I want to start breeding rats

[Girlwithscalez]

how long is gestation (sp)

do male rats smell as bad as male mice?

Do rats do good in colonys? of say 1 male 3-4 females?


i already have a bunch of cages, when my friends or someone they knows hamster dies they give me the cage i have 1 5 gallon tank (4 the mice i breed) i havew a 2 story dwarf hamster cage for my mice and another 1 story on the way, i have huge ruber maids for my mice but i only have 13 so the 3 cages i have r good 4 them so the rats would b in the 3 rubermaids i have.

oh yah beta tellu what im breeding 4 :)
i have a tegu and 2 corn snakes i am keeping a small colony of mice sence my snakes r still small but you get the idea :)

thanks-sara

[Edmond Y]

Male rat smell not as bad as male mice. I have 3 male rat and 9 female. But my mice is very bad.
Edmond

[Girlwithscalez]

ok thanks can u maby anser any of my other qs?

[Lrptls]

my 5 male rats have almost no smell until their cage is over due for cleaning. and even then i dont smell it until im actually cleaning the cage. so smell shouldnt be a problem unless maybe your nose is more sensitive.
you can put one male rat with alot of females.
gestation is around 20 days i believe.

[-okapi-]

Male rats dont smell much if you keep their cage clean and well ventilated.
gestation is about 20-25 days. seperate the male babies from the mother/sisters at about 4 weeks of age to prevent inbreeding. Also its best to wait until the females are 8 weeks old before breeding them. This gives them better health and makes them live longer, thus giving you more healthy litters.

[Girlwithscalez]

ok how many litters can they have? b4 the should not be bred any more

[sapphire_moon]

usually when the litter size starts to decrease is when you either use the female for food or "retire" her. You can usually use one of the females from her second to last litter to breed.

[BellyDraggers]

Another thing you may want to watch is rats are great chewers, make shur your rubbermaids have smooth sides with no ridges as they will be out and about the house before you know it. LOL We keep about 45 colonies going at a ratio of 1-3 or 1-4 and they are alot of work but you save alot on feeder expence.

[LdyPayne]

Depending on the size of hte cages you plan to use (the rubbermaids) you can easily house one male to 3-4 female rats. female rats should be 4-6 months old, this way they will give the best size litters. You should retire the females after about 8 back to back litters.

gestation is 19-21 days and they can be bred again within 24 hours of giving birth and still raise up their litter.

Male rats don't smell anything like male mice. Regular cage cleaning is all you need to do. Bedding should be kiln dried pine shavings, aspen shavings, carefresh, yesterday's news or other paper products.

[snunior]

What should i feed mice or rats? Also how many mice/rats can be found in litter?

[snunior]

rephrase that what should i feed the mice or rats?

[snunior]

please answer me? also is inbreeding a problem with mice?

[Rosy-enthusiast]

I would feed them like left over vegetables, bannana peels, rodent food, etc. I think you can inbreed but im not to sure exactly as i dont breed any rats or mice right now.

[Fang&Claw]

i have bred rodents on and off for 25 yrs....and generally speaking mice and rats have between 8 and 20 babies...gestation is 21 days approx. and usually within six hours or so of thier litter they are ready to make more...also rats can retain sperm and breed twice from one mating...feed should be labrotory pellets,with some extra treats occasionally...u should use aspen preferably and food should be dispensed ina hopper system...male mice smell mutch worse than rats..and mice are more canibalistic... 1 male rat for 2 or 3 females and 1 male mouse to 2-5 females seems to work best a 10 gallon tank size is perfect for a small colony of mice and a twenty long size is wat u need for rats....also inbreeding is not a problem ,u can go 7-9 generations before problems arrise

[Girlwithscalez]

yah ok thx and to the other person that posted a Q
i have a bunch of mice i just feed them a mix of wild bird sead and rat/mouse food or lab blocks they enjoy it :P

yes you can inbreed mice i have done it tho i am now geting some new males cus sometimes the female will eat her babys ?? dont know y

[wiseman001]

Rats are masters at CHEWING out of what ever...I keep my rats in glass tanks with screen lids and the still manage to Chew the Rims off the tanks seein how U are goin to keep rats in rubber maid, ( soft plastic ) keep yours eyes on there chewin habbits..

[Girlwithscalez]

:med2teeth hey um i havwe had my ratys in a rubbermaid for almost a month and if you give them a lot of things to chu on they dont chu on the plastic

[sapphire_moon]

just make sure the sides are smooth, use something like a jumbo cat litter pan with a homemade screen top.

[snunior]

Also... i have heard the male can eat the babies should i remove the female and her babies?

[Rosy-enthusiast]

Any female that gives birth seperate her and the babies from the males and have some sort of a container just for females and there babies.

[sapphire_moon]

actually, when I bred rats, I always left the male in, it keeps production up. Plus the male usually helps raise the babies. No need to seperate. Just takes up space.

However, the male will kill the babies if you put an already pregnant female in there and the next day she gives birth, he knows they aren't his and don't want another males genes going on, he will most likely kill the babies, and breed the female again.