Keeping Rats

Discussion in 'Feeder Forum' started by Janice, Dec 28, 2004.

  1. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    So, we are going to learn to breed rats. We have 1 female and 1 male, we have them in the same cage so far. We are picking up another cage tonight, and another female and another male. I hear the male will get lonely if left by himself. We are going to have the males in one cage and the females in the other, except for breeding. Any advice? It's a cost effective thing, the adults are the same price as the frozen small rats we use as feeders. The pet store hardly ever has any feeders in, except mice.
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    a good way of breeding rats is taking a 20L and have 2males and 5females in the tank. keep a bowl with food in there constantly and one of those rodent water bottles. just leave them in the tank and they will do the rest
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    That seems a little harsh. We have one large cage, and the pair we got last night were already 'breeding'. Keeping the males from the females seems pretty logical since the male tries about 3 times in five minutes. He wants to mate every time she turns her back to him. So, I don't think keeping them together would be okay with me. As for keeping them in a tank, I don't think so. The ammonia can get toxic, without proper ventilation. And these guys are considered clean animals. I was thinking 2 males, and 2 females for now.
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    i suggested the 5 females so you will have more food. after the breeding of each is done you can separate the males, but if the females are pregnant already then its not like they could get repregnant. a screen lid is good ventilation and keep in mind the tank should be cleaned every week. you would also need a good 4-5" of substrate in there and that would help absorb some of the ammonia
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    You are such a 'guy', LOL. A pregnant female shouldn't have the extra stress of being mounting every 5 minutes....
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    true true lol so get another enclosure and keep the males in there when they have done their part. the females will look after each other and the babies
     
  12. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    I'm just hoping that keeping the females together when they have babies, is okay.
     
  13. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    yes it'll be ok. the mother rats will help each other out and usually even nurse each others babies
     
  14. shrap

    shrap ReptileBoards Addict

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    I have 12 breeder rats at the moment. 3 male and 9 female. I keep them in groups of 1.3. As with any critter that enters my house, they are pets first. So they are housed very comfortably, handled and played with daily. Each group has a multi-level home with lots of space for them to live happy lives in.

    I also keep a 75 gallon tank as a nursery. All moms to be go in there when they are a couple of days away from giving birth. I have had as many as five in there at the same time and they all get along fine and help one another.

    And sometimes I just leave the moms with her babies in the enclosure with the dad. I have never had a problem. Dad rats are actually very attentive fathers with their own young. You just need to make sure you remove the babies as soon as they are weaned.
     
  15. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    And you don't find that the males are constantly jumping on the females, all of the time???? And how long before you noticed that they ARE pregnant???
     
  16. shrap

    shrap ReptileBoards Addict

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    Rats go into heat about every 5 days for 12 to 24 hours. So the only time my males are going after the females are during that time. The rest of the time it is pretty normal behavior. Rats love to play and wrestle and chase one another. They are very social, fun loving animals that need the company of other rats to live happy lives. So do not mistake play for over aggressiveness. And besides, a male being with 3 females at the same time, he is too worn out to bother the females for sex when they are not in heat. The poor guy needs his rest. lol.

    Most female rats are not noticeably pregnant until the last week or so of their pregnancy. Then it gets really noticeable. They start getting really wide and start to waddle like a duck when they walk, and you can actually feel the babies move inside her. During the last day or two the mom to be will start to frantically make a nest. They also seem to sleep a lot more when they are pregnant. At least it seems that way to me. Also, about a week before birth the pregnant mothers teats will get noticeably bigger. Particularly with a large littler. Not all females show all of these signs, but most will at least show a couple of them. Although I have had one rat that showed no sign of being pregnant what so ever and popped out 8 babies.
     
  17. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    So, it doesn't stress the pregnant mother to be around the male??? Right now we have 2 males and 2 females, and for the first 2 nights we have them paired off. So, we should keep them paired for a week or so???
     
  18. shrap

    shrap ReptileBoards Addict

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    No not really. Sometimes the pregnant mother can get a little snappy with her cage mates. All of her cage mates, not just the male. Pregnant rats seem to sleep more and want their rest, yet most of the time they still like to play and socialize. Just not as roughly or for as long a period of time as usual. Who does when their pregnant?? Rats sound a like like humans don't they. lol

    Like I said, rats are very social animals. They need the company of other rats. When rats are housed 1.1 and the female (or the male for that matter) is not in the mood for socializing I am sure some minor fighting can break out. Housing them 1.3 (or even 1.2) seems to curb much of that problem because there are other cage mates to turn to for play and socializing. I can't stress enough how imporant it is not to house rats individually. At least if you look at them as pets at all. Keep in mind that the way I do things is that my rats are pets first and snake food manufacturers second. So I do things a wee bit different than most people who breed rats for snake food.

