Rat Breeding Questions...

[sSNAKESs.com]

Well i have a few Q's about breeding rats...

1. Do they really stink like mice??? I would only want 1.2 or 1.3 of them.. do they smell realy bad like mice or not?

2. Can you post me pics of your rat breeding setups (small scale bredding)

Thanks Everyone :)

[rattekonigin]

I have 4 female rats (as pets) and they don't stink at all, at least not until their cages need cleaning...but of course female mice dn't stink either...as for male rats, I've heard they stink and I've heard that they don't, unfortunately I can't say as I've never had any. Boy do male mice stink, though. I made the mistake of getting one as a pet when I was 13 or 14 and it stunk up the whole upper floor of my house no matter how often I cleaned him, just one mouse! Needless to say, my parents were not pleased. LOL :p
Sorry, got a little off topic there.

[sSNAKESs.com]

lol i hear yah!!! the spray must stink, like a cats... Do you know if i can house 1.1 rats in a 10 gallon fish tank???

[rattekonigin]

a 10 gallon tank is WAY too small for rats, females are too big for that kind of setup and males can be twice their size. Bare min. 20 gallons for 2 rats...I keep my 2 old females (which are both very big) in one of those guinea pig/dwarf rabbit cages, you could probably keep as many as 3 or 4 in one of those...but that's for pets...I don't know of a more economical way to keep them...maybe get a deep, big rubbermaid box...but be careful, cause they chew through plastic like it's nothing.
One more point...you should keep the male separate from the female(s) while you're not breeding them, because rats go into heat every 5 days and a soon as the female gives birth to her first litter she goes into heat again, if you have her perpetually pregnant she might cannibalize her second litter, and if she doesn't do that both litters will not be as healthy because they'll both still be nursing and with 2 of them she could have as many as 30+ babies to nourish as well as herself...good for if you want quantity and don't mind some of them dying on you or being scrawny, not so good if you want nice fat, nutritious ratties.
Hope that helps you out a bit. :)

[rattekonigin]

Ooops, forgot to mention...a friend of mine bred one of her pet rats a few years back and she had it in a guinea pig cage, well, when the babies got old enough to explore they were able to escape through the bars...so a cage like that probably isn't the best outfit for you...

[Linds]

rats smell a fraction of what mice do. i currently have two colonies of 1.2 rats in each that i keep in rubbermaid containers. i change them every other day and they dont smell. if i let it go to the third day it gets a bit stinky. I used to breed rats a while ago for sale in my bedroom, and they didnt stink as long as they were cleaned regularily ;)

Here is a pic of the two main breeder cages. I have several more in which to raise the babies up. The adults are downstairs in storage, but the babies will be raised up in my room. I often wonder if they get chilly in the basement :eek: Here's my so very humble setup...lol :D

<img src="http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/60ratcages.jpg">

I had to sit in a pile of all sortsof crap that I climbed over to get this distance from the cage... there is only a foot standing room in fron. Me and my everlasting space crisis...lol!

[Linds]

rattekonigin: it is common practice to leave the males in all the time with the female, never separating any part of the colony, except the babies when they are ready to be weaned or fed of course. Usually females are bred straight their whole breeding career (6-9 months is standard breeding life of females) then retired or fed off with no problems. you are right that a 10gal is pushing it space wise, but feeder breeders do not require the spacious enclosures complete with hides and toys that pets do. I keep my rats in 11gal rubbermaids (equiv floor space of a 20gal tall) just fine :) Also, rats do not need much height in their enclosures, so it isnt neccessary to have deep enclosures.

[rattekonigin]

Like I said, I don't know much about raising feeders, what I heard about leaving the male in was, indeed, meant for breeding pet rats, but I figured it might still apply in a feeder context...but by all means don't base a decision solely on my advice, I'm no expert.
All I know is that female rats smell just fine and that if I tried to put my 2 biggest rats in a 10 gallon tank they wouldn't be able to move! (of course they might be so big because of all the treats they get) :D

[Dom]

Rats ... rats ... rats ... rats ... rats ...

First of all smell ... It shouldn't smell .. I have 28 breeding females .. 3 breeeding males and about 200 - 300 babies to adults .. All in one rom .. as long as I clean the cages every 2-3 days - depending on how many rats are housed in each cage - I find the smell is almost non-existant ..

