New to breeding Rats

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

Before getting a ball python i did a lot of research online as far as husbandry, feeding him, etc. I ran into a TON of websites saying how mean and cruel it was to feed a smart animal like a Rat, who can make a great pet, to a snake, who makes a somewhat pointless pet...

Well to say the least, I was intrigued. I had never had rats as pets and figured, why not get a few rats to use as breeders, and keep a few of the babies and raise them as pets.... I thought that was only fair, so I could see both sides of the story.

So now our pet collection has grown from 2 cockatiels, and 2 cats, to include a ball python and 2 rats (Esmerelda and Templeton) who we picked up from Petco.

Esmy is a white rat (appears albino, but who knows), and Templeteon (chocalate all over, but white rings around his ankles and a white belly). We have 2 10 gallon setups, and placed them together last Saturday....

Now my question is, how can I tell if these guys have actually taken the steps to produce me some snake food? They both get a long great from the start. Esmeralda tends to be the boss, sometimes she will knock templeteon down on the ground, hold him down and nibble at his shoulders/neck, and he will make a few little squeaks. But that is the extent to which Ive seen them interact.

Is it safe to assume that i will have babies in less than a month, or are some males from pet stores sterile/not interested?

These guys are both medium sized rats.

[jknudson]

Just putting the male and female rats together is the trick, they'll take it from there, its all instinctual.

Rat gestation normally lasts anywhere from 21-30 days so it is a safe bet that you could see some rat pinks in about a months time.

As my collection grows I'll probably add a few pet rats (breeders) to my zoo. I have a soft spot for black rats, so those babies I'll sell to my work, unless of course they try to bite me.

[Shelby]

Templeton's pattern is called berkshire.

Enough rat trivia.. Esmerelda right now is telling Templeton to 'back off, buddy!' eventually she'll give in, but don't be surprised if it's a little over a month.

Tanks really are not the best enclosures for rats.. aside from being a pain to clean, they offer minimal air flow. Consider either wire cages, or lab style rodent cages (love these)

Best of luck.

[shhhli]

trust me, if they're living together and have been for about a week, expect some babies.

Rats do make excellent pets- Terra (my first rat) was much like a dog.
If you're really interested in them as pets, you can train them to use the toilet in one corner of their enclosure (simply spot check the tank and put all fecal matter into a small shallow tuboware container with a different substrate from that you use for the rest of the pen. they should eventually figure out where the fecies go.)
(even if not pet wise- potty trained rats are a godsend on cleanup ^^d.)

Just a note, right after your female has her pups, i would suggest removing the male if you dont want another litter of pups asap. if you want to keep them as pets and are concerned about their health, wait until the pups are done welping before putting her back with the male. if these are more of a breeding venture then dont worry about the above.
just making note. (since you only have one bp, by the time your first litter are growing a bit of space inbetween litters shouldnt cause you to have to skip a feeding)

[Shelby]

Actually, if you don't want an immediate second litter you have to remove the male BEFORE the female has her babies. Rats have a heat cycle within hours of having their babies.. so taking him out after she has her litter probably won't help much.

[4theSNAKElady]

Rats are one of the simplest animals to breed......sooooper easy!! They are also good pets. That is why I have four(Scabbers,Sirius,Punkin,Mrs.P) who make me lots of snake food. And whoever said feeding rats to snakes is cruel probably eats veal and burgers all the time (hippocrites !!!).

[shhhli]

Actually, if you don't want an immediate second litter you have to remove the male BEFORE the female has her babies. Rats have a heat cycle within hours of having their babies.. so taking him out after she has her litter probably won't help much.

Bleh! sorry- i think i started one sentence and finished it another way.
thanks for the correction

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

Rats are one of the simplest animals to breed......sooooper easy!! They are also good pets. That is why I have four(Scabbers,Sirius,Punkin,Mrs.P) who make me lots of snake food. And whoever said feeding rats to snakes is cruel probably eats veal and burgers all the time (hippocrites !!!).

Nah, my mother is one person who doesnt mind that animals eat animals, but doesnt like the idea of me having our pets make babies, and feeding live/small babies to a big vicious snake that will suffocate them.


As far as glass aquariums. We had one, and $10 for a second was a fair deal. With a screen top I figure air should be able to circulate fairly well without keeping a constant rat breeze through the house

As far as Esmerelda telling him to back off, she does that to him when he isnt even approaching her, or bothering her at all, maybe she can read his mind

So far our cats are fascinated by the Rats, they sit and stare through the glass, luckily they havnt swatted at the cage, or anything yet.... though our cats really like our birds too except they try to jump in the air at them, and make cat stalking noises while watching them. (we stopped letting the birds fly near the cats once the cats started being able to jump high)

anyhoo, thanks for the posts. I will give updates if we have any in the future.

BTW: Anyone have any idea what kind of apperance Berkshire + albino babies will have ?

[frankykeno]

Rats are great pets, they are also great breeders and normally produce good sized litters that they raise without muss or fuss. Do have a second maternity 10 gallon handy for the female to go into when she shows signs of pregnancy. As has been said the male will reimpregnate the female right after delivery and having a female rat pregnant and nursing a litter at the same time is a lot of strain on her. Since you are just doing a small home rat breeding, you probably don't need back to back breeding which will only wear out your female. You'll see the female start to look chubby and pear shaped as she approaches delivery. Some don't show much at all until they are very close. Just make sure she's got lots of extra food and water so she can produce a good litter for you and nurse them well.

As far as feeding off rats you bred yourself and the way a snake takes it's prey....I pretty much look at it this way. One, I know exactly the quality of the prey my snakes get and I like that....Two, I eat meat and in our antiseptic, plastic coated world we forget that every hamburger was once a pretty cute beef calf so it reconnects me to the real world of predator/prey...Three, snakes are probably the most "humane", cleanest predator that Mother Nature ever designed, watch your pet cat with a mouse someday....now that is a messy kill....Four, granted a rat is a pretty smart creature, that's a given...however like every creature it was designed to be part of a cycle of life...my concession to raising my own rats for snake food is to house them and treat them in the best possible manner while they fulfill their natural place in the order of things. I know that my rat's efforts directly help me have the snakes so I appreciate and care for them to the best of my ability.


~~Jo~~

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

Anyone have problems with rat waterers (water bottles) and having the rats chew the edges of the bottle and cause leaks?

One of these two jerks chewed a hole in the top of one of their bottles, and that caused it to all leak out through the bottom? do these things have to stay sealed even at the top to prevent it from all leaking out ?