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  1. #1
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    Small scale rat breeding

    Hi, I am just in a process of building a rack from cement mixing tubs. This will have 5 tubs. At the moment I have 3 colonies of ASF's in lab cages. The grow outs will go into 2 XL lab cages and the ones I want to keep for longer (grow bigger, start new colonies) will go into one of the tubs in new rack. This will leave me with 4 tubs for rats. How would you use this space? I was thinking about 1.3 ratio and separating moms into 3 grow out tubs. Would a male be ok on his own should all 3 moms get pregnant at similar time? Would this work or is there a better way? Man thanks

  2. #2
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    Be careful with putting pregnant rats together. They can eat each others babies. It really is not a black and white answer. I keep my female rats that are pregnant in a seperate cage by themselves and up until the pups are weaned. If you put baby rats in with adult or sub adult rats they could eat the babies. I have had sub adult/adult rats eat baby rats even when they had fur. I wait until my pups have their eyes open and have a nice set of teeth so that way they can defend themselves if another rat tries to eat them they will be deterred from doing so.
    Last edited by JacksReptiles; 03-10-2021 at 02:13 PM.
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    When I bred rats, I often kept them 1:2, but only if the females didn't fight over the babies. Some are okay & help each other, but not all of them will play nice, so 1:1 is safer. The male will also pester the females as soon as they give birth, or sometimes even WHILE giving birth , so he's better off out of the way, IMO.

    I've always supplemented my rodent's diet (besides quality lab pellets- they're given other protein & vitamin sources such as nuts, hard-boiled eggs, kale, etc); that usually cuts down on temptation to "eat the kids". That problem has various causes in rodents, including nutritional deficiencies, behavioral (fighting over babies until they get injured, etc) or just inexperience (again, inspired by the blood when cleaning up afterbirth & not knowing when to quit). And a few are just mentally unfit parents.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 03-10-2021 at 02:20 PM.
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  4. #4
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    ASF? Leave females an males together. Start with a 4 females an two males in the tub. When the tub hits 28 thin it. ASF grow slooooow, so grow out tubs can be a waste. An if you separated M/F starting a new tub causes problems. Female ASF will kill new adults. So if you want new blood it’s add pinks or crawlers. Adult females will tend any an all young.

    I says two two males just because. Because ASF grow so slooooow if you loose a male it could be six months before a pink can breed with an adult female.

    Look at my pics for some ASF.

    Good luck!

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    Re: Small scale rat breeding

    Hey, I am all good with ASF's. The question is regarding the "normal" rats as I never kept them. I would never remove a male from an established colony.

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    Re: Small scale rat breeding

    Quote Originally Posted by JacksReptiles View Post
    Be careful with putting pregnant rats together. They can eat each others babies. It really is not a black and white answer. I keep my female rats that are pregnant in a seperate cage by themselves and up until the pups are weaned. If you put baby rats in with adult or sub adult rats they could eat the babies. I have had sub adult/adult rats eat baby rats even when they had fur. I wait until my pups have their eyes open and have a nice set of teeth so that way they can defend themselves if another rat tries to eat them they will be deterred from doing so.
    Thanks. Thats why I would like to separate them. So if I have 4 tubs, 1 to breed 1 male and 3 females. And 3 for pregnant females where I would keep them until rats are weaned + an extra week on top maybe. My main question is: if all the females are pregnant and removed can I keep the male on his own until females are ready to breed again?
    Last edited by myron7; 03-10-2021 at 02:57 PM.

  7. #7
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    Got it.

    Keep two males. An put the three females in with both males for 14-15 days. That way all three “should” be breed an drop at day 19 or so. When I get home I’ll post some links that might help. They have been posted in the rat section before.

    Two males because rats are very social.

    Good luck!

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    Re: Small scale rat breeding

    Quote Originally Posted by 303_enfield View Post
    Got it.

    Keep two males. An put the three females in with both males for 14-15 days. That way all three “should” be breed an drop at day 19 or so. When I get home I’ll post some links that might help. They have been posted in the rat section before.

    Two males because rats are very social.

    Good luck!
    Thank you

  9. #9
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    I raise ASF, Norway rats, rabbits, pigs........

    First question is how many prey eaters are you feeding?

    Then what size prey do you need?
    For 10-125ish grams you won't need grow out tubs. Pull the moms at 35 days (weaned). I give the females two weeks off before I put them back in with the males. Some here an others I know just put the females back into the breeding rotation.

    I say you won't need grow out tubs because by the time the females have to be removed from the males the old litter is ready to be gassed. Now, if you put the females straight from weaning to breeding you may want or need grow out tubs. For grow out tubs, try to keep the rats about the same size.

