Rat breeding - no idea what to do, please help

[prairiepanda]

I would also suggest buying bulk f/t. Get a mini freezer just for the rodents if you need to. Being in the US, you have loads of options for suppliers of bulk f/t feeders.

But if you're really determined to breed your own stock, I would actually recommend gerbils. I have no experience with rats(grew up in Alberta), but I have bred gerbils and mice and have found gerbils to be the easiest by far. Plus, gerbils get larger than mice but not as large as rats, so they can provide larger meals without having the huge space requirements of rats. Gerbils are very cooperative with each other when it comes to raising young, so mothers always have help and support to keep them going strong. Also, they are much easier to sex as babies than mice are, so they're easy to sort. The time between copulation and birth is usually about 3 to 4 weeks, and if given the opportunity they can birth another litter 4 to 5 weeks after that, so they pump out babies fast. My average litter was 7 pups, with my smallest litter being only 4 and my largest being 11. They grow quite quickly, reaching their full size in around 5 months. But watch out; they will breed as young as 3 months so be sure to separate your genders(males do great in groups of any size, but females should be kept 2 or 3 to a cage to prevent fighting).

When I first got started breeding my gerbils, I left the male in with the female to help raise the first litter. Of course they bred again shortly after birth, but that's okay. Once the first litter started opening their eyes, I moved the male to another female's cage. When the second litter arrived, I left one female from the first litter with her mother to help care for the new litter. That daughter would help her mom with all future litters, until the mom retired and the daughter became a breeder herself, having plenty of experience raising young. Male breeders will produce pretty much as long as they live(3 to 5 years). Female breeders will produce pups for around 2 years, but after the first 2 litters I gave them each 6 month breaks after each litter. I was breeding for colours and patterns, though, rather than for food. You can give them a 2 month break instead and not have any negative effects on the outcome of breeding.

If that's something that interests you, I'd be happy to give you more details and figure out what kind of starting group would be best to feed all your snakes.