Need opinions on getting rats as big as possible

Hey folks,

My rat colony's destination is my boa and burm (and bp when she'll eat one). Getting rats to a size for the boa and bp is no problem, but I really want to get rats as large as possible for the burm so I can feed less per feeding.

Using my two breeder boys as a yardstick, they weigh in at 375 - 405g. But the grow out boys are just taking forever to get even to 350g. I should mention that I am working with getting the boys huge as the male rats seem to get bigger than the girls.

I don't want too high a fat content on them as I know that's not desirable, but does anyone have any tips on additional foods that may help speed up growth? I'm feeding Mazuri 6F in the hoppers.

I haven't wanted to put in Becky's mix in bowls just I'm just afraid they'll waste more than they eat...but...what else can I put in their tubs help healthy weight gain? Stuff I've thought about: apples, corn on the cob, carrots...opinions?

I do give them scraps from the kitchen I can, but honestly I just don't produce a lot of rat-eatable scraps, other than occ. beef/pork/chicken bones.

Oh, the other thing I've been experimenting with is chew toys. I give everyone 6-8" cuts of thick cardboard tubes, but they a) don't last long and b) doesn't seem to satisfy their need to chew.

My grocery store sells tons of stuff in bulk (<3 Winco!) including dried pigs ears and various rawhide chews for dogs. I've given them all pig ears, which they seem to enjoy nomming on with various results, but do you think the rawhide is bad or okay?

What about switching over to rabbits for the burm?

Why not stick with rabbits?

Had a burm....I found my best bet was FT guinie pigs from rodent pro. Can get them up to 4X, about the same size as a s/m rabbit.

My largest male rat is 800+ grams, he's mostly fat. His son is also close to 700 grams, a lot of fat on him too.

My leanest male is 400, and I consider him small (the same size as a lot of my female rats). The rest are right around 600 and just big loppy fuzzie butts :love:

As far as I can tell, it's one line of rats where the males get large, but not too large. I have been taking care to not breed the overly fat ones and breeding ones I consider a good size and sticking with that. It's been working out well so far.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

My largest male rat is 800+ grams, he's mostly fat. His son is also close to 700 grams, a lot of fat on him too.

My leanest male is 400, and I consider him small (the same size as a lot of my female rats). The rest are right around 600 and just big loppy fuzzie butts :love:

As far as I can tell, it's one line of rats where the males get large, but not too large. I have been taking care to not breed the overly fat ones and breeding ones I consider a good size and sticking with that. It's been working out well so far.

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MY god thats huge, haha post some pics of the big boys please

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Originally Posted by SnakesvsRodents

What about switching over to rabbits for the burm?

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Why not stick with rabbits?

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Rabbits are great and I can occ. get them for $8 from a feed store in Pomona, but gas is not great. The idea was to see if I could be self-sustaining...but at the size I can get these rats, Lourdes will mow right through them...

Soooo, yeah...guess I'll downsize the herd and go stock up on buns (call the feed store, see when they get buns in, take the truck, buy enough to fill the freezer).

Thanks for the comments guys!

One thing you might look in to is breeding guinea pigs. I really don't know much about it, but my limited understanding is that they are easy to breed. I know they grow up pretty fast. Their litter sizes are much smaller than rats though, so you might not really come out ahead.

I think if I'm gonna breed another large species, I'd go with rabbits actually...but I don't think I have the space nor can the buns take the outdoors temperatures here (and I'm sure not gonna breed them in the house!).

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Originally Posted by kc261

One thing you might look in to is breeding guinea pigs. I really don't know much about it, but my limited understanding is that they are easy to breed. I know they grow up pretty fast. Their litter sizes are much smaller than rats though, so you might not really come out ahead.

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Cassandra, Guinea Pigs are F-U-N. They have the most adorable personalities, don't spray like some rabbits do and they are born full of fur with their eyes open, about the size of a small rat and running around like a small rat. They grow quick and are very gentle but the litter sizes are not as big as rats and I believe the gestation period is a bit longer. Our daughters had them as pets when they lived at home so it's been a while but I don't remember them stinking as bad as rats or bunnies (yes, we went through the pet bunny phase too).

Still got those dumbo's for me???:D

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Originally Posted by marmie

Still got those dumbo's for me???:D

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You know I do! They are so cute...=D

Best thing I can suggest Cass is to haunt the pet stores looking for the biggest body male rat you can find. Not fat but just big all over. One of my breeder males will sit at 550-600 naturally (depends on how much energy he's using breeding females). Not fat at all, he's just a nice big boy. Unfortunately he's also a bad tempered male with other males so he's being fazed out aka fed off and one of his sons will take over for him.

Just find a big male even if he's older, put him to the naturally biggest bodied female rats you have and try to push that genetic line so you are producing from rats that naturally mature bigger than most. As far as feeding you would want healthy gain not fat but basically loads and loads of food with very little competition for it, that sort of thing.

www.bigcheeserodents.com sells rabbits too. They are 2.75 per pound. I feed them to my boa and she is nice and slim, slight fat cover, and stays fuller longer. Rats don't do a thing for her.

DO NOT feed GPIGS. Too fatty, and will likely cause fatty liver disease if fed more than once every 2-3 months or so. Not recommended.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

www.bigcheeserodents.com

DO NOT feed GPIGS. Too fatty, and will likely cause fatty liver disease if fed more than once every 2-3 months or so. Not recommended.

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Good to know. Thanks Becky!

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

DO NOT feed GPIGS. Too fatty, and will likely cause fatty liver disease if fed more than once every 2-3 months or so. Not recommended.

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I had no idea. The zoo I used to volunteer at used to feed guinea pigs to some of their snakes, but it is possible it was part of a varied diet, and I just wasn't aware of the details. Thanks for the info.