Rats not breeding fast enough

[Riv]

Hey guys, I have 4 Bp's and 1 juvy burm who eats like a large Bp right now. I started breeding rats around late april if I had to guess. I began with 5 females, and one male. I was told the females had never bred before. Took them a while to get started, but eventually they all popped out litters.

I tried to feed off males first, and keep all my females, but my odds have been terrible. I lost 2 litters due to bad parenting, and I only got 3 females from my first wave of litters, and 5 from my second wave of litters. Now all my starters have had 2 litters and need to retire. 2 of my hold backs are pregnant but the other 5 females are still too young and even once they are old enough I have to wait out the pregnancy.

Im at the point now, where im completely out of feeders, the ones retiring are too large for even my burm, and Im going to have to buy F/T rats just to keep them feeding regularly until my rats catch up. I have looked on craigslist for more females, buts its been pretty dry. The pet stores in my area are all male only. I do know one pkace that sells live feeders, but I dobt trust the health of their animals at all.

So now my question. Does anyone know of a way to increase the speed of production? more males, smaller colonies, just plain more females, a different species, such as african soft furs perhaps? Im still pretty new at this and dont know all the tricks for success quite yet = P

[Kaorte]

ASFs!!! They breed like crazy and have big litters. They are great parents and they barely smell! I would get your hands on a 1.2 or 1.3. You can expect at least 20-30 babies per month with a 1.2 and 30-40 with a 1.3.

They also breed back to back with no problems, so you don't need to give your females breaks. I've been breeding them since May and I really enjoy them. Even though they are food, I like to watch them and take care of them. They are pretty cute and fun to watch! If you really want a show, throw some super worms or a few dozen crickets in there and watch them go crazy!!

[Riv]

Okay, got some more qiestions about ASF now XD
1)Size difference from normals
2)aggression level?
3) do they eat the same type of food as normal rats? or are super worms and crickets additional?

[John1982]

Okay, got some more qiestions about ASF now XD
1)Size difference from normals
2)aggression level?
3) do they eat the same type of food as normal rats? or are super worms and crickets additional?

1) As adults they're about the same as a small-medium sized norwegian rat but take quite a bit longer to grow out.
2) Mine aren't agressive(biters were promptly fed off) but I'll still get a nip every now and then from protective parents.
3) They eat the same food, you can treat your norwegians to a protein snack every now and then too - they love em.

[MarkieJ]

Summer is usually a slow season (for me) when it comes to breeding rats. Why are you retiring your females after 2 litters? I breed the heck out of mine and get a good year of high production out of the females. I've got a small colony and find I need to buy rats on occasion. Having a few in the freezer is always a good idea.

[Kaorte]

Okay, got some more qiestions about ASF now XD
1)Size difference from normals
2)aggression level?
3) do they eat the same type of food as normal rats? or are super worms and crickets additional?

I'm not an expert, but I'll give you my input.

1. They are much smaller than regular rats, but big rats are often too big for many ball pythons in my opinion. The adults I have weigh 70-90g each. So, on the smaller side but not too bad.

2. Mine aren't aggressive at all. I don't pick them up and play with them, I just pet them with the back of my hand. I have not been bitten, but I try to be smart about when I go in there and mess with them. I don't handle them if I don't have to.

3. They do fine on the same food as rats. I do the crickets and super worms as occasional extras. They will also eat some fruits and veggies.


Beware though, they love to chew!! Give them plenty of stuff to chew on. Also, they will use a wheel til the end of time. The run like it is their duty in life.

[Riv]

Summer is usually a slow season (for me) when it comes to breeding rats. Why are you retiring your females after 2 litters? I breed the heck out of mine and get a good year of high production out of the females. I've got a small colony and find I need to buy rats on occasion. Having a few in the freezer is always a good idea.

Well, I read one one of those rat care guides you find online that from the third litter on it starts negatively impacting their health, so I figured if I sold all of the rats with two litters under their belt on craigslist, then I could make some money back from them. Ive got two guys who want to buy My older male(ive got a holdback to take his place) and 4 females for $20. Its not a ton, but it covers bedding for the next 2 months, or the next bag of food. And Yeah. thrre was a point when I had at least 5 smalls frozen and waiting, but over time the snakes ate faster than rats bred, and I ran out.


@john and kaorte That doesnt sound too bad. My rats are protectice of their litters anyway so im already used to it. And it WOULD be nice not to have to worry about the prey getting too big. My fiance is pumped that they dont smell as bad too hahaha. I am provbably going to have to keep a colony for my burm as the ASF just wont get big enough for her. But for my Bp's? Im definitely going ASF. Now all I have to do is track some down XD Ill put an ad up to see if theres a breeder in my area But just in case, are there any breeders that can ship them to me? That would almost be preferable. I dont have a ton of free time during most of the week.

[satomi325]

I tried to feed off males first, and keep all my females, but my odds have been terrible. I lost 2 litters due to bad parenting, and I only got 3 females from my first wave of litters, and 5 from my second wave of litters. Now all my starters have had 2 litters and need to retire. 2 of my hold backs are pregnant but the other 5 females are still too young and even once they are old enough I have to wait out the pregnancy.

So now my question. Does anyone know of a way to increase the speed of production? more males, smaller colonies, just plain more females, a different species, such as african soft furs perhaps? Im still pretty new at this and dont know all the tricks for success quite yet = P

Don't retire breeders after 2 litters unless there is something wrong with them. Healthy females will breed well for at least a year, if not more. Retire them once you see their litter size significantly decreasing and/or after a whole year of breeding. It's only unhealthy for the female if you over breed them back to back. (i.e, no breaks after 3 consecutive breedings. It's taxing on their bodies)
If you're not getting enough litters, get more females and harem breed (1 male with multiple females at all times).<-- This will get your production really high.
If you want to give the females a break, then stagger your breeding.
For example, if you want a litter a week, you need 12 females. With those 12 females, you breed one a week. That way it will give some girls rest while others breed in their stead. You just need to come up with a nice system.
Personally, I have 8 snakes and breed a single female every other week. 1 litter can last me about 2 weeks worth of feeding.

Norway rats:
-Pros: Grows fast, has many sizes you can feed
-Cons: litters average 8-12

ASFs:
-Pros: Has very large litters and breeds very fast
-Cons: litters take long to grow up into proper feeding size.


If you get any pretty coat types and dumbos, sell your rats for more.
My rats price at:
$5 - standard top ear
$10 - dumbo
$10 -rex
$15 dumbo rex
People do go for them. 3 dumbo rat sales alone can feed the entire colony for 2+ months for me.

[Riv]

So was I just wrong about too many litters being bad for them? Theyre cool to breed for an entire year, or when they start having tiny litters?

[satomi325]

So was I just wrong about too many litters being bad for them? Theyre cool to breed for an entire year, or when they start having tiny litters?

Yup!
If you feel that a female is struggling to take care of her litters from exhaustion, just give her a break time to time. I'm sure she'll appreciate it.
Other than that, healthy females should be able to breed fine for more than 2 litters.