Is it worth breeding rats?

VI Reptiles · 10-06-04, 10:01 AM

Hi, I got my first bp 9 months ago and now im getting 3-4 more next weekend. Is it worth it to get 1.4 Rats or is it not? Im planning by the end of 2005 im gonna have 20 bps hopefully and then im guessing i'l need rats constantly. It costs about 3.00-5.00 for a nice rat up here that is alive but I dont have any trouble putting it in a small box and putting in the fridge for 3-4 hours and letting it die from freezing. Also Im not allowed to keep any Rats/Mice inside because my mom hates them and would kill me if one got out! Since rats dont need heat and the lowest temp it gets out here is -10. I think they could survive as long as there cage wouldnt fill up with water and they would die from drowning and if they would id just put them in the freezer and feed them to my snake. Im thinking maybe 2 males and 8 females would be plenty and after a good year of producing (Febuary - October)they could go in the freezer so im not wasting rats. Tell me what you think cause I need to know soooooon

mykee · 10-06-04, 10:19 AM

I don't care if you have one snake, or 100, it's ALWAYS worth it to breed your own rats. Period.

Vengeance · 10-06-04, 10:45 AM

Any suggestions for a new setup? I know the preofessional lab rats cages are very good, but they are also $50 a pop. Do rubbermaids work well or dot he rats just chew through the pastic? I've been thinking about starting a breeding colony for a while, just not really sure where to start. Any suggestions on good articles to read or just basic beginner suggestions would be great.

VI Reptiles · 10-06-04, 11:21 AM

Im gonna use a 10 gallon for 5 rats with some shreded newspaper

Vengeance · 10-06-04, 11:27 AM

See from the research I have done, I was under the impression that the best thing to start off with is a 1.2 rat ratio. You should also have seperate cages from male and females so that your females don't constanly keep becoming pregeneant with no recop time. Also I thought after a month of being weaned (or is it longer) that the rats should be seperated by gender because you don't want your baby rats becoming pregnenant.

Brent Strande · 10-06-04, 11:45 AM

I breed my rats in 10gal tanks with screen lids and drop down food hoppers.

Right now the numbers are sporadic, but I'll be going with 1.3 in each and then moving the babies once weaned up to the larger 20gal.

I am undecided on the sex of those that I keep. I'd prefer to kill the males first (for smaller sizes needed) and let the females grow larger since they make less smell, but the males grow faster, so it would maybe be smarter to keep them longer. Any ideas on that anyone?

I'd definitely say that it is worth breeding your own rats!

Linds · 10-06-04, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by VI Reptiles
that is alive but I dont have any trouble putting it in a small box and putting in the fridge for 3-4 hours and letting it die from freezing.

That's absolutely awful. That is one of the worst, torturous ways to die. Rats can survive more than 24h in the freezer. Do you have any idea how painful it is to freeze to death? Rats should be disposed of as quickly and humanely as possible, just because they are feeders, does not mean they still aren't living creatures.

Quote:

Also Im not allowed to keep any Rats/Mice inside because my mom hates them and would kill me if one got out! Since rats dont need heat and the lowest temp it gets out here is -10. I think they could survive as long as there cage wouldnt fill up with water and they would die from drowning and if they would id just put them in the freezer and feed them to my snake.

Rats will not breed in extreme temperatures. I keep mine at 55-65 degrees year round. Anything below 50 or above 75 is insufficient. As for whether or not breeding rats is worth it or not, I personally believe it is worth it for the quality control in itself, as you never really know what you are feeding unless you feed it yourself. However, due to your practices and restrictions, I would recommend purching frozen feeders from a bulk supplier (stores cost through the roof).

10 gallon tanks are much too small for a colony with multiple females. Sometimes when I am retiring a female from breeding, I will remove her to a ten gallon to raise her litter, and it is still quite crowded with just one mom and her rats. If rats are excessively cramped, it will severaly impact their breeding activity. babies WILL be trampled to death, and possibly eaten as well.

