Rookie needs advice here...

[Zhakrin]

Hi everyone,

I am planning to start a simple 1.1 rat colony for my BP and Corn. I also plan on get 4 or 5 more BPs later this year.

1. Since I live in Toronto I would like to know WHERE can I buy a couple top quality breeder feeder rats and top quality rat food in bulk.

I just do not trust the feeders at PJs and I would really appreicate address or web sites if anyone has them.

2. With a 2.3 ball pythons collection how many female rat breeders should I have to maintain my pythons feeding needs and have just alittle extra for a rainy day.

3. Would a 33 gal tank be big enough for a 1.1 rat colony.
4. anyone have a pic of there setup.

Thank you so much,
Joe

[reverendsterlin]

a 1:4 colony will probably be necessary, that allows you to start with a 4 week stagger for breeding. a second cage to toss the male into after his duty is done is recomended, even better using the males cage for breeding and rotating the girls in and out. finally a 3rd cage to keep weanlings and feeders in. oops, almost forgot, if you want to have an extra male breeder he needs to be seperate from the other male lol. I finally decided that with expenses(lab quality diet is spendy), annoyance, and time buying bulk f/t was cheaper.

[Scotty Allen]

Can't offer much advice on actual numbers of rats you will need but a 33 gal. tank is plenty for a pair of adult rats. Best place for food, shavings etc. is Ren's Feed and Farm Supply. I don't have their exact address but they are in Oakville Ont. corner of Burnamthorpe and Trafalgar Rd.

Hope this helps.

[Linds]

I agree with Rev in that you will need to start off with a 1.4 colony. However I disgree that you should have a second cage for the male. It is best to keep the male in ALL the time. It is ineffective to remove the male if you want to have an actively breeding colony of rats. The male needs to reimpregnate the female after she has given birth, he cannot do this if he has been removed. You you would have to wait til the babies were weaned before you introduced them again, but you would have to contend with all the other females in the tank. You cannot ad any new members to the colony while there are babies present. Then once ALL the babies were weaned you could put the male back in and wait til all the females became pregant again and wait the period until they gave birth, etc. Then start all over again. This is why leaving the male in all the time is so much simpler and you will be producing babies on a more consistent basis this way :)

I am not from the GTA so I cannot tell you where to get rats to begin you colony with. Just make sure that visibly they are clear. They should have nice coats, clear eyes, clear bums, and decent weight. Ren's Feed in Oakville will take care of your feeding needs. I use <a href="http://www.mazuri.com">Mazuri</a> 6F Rodent Breeder Diet. It is a zoo diet developed for breeding rodents with intent for feeding to reptiles. It is a great feed and is also a great score @ only $20/50lb bag :D

[jsnake0]

it is easier to feed f/t if they eat 'em but five rats in a 33gal is a
little tight. 3 rats in 33gal is about the most i would do due to
cleaning and genral heath. feeding the rats and cleaning them
every week gets really hard. been there done it f/t so much
easier and cheaper.

[Lisa]

If you're doing it to save money you're probably better off buying in bulk from a supplier like mice4you or one of the similar businesses as they sell cheaper then what our local pet store can get them wholesale

[Tim_Cranwill]

I am currently into about my 3rd month of breeding mice. I have two 1.4 colonies. I am certain that once my snakes breed I will do away with the hassle and stink of breeding mice. I haven't worked out any cost differences between buying and breeding, but if anyone has, I'd LOVE to see them.

I've estimeated needing around 1350 mice this year for my 15 snakes. Should I get a few more colonies going and get it done sooner, or should I go slow and steady?

How many offspring would 1 female mouse average per year?

[Linds]

Cranwill,
Slow and steady is your best bet, that way your rodents stay fresher since they aren't being stored for such a period of time. It all depends on how ecomonically your running your rodent breeding operation if you are saving money. For instance, if you are going to the pet store to get all your supplies it's defintiely costing you more to breed them. To find out if it's worht it or not, just total up your monthly expenses spent on rodents, and how much it would cost you to have them purchased from a rodent supplier. Also consider the hassle of breeding and the hassle of having to roder and have things shipped and not always on hand if needed. Also when an animal comes along that needs to feed on live it comes in handy to have them actively breeding at home already. As for how many offspring a female mouse will produce in one year. Typically they don't breed actively for that long so it's tough to say. They are usually bred for 6-9 months before they get worn out and begin producing small infrequent litters. Also depends on the type of mouse. A fancy mouse may produce 8-10 mice on average per litter while some of the inbred strains of mice such as ICR and Swiss Websters are capable of producing up to 20 in a litter. There are many variables to be factored in. Hope this helped a little :)