rat rack

[crazyboy]

anybody know of any instructions on how to build rat/mouse racks that holds about 8 jumbo cat litter pans.

[Linds]

I made my own set of "blueprints". I didn't hold on to them so I can't passd them on to you. They were just sort of rough sketches with accompanying measurements. It all depends also on the thickness of wood, etc. you are using. It is fairly easy to do it all yourself.

There used to be a site that had instructions, but I don't have the link to it anymore and I ran a quick search through google and din't see it. Someone else probably will be able to post it. It's really quite simple to make your own though. It was my very first building project, so it cannot be that hard ;)

[crazyboy]

ok thanks. i kind of have an idea in my head but would like to see a set of instructions so i cna fine tune it.

[BellyDragger]

Hey

Maybe this link will help you out we have built several and they work great for us.

Les

Here is the link
http://www.dwightgood.com/snakes/projects.htm

[crazyboy]

thanks

[crazyboy]

also is an 8 oz. water bottle ok

[Auskan]

You can use any size water bottle you want - it just depends how often you want to be changing it.

Bellydragger - thanks for the link. I'm at work so can't spend long browsing it until I get home, but it looks awesome.

[BellyDragger]

No problem i am at work also that is what the "ALT" "Tab" buttons are for LOL

Cheers
Les

[Auskan]

Les - I don't know if I should have thanked you after all! From that page I went to look at the snakes available for sale and.....emailed Dwight and.....darn! I wasn't planning on any new snakes just at the moment.

[crazyboy]

thansk guys. how often do you think i would be refilling an 8 oz. water bottle? if i had 1.2 rats and 1.3 mice?

[BellyDragger]

Yes I know he does have some beauty snakes. He is really a great guy to talk to I have emailed him with many questions on his do it yourself page and he always answers. He even offered to purchase the correct size bins for me down in the U.S
Great Guy !!!

Les

[Auskan]

Mice would be able to go quite awhile, but rats go through it pretty fast. I'm hopeless with ounces (grew up in a metric country!) so I'm only guessing here. I'd say one of my mice colonies (currently only 1.1) has a 12 oz and I only refill it once every 2-3 weeks. The other mouse colony (currently 1.2) has a 6-8 oz, and I refill it about once a week. My rats (currently 1.2) have the largest bottle. Its probably 12oz, and I refill it about once a week. As I said, I'm guessing on the ounces, so don't everyone jump in to tell me these are impossible figures!!! Pregnant and lactating females will tend to drink more than males and non-pregnant/lactating females, so some of it depends on where you are in their "cycles".

Les - yep, you've done it. He's been great - replying almost immediately to all of my emails. Sent me pics, even offered an mpeg of the one I am interested in, when he feeds her this afternoon. I offered to commit and he said I didn't need to - that he'd just hold them for me until I'm ready. I'm going to go ahead and get them but can't have him ship until I get back from an out of town trip (leaving tomorrow and getting back Sunday).

[crazyboy]

well i would be fine refilling tyhem every couple days so i guess that is good.

[Linds]

Depends on the colony at the time. In a colony of 1.2 you could have anywhere from 3 - 39 mouths feeding from the bottle. You may end up changing the bottle anywhere from 3 times a week to everyday.

[crazyboy]

ok thanks

[BellyDragger]

Linds is right we use plastic Coke bottles for our rats so we don't have to fill them as often (our ratios are 1.5). In the winter they seem to last the week but in the summer we could change our bottles sometimes up to 3 times a week. It all depends on alot of different factors in the above posts.
Our mice we usually have to fill waters twice a week (1.4 ratios).

Cheers
Les

[crazyboy]

ok thanks