A basic question on rat breeding

I don't have a colony going yet, but I will in the next year. I have been doing a lot of checking around to see how people have theirs set up and I am hung up on one big difference.

Some rat breeders use larger bins, put 1.4 or 1.5 etc...rats in each bin, let them breed, take out the male, and just leave the moms all together to raise their litter.

Other rat breeders move pregnant rats to their own individual bins to raise their litter (ala, Ralph Davis' youtube video).

I am thinking the first way would be easiest in terms of maintenance, but can others chime in on what they do and why? Thank you!

JonV

I only separate first time moms.:D

I depends on if you have the space to take the moms out to let them raise up or not.

If you do then take them out if not then leave them in

I prefer to put moms in separate nursing tubs. They dont have to compete with other mothers, deal with stress from one mother dominating all the babies, playing ring around the rosy as they steal babies from one another, dealing with too many babies at once, potential cannibalizing from mothers.. etc.

Wild rats prefer to all have a separate nesting chamber, only doing communal nursing when the population is high. I like to follow this lead. I have high numbers of rats, mothers bounce back quickly, babies are all fat and plump! I have complete control over the babies and know who any culprits are if I lose any pups to disease or cannibalism.

I've just started my small group of 2.2 rats and I intend to give the females each their own tub. One male with one female until the girls look nice and round, then the two boys go into their 'bachelor tub' and the girls have their new litters to keep them company. Once litters are weaned, the girls get a week or so to rest together and then they restart. :) That's the plan, at least, I'll let you know how it goes.

What percentage of pinks get trampled and killed if you leave them all together?

JonV

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj

What percentage of pinks get trampled and killed if you leave them all together?

JonV

---

I leave mine together and it rarely happens even with 4 moms they all kind of pick a corner and that's where they nurse and nest with their babies

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

I leave mine together and it rarely happens even with 4 moms they all kind of pick a corner and that's where they nurse and nest with their babies

---

What size tubs? 30 quart? CB70 size?

JonV

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj

What percentage of pinks get trampled and killed if you leave them all together?

JonV

---

That's difficult to say, as most female rats will eat any dead pinks to clean up, and there is no way to tell why they died unless you catch it before they do clean up.

The only good way to tell is if the number is below average or you count from day one... My rats put out anywhere from 9-15 consistently.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

I prefer to put moms in separate nursing tubs. They dont have to compete with other mothers, deal with stress from one mother dominating all the babies, playing ring around the rosy as they steal babies from one another, dealing with too many babies at once, potential cannibalizing from mothers.. etc.

Wild rats prefer to all have a separate nesting chamber, only doing communal nursing when the population is high. I like to follow this lead. I have high numbers of rats, mothers bounce back quickly, babies are all fat and plump! I have complete control over the babies and know who any culprits are if I lose any pups to disease or cannibalism.

---

I'm with Connie on separating the moms. Unfortunately when the moms fight over the babies the babies don't always die and you might see live babies with holes in their bodies or missing feet and/or tails. It's very disturbing!

I'm separating my moms. My first ever litter will be comming up in the next week or so. We'll see how it goes!

I've got two females that have been cage mates for about 5 months and they still fight now and again. I would really hate to see any fights in a cage with babies.

I tried leaving them in at first and ended up losing some of the pinks (which is frustraiting when you have hungry hatchlings)

I switched to seperating the moms and have a much better survival rate.

It depends on how many rats you can care for and how much work you want to put towards them.

In my opinion due to the loss of some of the pinks you would need to breed more rats to get the same number of pinks that someone who seperates the moms can get.

While this is easier for a larger breeder to do (breed more rats and be able keep them all together because there is more dedicated building space for feeders), when you are trying to be efficient and use as little space as possible (e.g. in a spare room or in a garage) seperating moms is better IMO.

For me since I check on the animals daily it was affordable and easy to setup a seperate "momma" rack and then I didn't have to worry as much about productivity and could keep a better eye on the girls and their babies.

That and it was kinda fun to see what litters came out of which moms mixed with certain dads. :-D

My 2 cents anyway. I'd say set it up however you want and see how things go. Different things work for different people :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Argentra

I've just started my small group of 2.2 rats and I intend to give the females each their own tub. One male with one female until the girls look nice and round, then the two boys go into their 'bachelor tub' and the girls have their new litters to keep them company. Once litters are weaned, the girls get a week or so to rest together and then they restart. :) That's the plan, at least, I'll let you know how it goes.

---

Watch the females health. If the male only has one female to breed with he isn't going to stop bothering her. This can lead to sickness and death and obviously a lot of stress. That is why people use groups of 1.5 or 1.4 etc etc. I personally would never have a 1.1 going, 1.2 minimum.

I have a group of 1.5 going right now, but I do it a little differently then most people. I rotate my females around depending on how many babies im going to need. Once I can tell a female is prego I move ALL soon to birth mothers in the same cage. Rats are very good are nursing other young and sharing babies. They may compete for piles, but I havn't lost a baby to cannibalism yet.

At the moment I have 3 females raising babies in one container(96 qt sterilite). Then I have my male with 2 females getting them pregnant. Then I can continue rotating if I want or sometimes Ill leave the male by himself for a few weeks to give females a rest.

Its been giving me great results. :gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brimstone111888

Watch the females health. If the male only has one female to breed with he isn't going to stop bothering her. This can lead to sickness and death and obviously a lot of stress. That is why people use groups of 1.5 or 1.4 etc etc. I personally would never have a 1.1 going, 1.2 minimum.

---

I'm not sure where you get this idea that he will bother her to sickness. :confused:

Many, MANY of my pairings are just one on one. No ill effects, no fights, no sick rats, mom gets to nurse by herself, and bounces back quickly during RR. I get large litters with many healthy babies.

This is the first I have ever heard that notion, and frankly I don't believe it.

Another great and informative post.

In a 2.x arrangement, do the males do okay by themselves for the week or 10 days they may be alone? Assuming of course you are only mating one female at a time, and leaving the lone male by himself?

Mike

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by docmike

Another great and informative post.

In a 2.x arrangement, do the males do okay by themselves for the week or 10 days they may be alone? Assuming of course you are only mating one female at a time, and leaving the lone male by himself?

Mike

---

I've left my males alone for a week or so and they seem to be fine.

I've read posts that say lone rats get depressed so now I try to rotate the females so there is one with them at all times. I currently only have 2 males and my goal is to produce at least 2 litters a week. I keep the pregnant females together until about 2-3 days before they are due to deliver.

So far it seems to be working out fine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

I'm not sure where you get this idea that he will bother her to sickness. :confused:

Many, MANY of my pairings are just one on one. No ill effects, no fights, no sick rats, mom gets to nurse by herself, and bounces back quickly during RR. I get large litters with many healthy babies.

This is the first I have ever heard that notion, and frankly I don't believe it.

---

I've heard it when breeding lizards (leopard geckos, bearded dragons, etc). However, I'm with you, never heard of it in rats.

Actually, Brimstone111888, male rats make quite good fathers to their litters and good mates to the females (taking care of the female, feeding her, making nests, etc). The only problems I see with leaving males and females together is possible back to back litters or when keeping pet rats, unwanted litters.