What am I doin wrong

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

If they are huge rats, you may have old ones that are past breeding age. Try to get girls that are about 8 inches long (excluding the tail). They should be about 2-4 months of age. Try to get a male who is active, curious, and a bit bigger than the girls. Small males will not be allowed to breed with the females.

Also, try getting your day/light cycle regular-ish. It doesn't have to be STRICT like it seems to have to be with mice and ASFs, but a regular daily routine might be a good idea. Whenever I am awake, I have the light in my room on, which is usually from 3pm to 3am, with the light going off for 1-3 hours at a time during that "day" for whenever I leave the house, go eat dinner, or watch TV on the big screen.

If you are getting rats that are skittish, don't even bother thinking they'll breed. Not only will skittish rats take any chance to escape, they will not let you near their babies. The skittish female I had also didn't even try taking care of her babies (but she also had bad genes, so I culled her). Or to a pet store (or even a breeder who is okay with what you're doing) and find females that are calm and not afraid of you. If one even freezes and gently tries to get away, do not consider her.

I recommend getting a 1.2 group to start with. Chances are at least one of the girls will be a good mother with good genes, and then you can keep female pups from her litters to grow up and expand (though I recommend getting another male to breed them with).

At Petsmart, if they have male rats, they should be pet quality: friendly, curious, likes people, energetic, ect. Get a buck (or two if you like) that is bigger than the girls, but not fat.

Feed the Mazuri with high quality senior/overweight dog food (that means don't buy it from Walmart), too. I've fed all my rats high protein and highish fat food (dog & cat kibble, with oatmeal and table scraps) and they're doing wonderful. Females will abort a pregnancy if the food is not adequate.

Another thing I just thought of, since I'm watching my girl who just had 19... are you giving them enough bedding to make a good nest out of? Any time I haven't supplied a crapload of wood chips or given them a few handfuls of shredded news paper, any girl who's got pups seems a little lost.


Am I forgetting anything?



EDIT: Buy your bucks and does from separate stores. Petsmart here carries male rats, and PetCos here carry female rats. This also ensures that you are not breeding rats that have similar genetics.
Also, try to get rats with different coats. Say, one female would be a berkshire, one female a b/w hooded, and the male a siamese. Makes it easier to tell who's who.