Question on rat breeding (taking out males?)

[serpenteye]

I know that its fine to leave in the males when breeding mice, but does the same go for rats? Also, has anyone tryed the old trick of putting vanilla extract in with the rodents water to make the strong urine smell less pungent?

I am sorry, this has prolly been asked before in this forum a bunch of times. Thanks very much.

[BoidKeeper]

All my cages are 1.2 and they stay in all the time. I think rats are better parents than mice.
Cheers,
Trevor

[sapphire_moon]

Yes, rats are far better parents than mice.

You can leave the male in. The only time I take him out is when I need to stop production.

Rats don't stink nearly as much as mice do, So I don't really think you need to do anything to stop the smell except regular cleaning.

[Lisa]

i rotate our rat males weekly from bin to bin, so i have 4 males servicing 16 bins. this means 12 less rats to feed and making poop to be cleaned up (i find the bins stay twice as clean the weeks they don't have males).

[Lisa]

oh btw the males end up back in the bin as the females give birth, as they can get pregnant with in 5 days of giving birth.

[justinO]

as long as you only have the one male that's fine.....

also, i use vanilla, i think it works (although i've heard it's better for mice)..... so it might work for rats, i think it just makes ME feel better about the smell with my rats

;)

Jessy

[mykee]

Yes, the vanilla works for me, but who knows, I clean my colonies of 1.5 every 3 days, so there really is no offensive odor. I also leave the males in, unlike rats, who like to eat their babies, male rats are the exact opposite in my experiences.

[Vanan]

Speaking of male rats being good dads, do they eat the young when first introduced to a female with a litter. I was always under the impression that, if there's a doubt about the male being the sire, he'd kill the litter. Does this happen in your rotation setup, Lisa?

[ChristinaM]

I'm not Lisa, but......

I've introduced foreign males into a cage of nursing mom's ( for mating purposes ) and let's just say, the mom's are excellent. The males could not even get near the newborns.....

with older babes, I find the male sniffs em but so far I've had no signs of aggression of the males with the babes. JME.