I have 15 of them, so I would hope I would know how to care for all of the mooching boogers.

Try www.rattiusmaximus.com Chrissy Knight has wonderful care information, not to mention gorgeous babies

You can also sign up for www.the-real-rat-community.com but don't mention breeding or feeding them to your snakes. You won't be looked at too kindly, LoL. There are alot of wonderful, knowledgeable people and Chrissy owns the forum. They know everything from making your own food mixes to care to medical advice.

I can post my own food mix here if anyone wants to know. Costs maybe $25-$30 every 2-3 months, but I am feeding ALOT of ratties.

You can also get a good quality lab block. http://www.teklad.com/index.htm has great products. I would get a lab block that has 14-16% protein. Any more and you are looking for protein allergies. Any dog food you use shouldn't have anymore than 16-18% protein. I found an Iams brand, Lamb and Rice, that only has 18% protein and my girls and guy are doing great on it, no scabbies or itching. But I barely put any in my mix, so they aren't getting very much per day. They get mainly grains, pastas, fruit, nuts, and anything we had for dinner that night

And yes, they should be kept in wire cages or custom cabinet cages. I only recommend Martin's Cages, www.martinscages.com These are very well-built cages and are a great price. Very easy to put together too. I built my own cabinet cage as I prefer easier cleaning. My cage is a 3'x2'x4' melamine-coated particle board cage. It has 4 doors, and 4 levels with smaller shelves interspersed throughout the levels. Only cost about $120 to build, and I only have to clean it once a month There are 10 girls living in this cage right now and they have PLENTY of room.

Ok, I'll stop going on and on... If anyone wants to know anything specific about diet, care, medical/health issues, let me know.