Tub in rat rack flooded, mom and babies drown, so sad...

[cchardwick]

So I just had my first terrible experience with my ARS-5032 rat rack, it looks like one of the rats popped out the water nozzle and it landed on top of the wire mesh in the on position and flooded the tub to the brim. The mom and babies all drown, the male survived but is in critical condition. It looks like he may pull out of it but I'd say it's 50/50, I'll know in the morning.

Any suggestions on how to prevent this from happening? I was wondering if the ARS racks are supposed to come with clips to hold the nozzles in place. I've seen clips on competitors racks. Or maybe I can drill a few really tiny holes in the bottoms of the tubs so they will drain? If I had holes in the tubs it may flood multiple tubs? And holes may drain on the food, maybe it's not a good idea... Or maybe I should reduce the amount of water in the reservoir so only a gallon or so will drain out instead of a whole five gallons? Of course I'd have to fill it up more often. Maybe I should have multiple reservoirs with a gallon or less in each running to just one or two levels, maybe a water reservoir per level...

Any other ideas? It's a bummer that I lost a really good pair of breeders on their very first batch of babies.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Always a gamble of using a watering system

[cchardwick]

Well my male pull through! He was so bad last night that he couldn't even stand up. But this morning he looked great!

[vix0105]

Well my male pull through! He was so bad last night that he couldn't even stand up. But this morning he looked great!

Good news,hope he's ok!


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[John1982]

Drainage holes might work. I imagine you'd need to use something like a metal grommet to keep the rodents from chewing out.

[GoingPostal]

Always a gamble of using a watering system

This-I'm glad I only have a few breeders and can do it by hand but it's the same reason I don't run auto top offs on my fish tanks, see far too many tanks crashed or houses flooded when something sticks. When they work they are wonderful but always a bit of a risk. Leaving less water might work, the drainage holes idea I would be afraid they will start chewing out like John said...

[Ba11er]

The problem with holes in the tubs besides the possibility of the rats chewing them out is that there would be shavings getting all over everything underneath the tubs. I found with some of my rats that they would use one or two areas to go to the bathroom so those area would contain more moisture, with holes that moisture could leak out.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Does not matter the rack whether you built it or you buy it, if you have a watering system you will have a flood sooner or later.

I had one within days due to a faulty valve it happens.

Does it happen a lot in normal circumstances? General not in a decade I might have had 5 or 6 flood, the key is to inspect your valve each week simply by letting your finger run underneath each of them. Make sure they don't pack bedding up in the valve and once a year clean your valve with vinegar and flush your lines. And make a daily check on your animals if you can.

You drill holes feeder will find them and use them as a start to chew their tubs.

Using a 1 gallon tank defeat the purpose of making it easier as a keeper.

[cchardwick]

I guess it's a good thing I have the rat breeder rack with the smaller tubs, it minimizes my risk compared to large tubs.

[cchardwick]

I'm thinking that an easy short term solution would be to figure out how may gallons in a tub, then use a gallon or two less in my reservoir. Then maybe add a few wooden blocks per tub so the rats can climb on them to keep from drowning. I do check on them twice a day.