    As for females having their own tubs.
    Depends on the size tub used an the rats. "If" the males did their job the girls "should" drop around the same day give or take 24 hrs. Good moms are just that. Buttheads will fight to steal babies. Pinkies get hurt that way. Then you have the ones that if stressed will kill/eat pinks.

    Using large mixing tubs I have an do let three females nest. These are the older breeders that haven't had problems. For the small tubs it's one per litter. If a first litter or any litter is small (6 or less), I spread the litter around an take the next step with the rat (keep or cull).

    Cull any injured young. Or they will be eaten. Cull all nasty rats, no biters or fighters. Rats only live 2-3 years don't waste time. You have to add new blood from time to time. Dad breeding daughters an then breeding grand daughters messes with litter size an fertility.

    Breed fancy rats! If you have extra fancy brings $$ pet money. Lab white rats not as much. I get $20 for blues any time I sell them, $10 is easy for a fancy rat.

    I always put three females into the two males tub. Rule of two, one is none. Two males give better odds that the females will be bred an drop around the same time. Also keeps one male from getting attacked by three mad females I always pull the females out by day 17. In the 70's I left one male in with two females in glass tanks. The male would stress the females out always trying to breed while mom was taking care of the kids. Didn't take long to learn.

    Now, starting a colony the easy way.
    Find an old school pet store that houses all the rats together. The adult females are bred Find other rat (pet) breeders on face book an the like in your area. Trade or borrow a male. Animal shelters have rats, rabbits, snakes, birds an even horses. Check out your local ones.

    Help full links(I hope):
    miscsigl.vp (afrma.org)
    Fancy Rat Varieties: Fur Color, Eye Color, Coat Type, and Markings - PetHelpful - By fellow animal lovers and experts
    Building a Rat Rack (arbreptiles.com)

    Good luck!

  10. #10
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    Re: Small scale rat breeding

    Quote Originally Posted by 303_enfield View Post
    I raise ASF, Norway rats, rabbits, pigs........

    First question is how many prey eaters are you feeding?

    Then what size prey do you need?
    For 10-125ish grams you won't need grow out tubs. Pull the moms at 35 days (weaned). I give the females two weeks off before I put them back in with the males. Some here an others I know just put the females back into the breeding rotation.

    I say you won't need grow out tubs because by the time the females have to be removed from the males the old litter is ready to be gassed. Now, if you put the females straight from weaning to breeding you may want or need grow out tubs. For grow out tubs, try to keep the rats about the same size.

    As for females having their own tubs.
    Depends on the size tub used an the rats. "If" the males did their job the girls "should" drop around the same day give or take 24 hrs. Good moms are just that. Buttheads will fight to steal babies. Pinkies get hurt that way. Then you have the ones that if stressed will kill/eat pinks.

    Using large mixing tubs I have an do let three females nest. These are the older breeders that haven't had problems. For the small tubs it's one per litter. If a first litter or any litter is small (6 or less), I spread the litter around an take the next step with the rat (keep or cull).

    Cull any injured young. Or they will be eaten. Cull all nasty rats, no biters or fighters. Rats only live 2-3 years don't waste time. You have to add new blood from time to time. Dad breeding daughters an then breeding grand daughters messes with litter size an fertility.

    Breed fancy rats! If you have extra fancy brings $$ pet money. Lab white rats not as much. I get $20 for blues any time I sell them, $10 is easy for a fancy rat.

    I always put three females into the two males tub. Rule of two, one is none. Two males give better odds that the females will be bred an drop around the same time. Also keeps one male from getting attacked by three mad females I always pull the females out by day 17. In the 70's I left one male in with two females in glass tanks. The male would stress the females out always trying to breed while mom was taking care of the kids. Didn't take long to learn.

    Now, starting a colony the easy way.
    Find an old school pet store that houses all the rats together. The adult females are bred Find other rat (pet) breeders on face book an the like in your area. Trade or borrow a male. Animal shelters have rats, rabbits, snakes, birds an even horses. Check out your local ones.

    Help full links(I hope):
    miscsigl.vp (afrma.org)
    Fancy Rat Varieties: Fur Color, Eye Color, Coat Type, and Markings - PetHelpful - By fellow animal lovers and experts
    Building a Rat Rack (arbreptiles.com)

    Good luck!
    Thank you very much for that. Do you think keeping 2 females per tub (3 tubs) and cycling male every 2-3 weeks would work? Could 2 females with babies be together in one tub?
    Last edited by myron7; 03-11-2021 at 08:18 AM.

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