A Rat Colony When You Have Little Space...

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Originally Posted by AshleyB

that was a perfect explination.. thanks!!!!! Definetly worth a try, is the mesh something you can buy anywhere (Walmart) or is it at homedepot

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You can buy hardware cloth at lowes and home depot this is what I also use for the homemade rack I made.

If you don't mind spending a little more, Big Apple now has lab breeder bins for like $45 bucks for their largest size. I picked up a few of those, myself. It just seemed like it was worth the reduction in my effort to get them. If you aren't familiar with them, they have a very tough plastic tub with a metal grate over the top. On one end is an inverted triangle. One half of this triangle holds a water bottle, (or two, in the largest bins), and the other half holds the lab blocks. The rodents reach up and chew the blocks through the wire, so they aren't sitting down in their cage where they can soil the blocks or get them wet. When it comes time to clean, you just unlatch and lift off the wire top, food and all, remove the rats, dump and wipe out the plastic bin, replace everything, and you're all set. I have dealt with glass tanks, AND tried the sterilite bin cages...the glass are horribly heavy and a pain to clean, and the regular plastic bins eventually get chewed. I also had problems with the water bottles leaking. (It's very important to make sure that your water bottle sits at the correct angle when you attach it to the side of one of those big tubs)

Wow, I couldnt imagine spending 40 bucks for one bin... LOL, I like my rats, but not THAT much.:D I prefer the diy rack.

Wow, what a post. I am new to this site. New to reptiles, have 3 snakes, and I live in a remote area. So, I have been thinking of raising some rats for convenience more than anything. They appear to make great pets which is a bonus. I live in the country, on 5 acres, with out buildings so room is not a problem, but convenience is. This type of set up seems to fit the bill. Again, great post,

Mike

forgive me if this has been already asked how did you secure the hardware screen thin to the lids

Thank you for a great post! I have been considering breeding my own rats and I have very limited space where I am currently at. This has helped me immesnely!

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Originally Posted by derrabe

forgive me if this has been already asked how did you secure the hardware screen thin to the lids

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You can either use heavy plastic zip ties (clip off the spare end once it's tight) or you can use flexible wire to weave in and out of the hardware cloth. To make the holes to do this I use a very simple and inexpensive soldering wand (WalMart $6.00).

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Originally Posted by python1024

Thank you for a great post! I have been considering breeding my own rats and I have very limited space where I am currently at. This has helped me immesnely!

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Glad this thread has been so useful. It was fun for me today to go back and look at what I used to do. These days with so many more snakes to feed I have to have a lot more rodents. Funny thing is though that $17.00 plastic white rack is STILL in use today. Best $17.00 I've ever spent LOL.

I'm working on a design for a small scale breeding set up for people that want to get everything up and running. I am still trying to find tubs that make the grow out rack cost effective to build, but I will find them LOL.

I am building my breeding racks now out of Home Depot mixing tubs (27" x 19.75" x 6"). I make the racks four levels high and two levels wide for a total of eight tubs. I have been running 1.3 females in these tubs because the birthing rack I made holds 24 tubs.

The birthing rack is made using medium (16" x 12" x 4") petmate litter pans. These are built four tubs wide and six levels tall.

This design keeps the overall height of the rack low and manageable and allows you to keep 24 females running. You will produce 100-120 rats per month in this set up.

I don't have the perfect grow out racks done yet, but I am guessing that they are going to end up being the large mixing tubs from Home Depot (36" x 30" x 8"). I stole the hopper design from Freedom Breeder, and I am trying to figure out the water now.

I have found a few flaws in this design. I have been able to redesign it every time to salvage them. This design definantly gets an A+, but come payday, I will be posting up some pics of my new design. I recently had a female gnaw through the top corner of a tub, I managed to salvage the tub and build around it, but I have something new in the works. I will keep you posted.