Maternity tubs ????s

[Zombie]

So, I just got a nice rat rack and am going to be breeding rats very soon. My question is this:

How important are separate maternity tubs?

I was planning on having about a 1:5 male / female ratio and rotating the male out after they become pregnant.

Do you think the females will be fine left together with the other mothers in the same tub? Or should they be given their own maternity tubs?

I don't want mothers eating babies or anything like that. I am all set other than this. I have my source for local mazuri and bedding and even have some grow out tubs ready. I will be constructing a co2 chamber soon so I can freeze extras that I don't feed off or sell to friends...

Any other tips or tricks anyone may have for me??

[aldebono]

I leave mine together all the time harem style. Everyone is fine with it. I think it's personal preference. It would make it easier to remember what babies belonged to what mom. But that only concerns me because of breeding for coat/color/ears, etc.

[carlson]

I just started breeding rats and with my first litter I left mom and dad together but once I get the desired amount of females (12) ill be pulling girls that are prego only if I want to hold some of her babies back for their coat or other things like my dumbos. But I'm actually trying to fill a chest freezer with rodents from pinky to adult so I want them to nonstop breed so unless one of my males shows to be a bad daddy they will just hang out in there too. With my first litter at about two an half weeks old now cuddle up to dad and sleep with him all the time it's kinda cute cuz he ignored them until they started walking around and once they found him they found their new cuddle buddy (he's a furry Rex lol)

[Zombie]

Yea, I will prolly have around 50-60 females breeding in rotation to keep my feeding supply up and housing each one in their own maternity tub is doable, but would be a total PITA! I'll give it a try at leaving all the moms in a tub together. If it becomes a problem ill make a maternity rack...

[satomi325]

I've done harem style and maternity tubs. It was chaotic with 4 mamas nursing all the pups plus when the babies started walking. It was really crowded and the tubs needed to be cleaned out more often with so many rats. Plus I had a lot of pup fatalities from mamas fighting over babies (tug o war)

I liked maternity tubs a lot, but I don't have enough space for it.

Currently, I house 2 mamas with each other. And I think I like it the best. They can help each other out plus its enough space where it won't be over crowded with the babies.

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[WmHrbst]

I have been successful in breeding rats both ways but in my opinion it's much easier and safer to use separate tubs for the mothers. Rats tend to have large liters and keeping them all in one tub gets messy quick. By separating the mothers it not only gives the mothers time to recover but also protects the babies from getting trampled and being in the middle of tug of wars.

Once I see a pregnant mom I just pull her from the breeding tub and place her in her own smaller tub until the babies are ready to be weaned. Once the babies are on their own the mother goes back into rotation. The mother has a full month with the babies while nursing them and time away from breeding.

This is just my method, my advice would be find what works best for you and good luck!

[Zombie]

I was considering getting a mouse rack (the ones that use the litter pans for tubs) to use as maternity to save space. I'd put just one mom in each cause they would be smaller tubs. The rack I just got is a 12 tub rack, but they are the medium sized mortar tubs. I also have 3 rubbermaid rat tubs with food hoppers and lids. I don't want to overcrowd the mortar tubs so I think 5 females should be fine in one. I will adjust as needed.

I feed about 16 mediums, 5 smalls, 2 weaned, 3 pups, and 4 fuzz a week now. My collection goes up and down as I have clutches, make trades, and sell. That's where I am sitting right now. How many females do you think will be needed for that amount?

I am also going to breed more than that to have a frozen stock pile (my adults eat both live and frozen), and to sell locally to friends. So I want to make sure I have enough space to accommodate all those breeders and grow outs. Having a set number in mind for how many females I will need to sustain just my collection will be very helpful...

[satomi325]

I was considering getting a mouse rack (the ones that use the litter pans for tubs) to use as maternity to save space. I'd put just one mom in each cause they would be smaller tubs. The rack I just got is a 12 tub rack, but they are the medium sized mortar tubs. I also have 3 rubbermaid rat tubs with food hoppers and lids. I don't want to overcrowd the mortar tubs so I think 5 females should be fine in one. I will adjust as needed.

I feed about 16 mediums, 5 smalls, 2 weaned, 3 pups, and 4 fuzz a week now. My collection goes up and down as I have clutches, make trades, and sell. That's where I am sitting right now. How many females do you think will be needed for that amount?

I am also going to breed more than that to have a frozen stock pile (my adults eat both live and frozen), and to sell locally to friends. So I want to make sure I have enough space to accommodate all those breeders and grow outs. Having a set number in mind for how many females I will need to sustain just my collection will be very helpful...

The mouse rack will be fine as a maternity rack if you choose to use one.

And as to how many females you need. The general rule of thumb is 1 female per snake give or take. You may have to add more females depending on how often you feed. I only have 9 snakes, but have about 15 breeder female rats. I don't harem breed any more. I manually place the male with certain females (2 females every 2 weeks). And I've found a really nice schedule with the every 2 weeks thing. It gives me 2 litters every 2 weeks and it's about 2-3 weeks worth of food. The really fancy ones (dumbos, rex, dumbo rexes, dumbo double rex) get sold as pets. And any other extras get fed to the ferrets.

This sticky was pretty helpful when I was figuring how many females to have. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Many-to-Breed

[PitOnTheProwl]

5 females in one tub might be a little crowded? I have 4 per tub but I also leave them together all of the time. I tend to thin out littes as they grow by either feeding off to my collection or freezing off for others.

[Zombie]

The mouse rack will be fine as a maternity rack if you choose to use one.

And as to how many females you need. The general rule of thumb is 1 female per snake give or take. You may have to add more females depending on how often you feed. I only have 9 snakes, but have about 15 breeder female rats. I don't harem breed any more. I manually place the male with certain females (2 females every 2 weeks). And I've found a really nice schedule with the every 2 weeks thing. It gives me 2 litters every 2 weeks and it's about 2-3 weeks worth of food. The really fancy ones (dumbos, rex, dumbo rexes, dumbo double rex) get sold as pets. And any other extras get fed to the ferrets.

This sticky was pretty helpful when I was figuring how many females to have. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Many-to-Breed

I did read that sticky. It was very helpful in my scheduling plan. I think I will breed 2 females per snake. At least that way I will be able to freeze off any extras. I'd rather have too many rats than not enough. I know quite a few people that will buy from me and I have a freezer in my garage that can hold a lot of frozen