Basically - clean ure cages and it won't sell .. As for mice never bred them - dunno!


Size of enclosures??? My bredding cages are are man made at about a feet + wide and 2 feet deep and 2 feet high .... I personally have noticed that they like to climb and the extra high .. Gives them something to do... I alwasy keep one male per cage with 3-5 females depending on who is weaning or not ..



Once pregnat, I seperate them right away where they have the equivalent of a 10 gallon for one or two rats to care for their babies .. A mother taking care of her babies does no need that much room .. she does nothing but care for them ..

Once babies are big enough to care for themself they go in a Huge bird cage I have .. which is where they grow .. I put the females there for about 2 weeks to givethem a break before introducing them to the males again .. I suggest giving you females a two week break befor breeding them again .. I find I get heathy babies and large litters this way varying from 12 to 18..

Sorry no pics!

[Grant vg]

Well....Jeff...this is how i do it.
I find that if u use rubbermaids, and u have a "fair "(to the rats) amount of space for them, they wont chew through the plastic. I keep one HUGE rubbermaid for everyone whos not got babies ....one male and 5 females...lately i've been leaving the pregnant ones in there to have there babies and within a day or so i scoop them out and put em in there own rubbermaid, just, cause maybe they will get pregnant again. I just started keeping them in there as a experiment to see how the quality/quantity of the babies turn out. in the past, i have always givin them a break....i keep all the mommy's in the closet in stackable rubbermaids, and keep the big rubbermaid in the corner of my room.
Depending on the air circulation they may stink or they may not. Also, cooler rooms smell better, and hot ones like the snake room can get pretty stinky...I find this to be the reason why some ppl say they stink and some ppl say they dont....if ur like me and ur gonna do it in ur snake room where there isn't that much circulation/or stagnant air...then purchase urself a air purifier(never tried this) or better yet an ionizer <<<<-----these ones are great!!! my buddy had one when he was growin massive quantities of "u know what" and no smell....really! also, now that its not the season...he's got 20 or so mice in his living room on a open rack with this ionizer hangin above and theres not a hint of mice smell....definately a good investment...and doesn't make a sound....$300 dollars or so for a good one.
I use water bowls, cause i'm to cheap to by bottles, and i have noticed they'll chew up plastic water bowls as well as tip and ***** em in. Not good when its time for cleanin.....Also, tipping can give em the sniffles....
Also, if ur gonna use rubbermaids...make sure u drill the ***** out of em on the top 1/2 all around...cause ventilation is key in keeping em healthy....

[patricia]

Scroll down to the "just curious" thread below, to read more about the keeping of rats. I find them far less smelly than mice. The male mice crawl all over the place, scenting everything they touch. Male rats tend not to do that so much, and rats can even be litterbox trained.

When you keep the male & female together while she has her babies, she'll usually not come in heat until after the babies are weaned, so the poster that said they always get pregnant again four or five days after giving birth may have nusual rats. At least, I can say with certainty that that's never happened with any of mine. The only time that happens, is if I take ALL of the babies away.

[Grant vg]

Ur right on the money Patricia...but .my buddy, usually keeps the female alone till she gives birth and lets her be with the babies for twenty hours or so...then takes her out for 4 hours and keeps her with the male. Cause there in heat 24-36 hours after giving birth...This has worked multiple times.....

[rattekonigin]

I didn't say they go into heat 5 days after giving birth, I said they go into heat every 5 days when they're not pregnant and/or don't have a male to knock them up. That's their "cycle" as it were. 5 days.
After giving birth they go into heat within 24 hours, as mentioned above this post...

[Linds]

why not leave the male in all the time? with colonies up to 1.4 it works great! anymore females though and it is a good idea to separate. the leave-males-in method has worked great for me, and i have actually spoken with more people that prefer to leave their males in when colonies are 1.4 and smaller than to separate. that way there is less hassle, less cages, an best chance of the female being impregnated (lol...though thats not a hard task). :bounce:

[patricia]

ventilation is extremely important. I also find that every person has a different tolerance level towards different odours. What some find offensive, others may just find familiar, and some may find noticeable but not unpleasant. Each of us is conditioned differently. A person who spends hours around a stables may find the odour of horse manure familiar and associate it with happy experiences, one who's never been to a stables before would find it strange, and possibly offensive.