Breeding Rats on a small scale - Questions

[meowmeowkazoo]

Thanks for all the extra help/tips!

I'm picking the rats up today, they are only around 6 weeks old. They were $3 each and I got 1 male and 4 females. Does that price sound okay?

How old do they have to be until I can safely start breeding them?
I'm in no rush as I have 100+ frozen thawed rats still in the freezer.

Keeping them in a tub with a water bottle + some pet store food until I can order the online rodent food. Also should I seperate the male for now?

$3 each is a good price. I sometimes sell rats as pets/feeders for $5 each. The females can be bred at 3 months of age. I wouldn't breed before that because you risk birth complications (i.e. female dying giving birth). You should separate the male until the females are ready.