept for the past couple days but the garage is nice and cool (lucky rats)

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pfft these past few days i seattle arnt cool

its like cali, here lol

You'll find with higher temps, a fan is a MUST. Rats that are hot will die easily, become dehydrated easily, and will stop production or have smaller litters.

The best I can say is to use racks because they are well ventilated, get some air moving over them all the time. My rats are miserable at temps in the high 80's, I go through a lot of hoops to keep them cool.
Lots of fans, maybe a swamp cooler if they're effective in TN.

just put a ac unit in my shed..............96 bucks at home depot! cools that place right off!


PS. i have one ac unit in my house......and its in the living room. I don't have one in the bed room, and when i told my better half, that this one was for the RATZ! :O:rolleye2:

I live in Indiana (so similar weather) and have my rats in the garage.

I use 2 fans for the summer and a space heater for the winter...so far far no issues. I use a automatic watering system for racks and during the really hot weeks (a couple in August usually) I add ice to the water bucket to help the rats cool down internally...does wonders.

Hope this helps.

I keep my rats in the garage in rat rack systems. I do have to use a space heater in the winter, but other than that they seem fine. If it gets too hot out, I open the garage door and the side door to let circulate the air. Hope this helps.

Ive been wondering the same thing, I live in phoneix AZ and i will also be keeping them in the garage but i have been doing some tests, in my appartment our AC went out and it was around 100 in the appartment but i had a fan going on them and they seemed just fine, i just built a rat rack and i put little computer fans on each tub that will run none stop, im still testing it making sure there are no fires ext, but ill let you know when i move into the house and put the rats in there new home.

purchas a max/min thermomiter and place it in the garage and find out how warm the garage get without any cooling system yet to see what the temps get to. then deside if you can keep it cool enough to make the rats happy.

I'm in SoCal and keep the rodents in the garage. These days it's been hot, I've got 3 rotating fans blowing on them. They're hot, but no one's died yet.

I wouldn't do it, because im in Texas, and have recorded 112 degrees in my garage, I don't think that fans would keep my rats cool enough. TN is cooler, but still hot, as you know. I wouldn't risk it. Good luck!!

Tyree, how much power does that window unit suck? We have one in my Dads fly tying shed, but he doesn't tie flies anymore, and I would like to turn it into a snake room, but there worried about it sucking power.

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Originally Posted by stangs13

I wouldn't do it, because im in Texas, and have recorded 112 degrees in my garage, I don't think that fans would keep my rats cool enough. TN is cooler, but still hot, as you know. I wouldn't risk it. Good luck!!

Tyree, how much power does that window unit suck? We have one in my Dads fly tying shed, but he doesn't tie flies anymore, and I would like to turn it into a snake room, but there worried about it sucking power.

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what do you mean by sucking power?

Thanks for all of the replies....I am probably just going them in the snake room for now until the weather cools off :)

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Originally Posted by stangs13

Tyree, how much power does that window unit suck? We have one in my Dads fly tying shed, but he doesn't tie flies anymore, and I would like to turn it into a snake room, but there worried about it sucking power.

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If it is an old AC unit, it probably does use a lot of power. Especially with the cost of power going up with the gas prices, you might save money buying a new AC unit that is more efficient.

I used to keep rat's in the garage, after a while the wife put the stops to it LOL

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Originally Posted by Reediculous

just put a ac unit in my shed..............96 bucks at home depot! cools that place right off!


PS. i have one ac unit in my house......and its in the living room. I don't have one in the bed room, and when i told my better half, that this one was for the RATZ! :O:rolleye2:

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Oh I bet she was REAL impressed there Tyree. I'm amazed you aren't bunking out in the garage with the ratties! :rofl:

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

I live in Indiana (so similar weather) and have my rats in the garage.

I use 2 fans for the summer and a space heater for the winter...so far far no issues. I use a automatic watering system for racks and during the really hot weeks (a couple in August usually) I add ice to the water bucket to help the rats cool down internally...does wonders.

Hope this helps.

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Another good idea in hot weather conditions for rats is to offer them frozen green peas. It's like rat icecream for them and a great hot weather treat that helps them out when the room is a bit warm.

One thing with a garage setup you have to think about is your neighbours. If you live in a sub-division where anyone walking by can see into an open garage you might end up with complaints. If a rat escapes, in an open garage, you will definitely have some less than happy neighbours. Also some kid wandering by might let your rats loose for a prank. Just a things to think about in this situation to avoid problems down the road.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Oh I bet she was REAL impressed there Tyree. I'm amazed you aren't bunking out in the garage with the ratties! :rofl:

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Either that or she'd be the one in the garage with the AC, and leave him in the hot sticky stuffy uncomfortable bedroom with no AC!

Ty,

Keep an eye on the AC unit. I had one in my rat room and it gets clogged up easily with all the "stuff" floating around in the air. It will either clog the filter and will have to work harder to cool (raising your electric bill a lot) or it will kill the unit pretty quickly. Luckily in the new place I have a large basement which is always cool and the only thing I use is a window exhaust fan to get rid of the smell, which it does well.

J