breeding questions

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Hey Guys,

I am looking at breeding enough rats to feed 6 ball pythons.

I am under the impression that I should have one female for every snake to ensure that I will have enough.

If I was introducing males to enclosures with three females in them, and removing him to introduce to the next bin, could I leave all three females to birth together? or should I separate them prior to delivery? My bins are 65 QT.

My original plan was to breed harem style, but I've read so many "finger wagging," articles, that I have decided not to. But at the same time, I don't want to have a bin for EVERY female..

Do they have success nursing in groups or is it a big no no?

Cheers,
Chris.

[meowmeowkazoo]

They can succeed nursing in groups. The only issue I have ever run into was one female hoarding all of the babies and not letting the other females nurse them.

[TerrieL]

I keep 2 females in each bin and so far have not had issues. They do steal babies back and forth sometimes, but for me that seems to occur when I have been in the bin cleaning, or removing a pup or two for feeding.

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thanks for the replies guys!


does it affect survival rates, or cause negative health issues with the mothers when they steal or hoard?

cheers,
chris

[EAC Reptiles]

I has never ran into any kind of issues with the mothers stealing babies. Most of the time they wind up with half and half anyway. I have between 3-4 females per tub.

When you do have large litters there is usually one or two pups that grow slower than the rest, they are usually the weaker ones that get less milk from the mom. I don't know if you would consider that a health issue, but I also see this when it is just one mother in the tub also.