Breeding rats as feeders

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

..I'm considering this..I found a spot near me ,about a mile away that sells all sorts of feeders,nothin they don't have. I'm thinking of getting a male and female and doing my own thing with them. I been buying a few at a time and keeping them in a tankin my apt,it's a hassle going back n forth. I do to and don't mind.

so what are the basic steps I'd need to know. Looks fairly simple. Need no heat or anything,just some food and water a male and a female and that's that...is it that simple?

[Kodieh]

It's not that simple.

The most important part of this is the food. If you don't feed them properly, it will lead to disease and tumors, low litter counts, and cannibalism.

Even with two snakes, it's impossible to feed off of one breeding pair because it DOES take time to raise litters up to the appropriate size, and then they WILL exceed it.

They STINK to high heaven, so doing it away from living areas is a must.

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

They STINK to high heaven, so doing it away from living areas is a must.

That's enough said,TY...I don't have the space now to do so. I'll just continue to go to my local spot,pick up the normal 2-3 feeders at a time. Keeps my trips there down to every 2 weeks give or take.

thnx man

[satomi325]

I disagree. Norway rats in low numbers do not smell if kept properly. They are relatively easy to care for as long as you keep up with maintenance. I used to keep a small breeding group in my college apartment bedroom with no noticeable odor.
Now, if we were talking about mice? Now those little buggers stink to high heaven! And rats in larger numbers smell too, but never as bad as mice.

How many snakes are you looking to feed per week?

[Crazymonkee]

He has 2. And I agree mice smell WAY worse than rats.

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[satomi325]

Ok, for 2 snakes that should be easy then.
One or two female rats + male.

If you have 2 or 3 stackable tubs/rack, that should save space.
1 tub for females, 1 tub for the male (if you want to keep him separate), and 1 for grow outs. You could combine the male and grow out tub if you want. I sometimes do that.

You can use kiln dried pine bedding or pine pelleted bedding. They're both pretty cheap($4-7/large bag) and will last you a long time.
Both are good for keeping odors down and is absorbent.

A few drops of vanilla extract into their water, good air circulation, quality diet, and cleaning up at least once a week will keep odors down.