Breeding Rats

[steelsack]

Into a bag they go and then a little bit of deceleration trauma against the door frame. The litters seem to be spaced about two months apart so by the time I'm feeding off the last jeuvie rat, a new litter arrives. That's what's SUPPOSED to happpen anyway, lol. It is fun to watch them run around, just don't name anybody but studs and resident mothers or you can feel bad at feeding time!

[JLC]

Wow steelsack...that looks like one seriously happy rat home! Very cool! How hard is it to clean the bottom out?? Did you build that yourself? Do you have plans for it?

[steelsack]

It was the base of a waterbed that came with my house when I bought it. The bed was in poor shape so I got rid of it but couldn't see the base and drawers go to waste. When I looked at it right, it was a critter cage and was practically half built! I took out the drawers and hardware and added what I needed. Got some hardware cloth and a staple gun and presto! Wired in a light for giggles.....
The shelves and bottom are lined with plastic so when I remove wood shavings I just spray with weak bleach solution. The shelves come right out and I wash them in the tub with a little bleach. I used clear window plastic for the base so they don't get shavings on the floor around the cage. You can't really see it, but it is between the frame and wire all around bottom and is about five inches high. The first time I tried it I put it on the inside and it was gone in no time as nesting material. So I had to separate the wire from the frame, insert the plastic "splash guard" and restaple the wire. It works well and better yet the rats can't get at it.
The cage was origionally for a couple zebra finches who were totally stoked when they moved in. It used to have a waterfall and plants, but the birds eventually died and the rats now have a pretty sweet death row!
It cleans easy and the only thing that will give a smell is if I forget to wash the hammock for a couple weeks. They LOVE the hammock (old pair of jeans' leg in case you can't tell) and spend lots of time in it.

[JamminJonah]

Steelsack you have got to be one of the most creative, resourceful critter keepers ever! Awesome!

[steelsack]

Thanks, fellow musician!
Sweet avatar!

[BallPython713]

That's purty neat, SteelSack! I haven't decided yet if I'm going to breed, but so far I'm leaning towards it!

[JLC]

Steelsack...I've saved that picture, I hope you don't mind! Someday I'll be breeding my own feeders and I may use that as a model to design breeder cages.

[Marla]

I agree -- that is one sweet cage. I need to start planning a bigger enclosure for Adrian's pet rat as she's outgrown her little one, so I may get some ideas from that (not on that scale, though). We used to breed mice for food and they were some seriously stanky critters, but the rats are fine as long as I make sure the kids cleaned the cages weekly (well, cage, now that Little Missy has passed).

[steelsack]

Steelsack...I've saved that picture, I hope you don't mind!

Of course not

[Ginevive]

I have two mother rats with babies now. My local pet store was being overrun with breeding rats, so the owner gave them to me. Now, one female has 8 young and the other had her 13 young a few days ago. Something nasty to note: the one female got pregnant by one of her own sons. I guess that in the animal kingdom, things like that are not important to them. So make sure to seperate any babies from their mothers, as soon as they are weaned, unless you want more inbred rats!
Seriously, though, this is a much cheaper way for me to feed my 4 snakes. Once the rats reach a good size for my bci and smaller BP to grow into, I'll euthanize them and freeze.
Rats are MUCH cleaner and less odorous than mice!