New Rat Breeder w/ ?'s

[alilshadee]

I currently have 11 ball pythons with half of them feeding on live ranging from 94 to 650 grams. I bought some mice a few weeks ago to start breeding and well at least 1 out of 4 looks pregnant so i'm not sure how i'm doing there. Though I figure soon enough some of my BP's will be getting big enough to start feeding on small rats so I decided that I should start breeding them now since it takes some time. Today I purchased 1 large male and a medium female and a 106 qt rubbermaid bin to house them. I am wondering if I am going to have to take the male out when she's close to having babies? I figure I have a few weeks to work on a rack and I saw some good ideas on here, but I just need to plan out my bins. If anyone has any advice or tips it would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!!

[SatanicIntention]

Yes, you need to separate the male from her BEFORE she gives birth, as she can get pregnant again immediately. That is very hard on their system and she won't be a good breeder for very long. I would get two females, so you can space out the breedings and have one litter being born, while one litter is growing to a good size. The females need to be rested for a few weeks prior to weaning their litter, so they can build their reserves back up and aren't nutritionally deficient.

When babies are weaned at 4-5 weeks old, they need to be separated by sex as the females can get pregnant by 5-6 weeks. Like an 8 year old getting pregnant... Just because they can, it's not a good thing.

The bigger sterilite tub is good for the "love shack", but you need to have a smaller 10-gallon tank or similar sized tub(lid replaced with wire), so the female is in close quarters with her babies(especially if she is a new mom). Do not house any other females with her, as they may try to steal the babies and they could get injured in the process.

That was the short and sweet version, I'm sure someone else will come along soon and help out

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I always separate male from the females, I usually leave my male with 2 females at the time for 2 weeks and then remove him, at 2 weeks it is very obvious when a female is pregnant.

if you don't separate them you will have back to back breeding which you want to avoid. I also give my female a week break before getting back with the male.

Here are some stats about rats http://ratguide.com/breeding/basics/statistics.php

If you want some plans for racks (Mice & Rats) this is what I did a while back if you have questions about it just PM me http://www.geocities.com/gaballpythons/rat_rack.htm

http://www.geocities.com/gaballpythons/mice_rack.htm

[Ginevive]

Great advice I love the 10-gal.tank idea that Becky mentioned; I use these for my nursing moms. They offer enough space but yet, are a cozy size and not too huge either. And no bars for the babies to fall out of or get squished underneath.
Again, like Becky and Deborah said, seperating the male from the mother before she births is important. I hate to see people breed anything end-to-end, whether it's horses, rats, dogs, or heck even people. The female body needs a break, really!