The Time Has Come To Start Breeding My Own Rats (Open To Advice & Recommendations!)

[the_rotten1]

If it really wasn't feasible to breed more than 20-25 rats then I wonder why all the rodent suppliers stay in business.

A little while ago I was about where you are, with 13 BPs (though I also had a handful of colubrids as well). I spent about the same amount the last time I ordered rodents. So I went from shelling out almost $150 a month for rats and mice to spending alittle over $50 a month for rodent food and bedding. And that's with the fancy expensive bedding. If you don't keep your rats inside, you can do better.

As my snake collection grew I switched to cheaper food and held back more rodents, so I still pay about $50 a month, but I have 25 rats and 15 mice and they're providing food for 31 snakes. If I had to order frozen rodents in bulk it'd be over $200/month to feed my collection. Breeding is definitely cost effective for me. I'm paying about 1/4 as much breeding as I would be if I were buying. Of course there were equipment costs too, but rat and mouse racks are a drop in the bucket compared to snake racks.

My ratio of females to males is higher because they're constantly in with females. I keep them in groups of 1.2 or 1.3, but as soon as the girls are pregnant they get a nursing tub and my boys get more girls. I have 3 males and 22 females, so that works out to 1.7 with one extra female. I could easily add two more girls and do 1.8 if I needed to, but I wouldn't go too far over that.

I'm not sure exactly how many racks/tubs you'd need, but with the new numbers you just posted I'm guessing at least 2 cement tub racks with 5 or more tubs and a nursing rack or two. I have a 6 tub nursing rack myself. It's made with smaller bus tubs. They're roughly the size of a 15 qt storage bin, but smoother and more sturdy. They're fine for a single female for a few weeks while she's pregnant/nursing. After the babies are a week old put them in a larger tub with other mothers if you can. My girls fight sometimes, so that's not always possible. If I haven't managed to move them out before the babies open their eyes I pull strings to get it done because there's not enough room for weaned rats to run around in those tiny tubs.

You'll probably end up needing more rodent space than me, since you need your feeders to get bigger. I usually euthanize at or before 100g, if I have any left by then. BPs are my largest snakes, so I don't need anything bigger. Growing them out is going to take more time, space, and cost. Once the retics start putting on size rabbits and chickens will likely be more cost effective, just because of the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to get a rat to jumbo size. The guy who runs my local pet shop breeds burms and he says chicken is the best. He wishes he could get all his big snakes on it.