Rat Holder Bins

Hey, Well I need help I was wondering if anyone or everyone could post what they use to keep all their extra rats in. I keep my breeding rats in a rack. If anyone has any plans or DIY's could you post them. For some kind of holder bins. I know alot of people use the mixing tubs.

Im looking to build something about 4 or 6 tubs high using some kind of mixing tub. Again this is just for some kind of holder bin. I have racks but want to be able to hold more rats than just 3. Anyways any pictures or anything would be great. So I can get an idea on what to do or how to. Thanks again.

I am going to be building this pretty soon. It seems to fit the bill.
http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/rat_rack/ratrack.shtml

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Originally Posted by ThyTempest

I am going to be building this pretty soon. It seems to fit the bill.
http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/rat_rack/ratrack.shtml

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Oh, it does!

Before:
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMGP8022.jpg

Here it is after I built it


http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...IMGP8029-1.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...IMGP8030-1.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMGP8031.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMGP8032.jpg

I have already build 4 racks like that. Only using the jumbo cat litter pans. I got the design off here. Just like yours only with the cat litter pans. I did pick up some black tubs like that. What size are they? Im looking to build something to hold all my weaned and small/med rats in. Until feeding day because right now Im still using tanks. And the tanks are getting old real fast. I know freedom breeder makes the rodent holder racks. But I dont have the cash to really spend on something like that. But that is what I was looking for, something big like that.

Well, here is my Rodent 'rack' area:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...entCentral.jpg

The two on top are rat tubs, with the growing girls on the left and the (now lone :() male on the right. Once they're breeding size, I'll give each girl their own tub like the one they're in now and the males (once I get a second male to replace the one I lost) in with them unless there are litters. Then the boys get their own tub.

For 'extras', I have a really big tub plus two smaller ones to use for rats or mice (since I still breed them as well). :)

I have not built it yet, but I have everything around right now. I was able to scrounge up the lumber for it from my family, so that saved me about 30 bucks on total cost. I spent 30 on the 6 tubs, 10 on plenty of hardware cloth (I will have extra), ~7 bucks on the screws, and I think 5 for casters. Apart from staples and water bottles that I already had, that is the entire cost of the rack. In total you can do it for under a hundred, starting from absolutely nothing, and probably not much more if you wanted to add a plumbing system.

We use those concrete tubs as our breeding tubs, and the kitty litter pans as maternity tubs. I feel bad for the moms when there's 13 weaners running around in that tiny little tub with her.

I personally feel the kitty litter pans are too small for more than one adult.

:) Heck, I think those mixing tubs are still too small for rats! That's why I use the rubbermaid tubs that I have. They can jump and climb around in there, even though I can't put a big enough wheel in. :)

I understand that big tubs are totally impractical when you have hundreds of rats, but for a small colony it really works out well and you get to have happy active rodents. :)

Yea I know how that is. I have 2 large cages and 1 humungous cage for the rats when they aren't breeding or nursing. I totally spoil my breeder rats, but they love it! :D

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

Oh, it does!

Before:
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMGP8022.jpg

Here it is after I built it


http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...IMGP8029-1.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...IMGP8030-1.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMGP8031.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMGP8032.jpg

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I had a question. I just built this rack and I am concerned about the clearance of the tub. Well ... my parents are. They think in some places there is too much of a gap between the tub and the hardware cloth. What is yours like?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Argentra

Well, here is my Rodent 'rack' area:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...entCentral.jpg

The two on top are rat tubs, with the growing girls on the left and the (now lone :() male on the right. Once they're breeding size, I'll give each girl their own tub like the one they're in now and the males (once I get a second male to replace the one I lost) in with them unless there are litters. Then the boys get their own tub.

For 'extras', I have a really big tub plus two smaller ones to use for rats or mice (since I still breed them as well). :)

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How did you attach the meah to the tubs?

