Hello, im trying my hand at breeding rats again as a better way to feed my collection. Ive read some of the breeding posts on here but i still have a couple questions. First off how many rats can I keep in my tub, I bought around a 36 qt tub. Right now I have a semi-adult male and 2 weanlings in there. but there just food. I will be acquiring my breeders soon. How do I know how much food to give them? Is there a certain amount of blocks per rat? And is it okay to mix it with dog food? Also, is it okay to put a lot more food in there bowl then they need (to last 2 days or so.)
When you have multiple females per container and one has babies how can you tell which one is the mom?
That being asked how can you tell when a rat becomes prego,visually. and can you feel it if you hold them? When you move a prego female to a separate container before she births, How big should that container be? And will it be okay being by itself for 3-4 weeks? Also any ideas how how to provide adequate ventilation in a tub? I used a saudering iron and put tons of holes on the top half of the container and some in the lid. I couldnt afford the mesh this payday but i plan on cutting a big square out of the top of the lid to ad mesh. Does all this suffice for ventilation? How many tubs would you recommend having? And last but not least what kind of bedding for the birthing tub?
Thank you for any answers yall can give. I tried my hand at breeding before but all my litters kept dying because of my bedding that petco told me was "great". heh