    In your situation I would house each male with each female for a week. Then puts the males together in a cage and the females together in a cage. Wait three weeks. You should have babies.

    Here check out this site. It is a great site for learning about rats. http://www.curiosityrats.com/index.html

    On the left hand side you will see a table with some links to choose from. Click on the link that says "info". It will then show you a bunch of sub-categories all about learning different things about rats. From behoavior to housing to diet to breeding, to how to tell when your rat is in heat to how long your rat carries its babies, to nursing and when the babies are weaned, you name it. It is really an easy to read and easy to follow wealth of information. It is hands down the most informative site on rats that I have ever ran across.
     
  19. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    Thanks, Shrap, that's a great site. I added it to my favourites, for future reference.....You are just full of invaluable info!!!!
     
  20. ssscales

    ssscales Member

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    Is it really worth breeding your own rats?

    I tried it once during my teenage years and all I remember was a huge pain in the @ss!
    All I remember is the smell, the loose rat in my parents house, it seemed the rats took more of my time then the pet snakes I had. Back then there wasn't much in the way of internet and my only choice was local pet shops! I bought 1.2 rats and ended up feeding them to my snakes after about 6 weeks after buying them!

    When I got back into snakes about 10 years ago, I quickly remembered the high price of feeder rats from the pet stores! So, I started getting live rats from a local breeder for less than 1/2 the cost of the pet shops. Even that became high once my collection grew and not too mention when babies came!

    For the past 5 years I have gotten my rats frozen and delivered to my doorstep, it has been a great!
    They are cheaper than live feeders even with delivery (which was still much less then the pet store prices).
    I order a shipment once every 3-4 months, keep them in a cooler in my garage, thaw and feed as needed.

    No muss, no fuss!

    I recently started thinking of setting up a 1.2 or 1.3 breeding rats, but I can't seem to convince myself.
    Is it worth saving a few bucks?
     
  21. shrap

    shrap ReptileBoards Addict

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    That really depends on each individual and their personal situation and preference. I know for me it is worth it. I do save money. I spend no more than $15 dollars a month on food and bedding for my rats, but money is just a part of the equation for me. There were many factors that pushed me into breeding my own rats.

    And mice are smelly, rats are actually clean animals. They only get as smelly as you let their enclosures get. Give them adequate living space and clean their enclosure twice a week and you don't have smally rats. And as far as the time it takes to take care of them, I would say I spend a total of an hour and a half to 2 hours a week on them. That is for 12 rats. 5 minutes daily on their food and water and a half hour twice a week on cleaning their cages.

    I can honestly say that I am very, very happy with the choice I made. For me, the pros have easily out weighed the cons. I would never go back to buying feeder rats.
     
  22. ssscales

    ssscales Member

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    How many rat pups do you produce a month? I'm just curious, like I said I was thinking about breeding them myself, but not sure if it's worth it for me. I love the convenience of Frozen feeders, I've never had any problem with any of my snakes not accepting F/T.

    At the moment I have 12 adult boas & pythons, 2 yearlings & 5 juveniles. I currently feed about 16 lrg, 8 colossal, 8 med, and 20 rat pups a month. I spend on average $60.00 a month, but when you consider the drop in consumption during breeding months it ends up at about $52.00 a month.

    This breeding season, I will expect anywhere from 75 to over 100 neos to feed for a couple months.
     
  23. shrap

    shrap ReptileBoards Addict

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    I am feeding 4 juvis, 2 yearlings and 2 adults... usually. My two adults are at a friends for a breeding project.

    Each female (I have 9) usually gives me between 8 and 12 pups each cycle. Each cycle consists of 3 weeks of being pregnant, 4 weeks nursing and then another 3 to 5 weeks before they produce another litter. So lets call it 100 pups every 10 to 12 weeks.

    I keep my rats in groups of 1.3. I have it set up so that one group is starting to have babies and then two weeks later the second group will start having theirs and then two weeks after the second group starts, the third group will start having thiers. Staggering the groups helps me to have a consistant supply of whatever size I may need.
     
  24. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    And rats make great pets. Our local petstore is charging about $5.00 for a baby rat. The adults are $6.99. Right now, we have 2 males and 2 females. We bred them about 4 days apart, and now the females are together and the males are together. We are waiting for the petstore to get more females so we don't have to breed each female so often. We only have one snake, but for the cost of about 5 frozen baby rats, and food, we have 4 adults that will produce more than we need. it should only be about another week before we get our first babies. And they do not smell at all. I waited a whole week before I changed their bedding and there was no smell. My son has 3 mice and I have to clean the cage every other day, and still can't keep up with the smell. Mice are awful. Rats are very clean animals. And the kids love them.
     

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