calculating output

I use a standard 6 tub rack
I run 1.4 per bin
I figure 10/ litter

SO by my calculations I quote, I can produce roughly 240 babies per month(60/week) per rack.

does this sounds like a good basis to draw conclusions from?

This is based on an established rack that is producing, not 5 rats thrown together and demanding 60 babies within 30 days.(although in theory they should produce that much or more)

The average is 6 to 12 per litter (Can be more can be less)
The gestation is 21 to 23 days with the female being capable of being pregnant again within hours of giving birth.

So your total could be more but there are also other things you might take in consideration and that could lower your number if your breeders are house together at all time.

Communal breeding will lead to losses sometimes very little sometimes the entire litter

Back to back breeding will also take its toll on your females which could affect your production down the road.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

I use a standard 6 tub rack
I run 1.4 per bin
I figure 10/ litter

SO by my calculations I quote, I can produce roughly 240 babies per month(60/week) per rack.

does this sounds like a good basis to draw conclusions from?

This is based on an established rack that is producing, not 5 rats thrown together and demanding 60 babies within 30 days.(although in theory they should produce that much or more)

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I wish it was that simple. I often have way to many rodents or not enough.

Also remember that you will need to rest and replace females from time to time and they can take 3 months to grow up. Also do forget that females nursing will be out of the mix for at least 4-6 weeks..so you'll need more moms to replace them.. I was told by a wise BP Jedi..;) that a good rule of thumb is 3 females for ever snake you have to feed plus hold backs, thats 1 Breeding - 1 Nursing - 1 Resting or growing up. :D So if you have 15 snakes you'll need at least 45 female rats at the least. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

I use a standard 6 tub rack
I run 1.4 per bin
I figure 10/ litter

SO by my calculations I quote, I can produce roughly 240 babies per month(60/week) per rack.

does this sounds like a good basis to draw conclusions from?

This is based on an established rack that is producing, not 5 rats thrown together and demanding 60 babies within 30 days.(although in theory they should produce that much or more)

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With your setup you do not have the proper space for 1.4 in every tub. You need to separate pregos and moms with babies from the breeding group. Also there needs to be a tub for weaners to grow in. Lastly you need to give mom a rest for at least 2 weeks before she gets pregnant again. A good source for how to set up is RDR's rat barn vids on Youtube. Sorry but I'm not savy enough to provide a link to his site. But watch the vids to learn. Also a good ratio is 2 to 3 rats breeding for every snake you feed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

The average is 6 to 12 per litter (Can be more can be less)
The gestation is 21 to 23 days with the female being capable of being pregnant again within hours of giving birth.

So your total could be more but there are also other things you might take in consideration and that could lower your number if your breeders are house together at all time.

Communal breeding will lead to losses sometimes very little sometimes the entire litter

Back to back breeding will also take its toll on your females which could affect your production down the road.

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I rotate my breeders to the freezer at 1yr. I currently have 25% of my racks dedicated as hold back racks so my breeders are constantly being replaced.

My understanding is that gestation is closer to 28 days. (just did a search and you are correct so that works in my favor)


Been breeding this cycle for about a year had a break because of an ant problem but before that it was 5 years. I have lost maybe a half dozen litters in that time frame.

Back to back breeding might take its toll, it is speculation. There is also speculation that the rest periods are just as hard as repeated breeding. Since a rat basically has 15 months of effective breeding life, wasting half of it on cool down periods is not logical for this application.

anyway....back on topic...

6-12...so you are saying average is 9...so not off much by saying 10.

I once housed my rats 1.3. I saw chew outs and fights. I increased to 1.4. No chew outs....fights are way less common. I increased my food hopper size and went to auto water systems. I have not seen a lost litter (from being eaten) since...

I specify about the lost litter because I have lost 2 females to what I believe was complications during birth (ie: still birth)


Considering I currently have 12 racks...2 rats isn't bad.

I figured I would ask for input because I was asked about output the other day and this was the equation I conveyed.

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Originally Posted by tonkatoyman

With your setup you do not have the proper space for 1.4 in every tub. You need to separate pregos and moms with babies from the breeding group. Also there needs to be a tub for weaners to grow in. Lastly you need to give mom a rest for at least 2 weeks before she gets pregnant again. A good source for how to set up is RDR's rat barn vids on Youtube. Sorry but I'm not savy enough to provide a link to his site. But watch the vids to learn. Also a good ratio is 2 to 3 rats breeding for every snake you feed.

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I disagree with pretty much everything you have said...so please continue doing it your way...mine has worked fine for years now.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Also remember that you will need to rest and replace females from time to time and they can take 3 months to grow up. Also do forget that females nursing will be out of the mix for at least 4-6 weeks..so you'll need more moms to replace them.. I was told by a wise BP Jedi..;) that a good rule of thumb is 3 females for ever snake you have to feed plus hold backs, thats 1 Breeding - 1 Nursing - 1 Resting or growing up. :D So if you have 15 snakes you'll need at least 45 female rats at the least. :D

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my females are nursing while they are pregnant...I have experienced 2 loses in 6 years. I currently have 72 tubs of rats and plan to expand another 84 tubs.

and I seem to feed everyone else's snakes...so that equation doesn't apply to me.