The mesh is attached by weaving 22 gauge wire through holes. It works a lot better than individual zip ties or wires and holds really tight when you pull the wire. The hardware cloth is placed INside the tub to cover the plastic edges and prevent chewing.

hardware cloth inside? How do you do that.
The wire idea is brilliant by the way.
What sort of mesh do you use.
And ya, the cloth thing? Would you able to post pics of that?
Cause I was wondering how you stop rats from chewing their way out.

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Originally Posted by snakemanjayd

hardware cloth inside? How do you do that.
The wire idea is brilliant by the way.
What sort of mesh do you use.
And ya, the cloth thing? Would you able to post pics of that?
Cause I was wondering how you stop rats from chewing their way out.

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Pretty much like she said. Your just putting the hardware cloth on the inside of the tub, and it covers the plastic edges to prevent rats from chewing them and escaping.

Rats can chew and escape if the tub has any edges or isn't completely smooth on the inside.

Hardware cloth is wire mesh. Does that help clear it up?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndrewGeibel

I had a question. I just built this rack and I am concerned about the clearance of the tub. Well ... my parents are. They think in some places there is too much of a gap between the tub and the hardware cloth. What is yours like?

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I built one of these racks myself. There's sometimes quite a bit of variance in the sizes of the tub lips, so I measured each one and put in the size appropriate spacer specifically for it so I got a good tight fit. Some tubs don't fit in other slots. Bring those rails the tub lips rest on up until you get everything where you want it.

I still don't know what hardware cloth is, or how you would put it over the edges of the plastic.
Can someone show me what this stuff is. and how they have attached it. please!!!
I have never heard of it. Maybe we call it something different here...

Wait? Is the mesh it's self what you are refering too?
That you mount it on the inside instead of the outside of the hole, to stop them biting the plasic around it?
That kind of makes sense.
Cause I thought you were attaching a second cloth to the inside to cover the join of the plastic to the wire mesh.....
Or is that what you mean....
I'm confused.:oops:

:D Hardware cloth is the name of the wire mesh. Simply put, the wire mesh is cut to about 4 holes beyond the opening in the tub and placed on the INside of the tub to cover the plastic edges. Holes are then melted in the tub and the wire is woven through. Like this:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...Tanks/Tub1.jpg

Hope that clears it up for you. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Argentra

:D Hardware cloth is the name of the wire mesh. Simply put, the wire mesh is cut to about 4 holes beyond the opening in the tub and placed on the INside of the tub to cover the plastic edges. Holes are then melted in the tub and the wire is woven through. Like this:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...Tanks/Tub1.jpg

Hope that clears it up for you. :)

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Exactly! I had no idea what hardware cloth was when I went out to make my own tubs. You can see it is the mesh wire roll in this picture.

Quote:

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http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...s/IMGP8022.jpg

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Here are some pics of a couple of our rat racks and holding bins. Racks are the same as above just built 4 wide. Holding bins are big ass tubs from Lowes, modified with screen top and water nipples stuck through holes in the side. I can hold around 100 weaned rats in each tub.
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...at_bin_005.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...at_bin_004.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...at_bin_003.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...at_bin_002.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...at_bin_001.jpg

Hope you're not still using cedar.. Going to kill the rats as well as the snakes... Cedar's only good for inside dog beds to keep bugs away.

We mostly use the rodent bins from Big Apple but recently we made a large bin to hold resting females and over stock feeders. We got the idea from Cassandra but her food hoppers are neatly squared and ours are round. Cassandra and her husband put in a lot more time in making theirs and you can totally tell.

This is a 105 qt Sterilite bin from Walmart

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...8/DSC_0146.jpg

This is the top with the hopper feeder (I think that's what it's called)

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...8/DSC_0148.jpg

This is a side view with the where the hose would attach to the watter nozzle

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...8/DSC_0150.jpg

All put together

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...8/DSC_0149.jpg

We use zip ties for the mesh cloth and don't have any venting around the side because our bins are in a green house where air is circulating 24/7 and it never gets hotter than 87. We have never had an escapee and have been using it for about 5 months.