Rat care input

[JoshJP7]

Ok so I finally got my new rack up and running and I'm looking for everyones advice on a couple things... Some background info...I'm using diamond soft bedding and Mazuri rodent feed... I have 2 female small rats(around 60g) in each tub... total of 3 tubs right now and I'm adding more rats every week. Now to the questions

1. The rack has a built in feeding trough... do I just fill this up completely with food or should I only put what theyll eat in like a day or two??

2. How the heck do the rats eat through the feeding trough? I feel like the food is too big and the holes in the top are too small for them to actually eat the food. Should I worry?

3. How often does everyone clean their rat cages/bins? Right now I'm doing a complete bedding change once a week... is this too soon? not soon enough?

Heres the rack I have... hopefully it'll help you help me.
http://www.arscaging.com/ars3021.html

[stangs13]

1. Fill it to the top!

2. They do.

3. Every week.


Nice rack!

[FatBoy]

Nice rat rack....ditto on all stangs answers.

[m00kfu]

Yep, Justin hit them on the head.

[marmie]

1. Fill it to the top!

2. They do.

3. Every week.


Nice rack!

I do the same!

That is one nice rack! Please keep us posted on how you like it.

[JoshJP7]

Couple more questions...

I plan on keeping 2 female rats in a bin with a total of 24 females... How many males do I need? Im guessing I only need 2 as 1 male can get 2 females pregnant in a 2 week period.

Should I keep 3 male rats just so they're not alone for two weeks, every other week??(I can keep the males together without them killing eachother right?)

Thank you everyone for your help! I picked up 16 more rats today but about 1/2 were boys so theyre this weeks food... Everything seems to be going OK and I should have some pics real soon. Thanks again.

[cassandra]

Ditto what Justin said...

I plan on keeping 2 female rats in a bin with a total of 24 females... How many males do I need? Im guessing I only need 2 as 1 male can get 2 females pregnant in a 2 week period.

I'm not following the math here...but then math is not my strong suit.

Should I keep 3 male rats just so they're not alone for two weeks, every other week??(I can keep the males together without them killing eachother right?)

I have two breeder boys and they seem to enjoy each other's company when they don't have a girlfriend needing attention (I rotate a girl in to the breeder boy's tub when I'm ready for another girl to be preggers).

[JoshJP7]

To clarify...

2 female rats/tub x 12 tubs = 24 females... how many males do I need?

[cassandra]

How many girls do you want pregnant at once?

[JoshJP7]

need 20 feeders/week... male would be in with 2 females for 2 weeks then off to the next girl.