problem/questions

ok we have 7 snakes now so we decided to start breeding rats. ok so i built a rack bought a male from the reptile store( they only have males) and then bought 3 fancy rats from pet smart( they only have females). now my problem is they have been together for like 3 weks give or take a few days, and when i look at the females they dont look prego at all the male is huge and they seem to get along well. i kept them in an insulated office and it did not get to hot but just in case i moved them into a spare room in my house just to make them more comfortable. i may be just rushing things but i dont know what do yall think i should do?

Ok, hate to say it, but the rats from Petsmarts are often not in the best of health...and can often be retired breeders if they're already full grown.

The best thing to do when starting a colony is to get weanling rats and raise them up to breeding size (@250g). That way, you know you're getting healthy young rats that will give you the best production.

is there a place i can order live rats to start a new colony with.

also when will they start showing if they are pregnant. i will prob give them a couple more weeks before they become food.

They can too old, your male since you only have one could be infertile etc.

The best is to get young females (small rats) and raise them up until they reach 250 grams and than pair them.

Having a second male as a back up might be a good idea as well. (same thing get a young animal)

where can i order live rats.

Look around for reptile specialty stores that sell feeder rodents. Make sure they are good quality and pick out some nice weaned rats.

You could also ask here on the forums. I'm sure there are others in your area that breed their own rats that you could get a few from to start your own group. :)

ok i'll do that thanks

I noticed your in LA. PM/Email Tim bailey, his forum handle is muddoc . He can probably hook you up with some rats. His site is www.baileyreptiles.com

Ack! Tim! Of course... I KNEW there was someone significant in Louisiana. :D

He would be excellent to contact, he's a great guy.

I wouldn't give up on those ones just yet. My first rats didn't produce for about 2-3 months. I ended up replacing my male because I thought he was the cause but within a few days I had babies. It can be hard to tell if they are pregnant then one day they look huge and a few days later you have babies.

thats rite i have heard of baileys reptiles before i forgot about him. and i guess i will give them a few more weeks before i give up on them.

what is one way to tell if they are prego beside the few days before they birth where they are huge. i mean like if they show nipples is that a sign or are the nipples always visible. any help or tips please.

We started with pet store fancies. Once we started getting litters though we did not feed the litteres off right away. We started holding back all the females and now have 3 1/2 solid colonies of home grown girls and about 6 boys doing their job. One colony is 3 females per tub and the other 2 are 2 females per tub. The 2 females seem to work better as the 3 female colony produces a lot of babies that have nasty cuts and stuff. One of our boys came from a 3 grouping of females and the reason we kept him is he survived to weaned stage with only 3 legs. He gets around fine and doesn't seem to have any problems with the ladies! He is also one of the friendliest rats we have.

I've had two litters of pups now and both times I didn't think the moms took. They didn't show until the last week of pregnancy (21 days till birth), but they only look chubby. At 3 weeks your moms should look prego, but they might not have taken the first week. Both of mine were exactly 1 day late from the day I exposed them to the male. They look chubby a week before and a day or two before they give birth they look HUGE.

Your females might also only have a few babies, if that's the case they might not even look pregnant.

Also, if you are wanting breeding females you'll want them to be under 10 months old. They usually stop growing around 6-8 months so you can judge their age by that. I'm not an expert, I'm just regurgitating what I've read.

i watch them closely they look fat and happy so they might be prego not sure yet their nipples are showing that might be normal not sure but i am giving them time to see what happens. i finnally have female mice that i threw in with the male last night and he instantly took interest. so i hope to one day have an bundance of mice and rats. :please:

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Originally Posted by dmaricle

i watch them closely they look fat and happy so they might be prego not sure yet their nipples are showing that might be normal not sure but i am giving them time to see what happens. i finnally have female mice that i threw in with the male last night and he instantly took interest. so i hope to one day have an bundance of mice and rats. :please:

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Does it look like she moved the hair away from her nipples? They groom their hair away from their nipples before they give birth. Sometimes a week before, sometimes after they give birth.

Good luck! :gj:

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Originally Posted by Isis

Does it look like she moved the hair away from her nipples? They groom their hair away from their nipples before they give birth. Sometimes a week before, sometimes after they give birth.

Good luck! :gj:

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i just looked at all the females and they are fat but there is still hair all around the nipples but hey we will see what happens.