Rat Questions

[hhw]

Okay, I'm about to start breeding my own rats and there's some things I wanted to know:

Roughly, how many weeks is a complete cycle for a female? i.e. from mating, to giving birth, to weaning, and suitable recovery time as well? From what I've read, it's about
Mating 1 week
Gestation 3 weeks
Weaning 3-5 weeks
Recovery Period ???

Since I have approximately a dozen snakes to feed, would this mean I would need at least one female rat for each week it takes for a complete cycle?

Also, what are growth rates on rats like? Basically, from birth, approximately how long does it take them to reach these weights:
25g, 50g, 100g, 150g, 200g

I've also read that females can breed at 5 weeks but it's best to wait until they are at least 2 months?

[Jayson]

The fenales cycle about once every 6-7 days,If you are removing the male then leave him with her at least a week to be sure. I would leave him in until the female starts to show.
Gestation and weaning take 3 weeks each. some people like to leave the babies with mom for 1-2 extra weeks (I dont).
Recovery! depends on how long you want to keep the females. I dont let her recover my males are with females all the time and she will be pregnant while nursing her last litter. I will retire her before her fist birthday.
I breed females @ no less then 250gms Males can breed much smaller but i like to use large mature males as they are more reliable

25g = 2 weeks old
50g = 4 weeks old
100g = 6-7 weeks old
150g = 8-10 weeks old
200g = 10-12 weeks old

These # are just approximate as there are many variables. They can grow much faster or much slower.

[capsicum]

Rats go into a heat cycle generally every 3-4 days. Usually rat breeders will leave the male in for 2 weeks, to ensure that she has taken. Why wait only to have no pups?

Gestation takes approximately 3 weeks, but in first litters it is not uncommon to last a little longer than that.

Pups are ready to leave mom by 5-6 weeks (not 3 weeks, sorry). They still suckle until about five or six weeks. Don't breed a female for the first time if she is over 8 months old. Her pelvic bones can fuse together, causing high risk for pups being stuck in the birth canal. You lose the female and the litter.

Rats can breed at 6 weeks old, but it's best to wait until they are 4 months old to ensure they have grown enough to support the riggors of pregnancy, delivery, and rearing.

Recovery depends on your opinion. A constantly bred female will produce smaller and less-healthy pups if she is not given a break between litters. You can still keep her with others that have pups, she will help rear them.

You may have a great amount of pups, in the sizes you need, if you rotate breeders. Give a few a break in between, so you will have optimum health and quality in your feeders.

Be sure you feed higher protein during her pregnancy and during the rearing of pups. Rats need approximately 23-26% protein to have a good healthy litter. I feed mine a mix of 16% protein horse feed cubes, dog kibble, feeder fish, fruit/veggies, and various grains. Males don't need higher protein, actually they can have major skin problems if their diet consists of too much protein.

Hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy your rats!

TK

[hhw]

Thanks for the responses!

So now, roughly, how many females should I have if I want an average of 12 rats per week?

[Ian]

1.4 is probably good, but after the 4 month of breeding start to raise another batch up so in the two-three months after that you've got some new mother's and father to take over to keep the production up.

Cheers
Ian

[Linds]

Originally posted by Ian
1.4 is probably good, but after the 4 month of breeding start to raise another batch up so in the two-three months after that you've got some new mother's and father to take over to keep the production up.


Male rats can easily father litters for several years, so they need not be replaced as often as the females. I just recently retired one of my male breeders who was at least 3 years old (in fact I believe when I got him he was formerly a breeder rat), and he was retired only because he became fairly wheezy and his coat was thinning... although he was still reliably fathering litters of 10-20 rats.

[Jayson]

capsicum

I have been breeding rats for 8 years and the last 4 years have been over 1000 rats per month and i have always weaned them at 3 weeks.
Also all of my rats eat the same diet (mazui 6f) I do not do anything specieal with nursing females diets.
I also provide a few pet store with pet rats as well and they are always more then happy with the health and quality of the babies. In 4 years of doing this we have not had 1 return or complaint of a newly purchased rat.

All of the information i gave was from personal experience and not somthing that iv read somwhere.

[Linds]

Like Jayson, I also wean my pups as soon as 3 weeks (depending on space) and have not experienced any problems as a result. Soon as their ears are up and they are eating on their own, I consider them good to go. I do offer my females a higher fat, high protein than the rest, probably somewhere in the ballpark of 18%-20% protein and 8%-10% fat.

I've never heard of a rats hips fusing together as a result of having a first litter of the age of 8 months. This actually makes no sense in my mind, do you have any information on this?

[CamHanna]

Originally posted by Linds
I've never heard of a rats hips fusing together as a result of having a first litter of the age of 8 months. This actually makes no sense in my mind, do you have any information on this?

I got a group of 3 of unwanted pet females this summer and all were older than 8 months, though I don't know exactly how old. One did have difficulties in giving birth on her first litter and was whacked. Whether or not this was from fused hips I don't know but I too have read that it is a possibility (though I have no source to quote). The other 2 females did fine.

Cam Hanna