Syco · 10-06-04, 03:10 PM

Linds, you took the words right out of my mouth! All my rats are raised in 3ft long rubbermaid bins with screen lids and I keep one male and 3 or 4 females in them. They get "way" crowded right before the babies are weaned and I've been thinking about going to 1.2 in these cages. The only thing 10 gals would be good for would be mice and 1.4 would fit nicely.
As far as freezing to kill rats...... whack em hard and get in over with or use CO2.

VI Reptiles · 10-06-04, 06:06 PM

Ok, I will get a bin and some adults in a couple days. But as far as killing or stunning them goes my parents wouldnt approve of using a big stick and wacking a rat. That even sounds more cruel!
Is there a way of suffocating the rat? Without me actually holding it!

damzookeeper · 10-06-04, 06:26 PM

I second, or rather third, that Linds. I have my trio in a 20 gallon right now and I find that is too small for them. I don't like the rubbermaid because these guys are my pets and I like to see them but I will be looking for a larger tank for them in the future. I also have found out that I can't wack these guys like I can the mice, they are just too darn cute! lol, I have to do it when they are first born or take them to a friend and have him do it and freeze them for me and I'll pick them up later. I just can't do it. I know I'll cry like a baby! My rats get nutra blocks and tons of treats each day. They are my spoiled little bratts. lol. I would NEVER even think about putting them in a 10 gallon. I want to get them a nice large wire cage in the future, it's just hard to find cages that the babies wont escape from.

Anyway, I think the best thing for you (VI), would be to buy them fozen, unless you can be sure you are going to feed them a wel balanced diet to benefit your snakes and a clean environment as well. I use aspen for my rats.

Jeff_Favelle · 10-06-04, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Is there a way of suffocating the rat? Without me actually holding it!

Ummmm..... are ya sure that getting into snakes is the best thing for you??? Hmmmmmm...........

Artemis · 10-06-04, 06:47 PM

See, im too much of a softie. If I tried to breed I would just end up with a rat colony to feed, too. I dont think I could kill them. I love going to the pet store and getting them out of the little chicken cutlet looking trays, already nicely dead and frozen. It is pricey, Ill admit, im paying a $1.50 for a small rat right now. But its not so bad, 3 bucks a week I can live with. Plus its less messy than having more animals to take care of. I just bring em home, individually bag em, and have snake frozen dinners in the freezer with the lean cuisines.

Good luck breeding though, depending on where you live and how pricey they are, I cant say I blame ya. Maybe make your own little gas chamber and kill them humanely.

Artemis

Tim_Cranwill · 10-06-04, 06:57 PM

In my opinion, it's not worth it if you only have a few snakes (1-10). Why put up with the stink and do the extra work just to save a tiny bit of money? (Savings = cost of rats + food + housing + chips + time and etc - the cost of frozen rats.)

If you have a medium collection (10-50), I would say it might be worth it to keep a few colonies around. But it really depends on how willing you are to spend more time caring for rats than your snakes and what price you can score frozen rats for.

I have a few colonies and plan to get a bunch more going but I find it a real chore to clean those buggers.

I don't plan to totally feed my collection but it will be nice to see if I can put a big dent in my feeder bill.

Anyway, to each his/her own and power to you if you DO feed your entire collection with rats YOU produce. I'm somewhat jealous! lol

Brent Strande · 10-06-04, 07:04 PM

I've only got 8 snakes and then a good friend has ~5 more and I'll be breeding to feed all of them. Even if it was just for me it would be saving money.

I could get them from the local shops for ~$5 apiece, which is insane! I could also order from Rodentpro, but then I'd have to add quite a bit on for shipping, plus spend big bucks all at one time. The price of breeding on my own is still cheaper, plus I don't have to shell out hundreds at one time. Then, I can just start freezing as I build up a surplus... if I get too many I could most likely sell some of em off to local herpers (if there are any! LOL)

exotic_66 · 10-06-04, 07:09 PM

omg breeding rats was so much harder than i thought lots of work involved!
I wanted to start breeding rats and and one of my coworkers decided that we should do it together and we would split the money for everything and all the rats would stay at her house and i come over sometimes to help clean them out so i was like hmm pretty good deal ...NEVER AGAIN i spent like 300 dollars on the rats and cages and food and stuff and behind my back she sold most of the rats and never gave me any of the money! so basically i lost so much money! omg never again breeding rats!
~NESSY~