:rofl:

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

I wish it was that simple. I often have way to many rodents or not enough.

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too many is not a problem.(that's what freezers are for :rofl:) Not enough is.

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

my females are nursing while they are pregnant...I have experienced 2 loses in 6 years. I currently have 72 tubs of rats and plan to expand another 84 tubs.

and I seem to feed everyone else's snakes...so that equation doesn't apply to me.

:rofl:

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And if that works for your set up great! I was simply offer you another way to calculate your output..nothing more.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

And if that works for your set up great! I was simply offer you another way to calculate your output..nothing more.

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I was hoping for more numbers in the answer.

I mean in theory you could be right or wrong....depending on a snake's size and needs. Let's say you have one adult ball that eats one adult rat per week, so 4/month. If you took a year head start on your rats, bred and raised each litter to adulthood and then froze them....a single 1.1 could supply 2 snakes easily.(because your rats would be producing at 9 per month and you would only be consuming 8 per month) If the same snake never went beyond hoppers and you had a 2 month lead, at an average of 9 per litter with zero losses, you could supply 2 snakes easily also.

I am talking more hand to mouth mentality. At 3-4 weeks my rats pups are spoken for.

The one thing your not taking in to account when asking how everyone calculates their feeder needs, is that not every one is able to feed F/T..I can't none of my snakes take F/T so every week I have to have the right number of live feeder items of the right size for every one of my 70+ snakes. With so many being smalls, so many being chubs and so many being weaned. This means that at any given time I have to birth 100+ rats a week, so that the babys that get fed every 5 days will have food available and that I'll still have enough growing up to feed the rest in how ever many weeks.

To calculate your output is going to depend on you and how you breed how many and what size animals you feed off. If you've seen an average number of rats born a week-month-year I'd go with that number. Since no one but you knows the variables no on but you can arrive at that number.

I'm pretty sure your estimation of a litter a month per female is off.

I've noticed that the girls I have tend to pop at 2 month intervals, not monthly.

I keep 1.4 and 1.5 and 1.6 because I want to check total output for my location and set up. The girls that are nursing generally do not get pregnant until the babies are weaned but I think that is because the other girls who are not nursing do get pregnant.

There are always one or two pregnant rats in every tub.

I'm sorry I just read what you said and I'm lost your breeding 288 rats and only 6 on average are giving birth???
Now all of this is on average
You said

Quote:

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I use a standard 6 tub rack
I run 1.4 per bin
I figure 10/ litter

SO by my calculations I quote, I can produce roughly 240 babies per month(60/week) per rack.

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So at an average of 10 a littler thats 6 moms on average a weeks giving birth.

But you said that

Quote:

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I currently have 72 tubs of rats and plan to expand another 84 tubs.

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72 tubs with 0.4 in it is 288 females with no resting in between breeding and your not separating them you only getting, per month on average 24 females a month...so your birth rate is 8.33% success rate?? on average??

Or is this for a smaller group than the whole collection??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

I'm sorry I just read what you said and I'm lost your breeding 288 rats and only 6 on average are giving birth???
Now all of this is on average
You said

So at an average of 10 a littler thats 6 moms on average a weeks giving birth.

But you said that

72 tubs with 0.4 in it is 288 females with no resting in between breeding and your not separating them you only getting, per month on average 24 females a month...so your birth rate is 8.33% success rate?? on average??

Or is this for a smaller group than the whole collection??

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My humblest apologies I just saw the per rack bit..
My bad

Females bred right after birth physically stop impregnation of the embryo for up to a week, then they do not go back into heat until after her litter is weaned. This is due to the fact that once the pups are weaned, the females teats are unsuitable for pinks to use. This week delay gives her teats time to shrink and recoup.

Communal nursing is easiest between litter sisters rather than unrelated females, but there is a very fine line between continuous success, since some studies show that communal nursing has a higher mortality rate than single mother nursing.

I always wonder truthfully the condition of the females and the weights of their pups on weaning. I can't believe that back to back breeding isn't hard on the female, and that the females and pups are reaching the weights of females that have litters every 8 or 12 weeks instead of every 4.

Anyways, hot topic. Do you actually wean 240 rats per rack per month?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Females bred right after birth physically stop impregnation of the embryo for up to a week, then they do not go back into heat until after her litter is weaned. This is due to the fact that once the pups are weaned, the females teats are unsuitable for pinks to use. This week delay gives her teats time to shrink and recoup.

Communal nursing is easiest between litter sisters rather than unrelated females, but there is a very fine line between continuous success, since some studies show that communal nursing has a higher mortality rate than single mother nursing.

I always wonder truthfully the condition of the females and the weights of their pups on weaning. I can't believe that back to back breeding isn't hard on the female, and that the females and pups are reaching the weights of females that have litters every 8 or 12 weeks instead of every 4.

Anyways, hot topic. Do you actually wean 240 rats per rack per month?

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averaging ballpark 255-260 right now off what I have. When summer hits, it will dive (averages 190-200 per) since I don't have a/c in my building. Building is kept at 55 degrees all winter long. I keep tub records and rack records. Nearly impossible to keep individual records because rats will nurse each others babies and with some many potential mothers in one area, hard to say who's is who's.

I cleaned five racks tonight...I averaged 18 new pinks this week per tub. I clean every saturday.