Should I just give up?

[tomfromtheshade]

I have a few dozen blue females (het dumbo) that will be popping out blue dumbos for me pretty soon.

Blue is just the color. The gene associated with color has NOTHING to do with reproductive capacity.

Blue rats, if bred appropriately, have no more problems than any other colors.

By this time next year my entire colony will be blue dumbos.

I don't anticipate ANY problems.

When you breed a bad rat to a bad rat (no matter what color) you will have problems. When you breed a good rat to a good rat you get good babies.

[lillyorchid]

I've been breeding rats for some years now. I've only come across this sort of problem about 3 times due to the mother rat being a horrible breeder and mother all around or she was just a nutcase to begin with. Those rats do not late long with me since I will not have "bad blood" in my rat colony. I do 1.3 and rotate the females to give them time off. I also feed Harlan Tek lab blocked that are the 18%. All of my rats are handled from when they are babies and I make it a must to have every one of those rats respect. Nothing worse then having a mother rat chomp down on you when you are trying to spot clean her cage. Also I do switch blood lines up about every 6-8 months I'll add in another male or a few females and retire some of my old breeders. I too try not to inbred them since that only causes issues down the road.

[lillyorchid]

I have a few dozen blue females (het dumbo) that will be popping out blue dumbos for me pretty soon.

Blue is just the color. The gene associated with color has NOTHING to do with reproductive capacity.

Blue rats, if bred appropriately, have no more problems than any other colors.

By this time next year my entire colony will be blue dumbos.

I don't anticipate ANY problems.

When you breed a bad rat to a bad rat (no matter what color) you will have problems. When you breed a good rat to a good rat you get good babies.

I could not say it any better!!! I have all colors, hairless, rex's, dumbo's, etc All of them are great. Those who say hairless mom's don't produce milk or good babies are very wrong. A few of my best mothers who the biggest and best litters are hairless. Also I have some blue's who are about the same. A color is just a color. Inbreeding though will cause problems.

[Jay_Bunny]

Thank you all for your help in this. I'm going to keep the blue and her beige hood daughter as pets and the rest of the rats will be sold off soon. What really sucks is a little while ago, a agouti berk female popped out this gorgeous silvery looking male. We still have no clue as to what color he was. And what do you know, her last 2 remaining babies out of this litter ( the rest all died because she stopped feeding them) are an albino and ANOTHER SILVERY MALE! I'm half tempted to try and raise him myself. Just to keep as a pet. He won't make it till tomorrow like this. Its so sad to see them starve to death.

So soon I'll be on the hunt for more rats. I'm going to go ahead and put up an ad looking for good rats.

[KingPythons]

I didnt know weather could effect them unless you were in the low 50's. But I guess we can all agree, no one like's to DO IT in the cold. Really petsmart rats are not bad. I have blues and all never had a problem. Mom dumbo rex just weaned her first litter from a hairless reg eared male. The babys amazing. But dont give up at all man. I noticed that the rats that look like they belong at a new york subway or something are really some good breeders.

[suzuki4life]

I didnt know weather could effect them unless you were in the low 50's. But I guess we can all agree, no one like's to DO IT in the cold. Really petsmart rats are not bad. I have blues and all never had a problem. Mom dumbo rex just weaned her first litter from a hairless reg eared male. The babys amazing. But dont give up at all man. I noticed that the rats that look like they belong at a new york subway or something are really some good breeders.

rats are fine in the cold unless their water freezes.

Its is all in setup.

People make it too complex with their rotations and multiple racks

Mostly they cause their own headaches by stressing their animals too much.

Get them to live and breed THEN start with fancy ideas to tweak it.

[BAMReptiles]

Sometimes they do not breed well or at all.

never had this problem ..... ever

it also would have to be something with your setup with that many failures. unless i missed it, you never answered the questions asked in the first several posts?

[Jay_Bunny]

How do you have them housed?
Some are housed in a rack and some in tanks. The only ones breeding are housed in the rack, 1.1 per tub. I did at one time have 2 females in one tub but they argued over the babies so badly, I had to separate one into a tank. All of the other rats are growing up to be breeders and they are housed in tanks.

a. What type of home
Rack or tanks. Wood pellet bedding with a layer of aspen for comfort.

b.What size home
Rack has large Van Ness litter pans and the tanks are either 10g or 20g long tanks. No more than 2 rats per 10g tank and the tanks are cleaned every few days.

c.How many living together
No more than 2 per enclosure. Though currently, due to money issues I was not able to make another enclosure so I have 5 females in a 20g long. These are still smaller rats and are not breeding. I clean that cage once every few days to keep the ammonia down and keep the rats clean.


d.How many of what sex living together
1.1 or 0.2 normally. though I do have a 0.5 right now in a 20 long tank due to not having their separate enclosures made yet.


How are they feed?

Southern States brand dog food with fresh foods such as pasta, oatmeal, fruits, and veggies provided every day.

How are they watered?
16oz water bottles. They are dumped out and refilled once daily.

[Animals As Leaders]

Not sure how your having such a hard time. I bred a bunch a few times when feeders were getting scarce by me but not once did I run into a problem like this. Not saying its anything you did, but you should correct everything that you can to ensure its not you.

Step one: Make a rack that can accommodate the biggest mason tubs you can find at home depot/lowes. Not sure of the dimensions just make sure its the size up from the normal ones, and there are lot of DIY's out there. I really don't like the litter pans, the big mason tubs are nice and provide ample running room, as well as standing room.

Step two: Provide best possible food available. I only use dog food with mice doesn't seem to effect them at all so I continue to use this. Although when they are nursing I provide lab blocks for additional nourishment.

Step 3: I would try to keep the temps at more in the mid 70's. I never go above this because I notice they tend to get lazy at high temps and lay around rather then what there good at...multiplying!

Like I said, I have never had any issues breeding rats once. Never went anywhere and got "special" rats that are good breeders. Simply go to petco and buy the smallest rats you can find, raise them on good food and keep them stress free and all you gotta do is add a male, thats it. I also believe providing the proper amount of running space is important for their psychological development as well as breeding instinct. All of which I said I think impact their production A LOT. I've have definitely have lost some babies(2 from a littler sometimes none), but thats normal. Half? I would say thats peculiar. I think why yours are dying are because of their food supply, and maybe bad mothers taking care of the litter. I would really try to locate a good food supply, turn the temps down a bit, and again more room for them once their in 1:3. Have you tried farm food supply? I thought there wasn't any near me but one day I called around to all the local farm feed stores and I found one 10 min away lol. Keep looking, and good luck with everything!

ALSO!!

Three females to one male has never done me wrong, and whenever I do this I end up with A LOT of babies really fast.

[Animals As Leaders]

PS: Rats NEVER get dog food, just something I always stuck by and has always worked.