should i breed rats?

[JaGv]

currently im breeding mice for the 1st time so far ive had 3 good litters, but with my females being 500-600g and males 200-300g mice take too long to grow.

it's kind of a no brainer but does anyone have advice?

[mues155]

It depends if you need to or not. I don't know how many snakes you have. I have a 1.5 breeding colony just because I do have some picky snakes that only take live. it comes in handy and then you can also just pre kill and freeze your own rats
for later.
if you can get rat feed in bulk then it definitely makes sense to do so.

Basically the same as mouse breeding only bigger cages

keep them fed and clean, that's about all there is to it
try a small 1.3 colony and see if you like it and see how it goes.

you will definitely want to get your ball pythons on rats because feeding mice to anything over 500g is horribly annoying...you'll be using several mice when one rat could get the job done.

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[JaGv]

well i only have 4 snakes (for now ). but i think if i switch to rats i rather breed my own than pay the $4-$5 a piece every week. besides the biggest mice available are only 27-32g less than needed for a 600g snake.

where can i get a good price on rat food?

[mues155]

well i only have 4 snakes (for now ). but i think if i switch to rats i rather breed my own than pay the $4-$5 a piece every week. besides the biggest mice available are only 27-32g less than needed for a 600g snake.

where can i get a good price on rat food?

Yes i would suggest switching to
Rats and breeding your own.

i would suggest mazuri 6f for the feed, it's available in 20 and 50 lb bags. Can be found and ordered from most farm supply or feed stores that carry purina products.
You'll just have to call around for it
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[JaGv]

thanks for the help. hopefully the feed store i buy my dog food has it since they also sell purina dog food.

[aldebono]

Just be sure you enjoy rats because you will be spending more time with them than your snakes!

Here is how my cost/time works out. Remember I now have 14 snakes.

When my rodent bill hit $50 per week ($200 per month, 2,400 per year) I said, heck no! Built my 6 bin rodent rack for about $150 and food and bedding costs me around $30 a month ($43 per month $520 a year calculating with rack).

I now freeze my extras and sell to the local reptile store which brought me $50 and $30 plus selling to pet homes $21.


I spend about 10 minutes a day feeding and watering my rats (6 bins with 1.4) they need to be changed generally every 5 days when it's hot or they have to come inside because it's cold. Changing bins takes about 30 minutes because I am checking up on everyone and switching males for breeding, etc.

Snakes, I peek in every day and change once a week which also takes about 30 minutes.


I hope this helps!