Well, I decided to go ahead and move forward with rat breeding on a small scale. I picked up one of the scientific rat breeding cages and a 500ml water bottle from Reptile basics just to get started. I've been thinking that 1 male and perhaps 2 or 3 females would probably produce enough offspring to keep my current 13 snakes fed once they started producing and the first litter or two of offspring got up to size. Then I will add a female here and there as needed in the future as my collection grows. I think the scientific rat breeding cages are really only meant for one pair of rats, aren't they? Do you guys think 1 male + 2 or 3 females would be alright in one or should I pick up one or two more of them? They measure 18.25" x 12" x 6.25" tall... I definitely need to pick up at least one more to segregate the male in order to give the females breaks in between breedings. As far as caging the offspring goes, I have a huge heavy duty tote that i've been planning on converting into a rat cage. I'm thinking maybe I should get one more of those as well. That way I could keep the male and female weanlings segregated since they start breeding at such young ages.

With regards to substrate, i've been thinking sawdust would be a great option, as it can usually be gotten for free. Have any of you ever used sawdust for rats? Otherwise, a local snake/rat breeder friend of mine told me I can buy blocks of pine shavings from the tractor supply store for only $5.00. I really like the idea of sawdust, because I have decided to go ahead and try this project in my basement instead of in an unheated garage. So, in order to keep the smell under control I will obviously have to clean the cages A LOT, which I can see getting expensive. Straw seems like it could also be a good cheap option since you can buy whole bails of it for only like $4.00? I'm also a little concerned about my furnace sucking rat smell into the heating vents and blowing it into my snake room on the second floor of my house. Am I going to end up with a room full of ravenous snakes in constant feeding mode?

And, finally, rat food... From what I understand, rats do fine on dog food (just so it doesn't contain red dye), but most people seem to recommend various commercial rat pellets. In researching many of the commercial rat foods on the market i've found that they all have pros and cons. So, i'm sorta scratching my head on what to feed my rats... One of the biggest issues i'm finding with commercial rat foods is, what may be great for adults and nursing females, might not be good for younger rats. Also, it seems to be pretty pricey unless you buy huge bags of it, which I don't feel is necessary for me, considering i'm not going to be keeping large numbers of breeders. Obviously, what I feed my rats will also reflect on the nutrition that my snakes will be receiving, so that is also a very important consideration. So, can you guys recommend a good universal dog food or reasonably priced rat food that would be good for adults, nursing females AND young rats, which will ultimately provide my snakes with quality nutrients?