Quote Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch View Post
Alright thanks!!! As I said I am looking at a baby butter from constrictors unlimited ... Would it be best to just wait until my female is a bit older or am I okay to make the male wait a couple of years to breed?

I'm assuming rats are too chewy to keep in plastic tubs?

Would love to see your plans
Constrictors Unlimited has some amazing animals and I've only heard good things about them. Not sure what all he has in at the moment (more than he has on his site, though), but Tim Koppenhofer @ Special K Reptiles has some excellent quality critters as well and great prices. We've dealt with him many times and the pictures on his website do not do any of his animals justice. To top it off, Tim is a really nice guy. Should check him out as well.

As far as age, I wouldn't worry about that too much. For females I would wait until they were at least 2-3 years and at least 1,500 grams. The bigger the better. For males, as long as they are 500g or bigger, they usually have no problems breeding. I've talked to lots of people who have bred males at 6 months old and less than 500g! But if you get a male now, getting him to breed later on shouldn't be an issue. I've got a male that is at least 8 years old and he is hands down the most aggressive breeder I've ever seen. I almost feel bad when I pair him up because he doesn't even bother sweet talking the ladies. He takes advantage of them in a way that only James Bond could compete with.

Some rats are, some aren't. Most people who keep them in racks use black cement mixing tubs (Lowe's/Home Depot). The biggest thing is getting a heavy duty tub with no sharp angles that a rat could get its teeth into. So far we've never had one chew out out a tub, but I suppose its possible.