Size of the enclosure

[Snakydan]

What is the appropriate size of the tub enclosure needed for placing 1 male to 5 females adult rats for breeding? Thank you !

[llovelace]

I don't use tubs.....yet, I keep mine in a 40g critter cage aka Pimp condo, I keep 1.5.

One of these days I will be switching to a rack system....hopefully

[mues155]

Well Im sure people have kept theirs in much smaller but I would say something like an 16x24?
I just like to give rats a little something extra because they are intelligent animals and my feeders get the most comfortable life possible. Im kinda a big ol girl about my feeders lol.
Is this for a rack system or just having a tub on the floor or shelf?
Im sure you could put them in something smaller but by the time 6 rats get in there and poop and pee you'd have to clean it twice a week. Keeping alot of rats in one cage means alot of cleaning. So if you have the room get a tub as big as you can and it will save you time on cleaning at least.

[snakesRkewl]

Assuming tubs in a rack then 1.4 is tops I'd keep in the smaller tubs from home depot.
Any more and your cleaning constantly or they live in nasty tubs.

If your talking about a tub to sit on the floor I'd get as big as you can afford.
Cut out the sides and the top and cover with 1/2 inch hardware cloth for good ventilation.

[tomfromtheshade]

If you are keeping them together full time (all moms raising their babies together) you will want to use the 36" x 24" x 8" Home Depot tubs.

If you are separating the moms into their own birthing tubs then you can use something as small as a CB30 (21 x 15 x 7).

[deathadder1069]

I keep 1.4 in concrete tubs on the rack i made and once i know that theyre all prego i move the male out and leave all the females there till birth. I have had times where i dont catch it or im off on the timing and males are left with the females but so far havnt seen anything wrong as far as the male killing the babies or anything but accidents do happen and have seen inadverdent trampling so i keep an eye on it to avoid this. I use alot less space by using racks then using 40 gal breeder tanks which take up way too much space in width and id have to use several of them for all the rats i have so the rack in the end comes cheaper as well.

[azmodane]

As others have stated if you can go bigger go bigger but if not you'll end up making more work on yourself for less pay out. If you over crowd then you have greater risk of deaths plus you will have to clean tubs more frequently.