Breeding rats in bedroom. - Page 2

Wretched5705 · 05-14-12, 08:58 PM

Do i keep the male and females in a big community tub together or just throw a female in with the male whenever I want one to get pregnant?

mykee · 05-14-12, 09:05 PM

Kat, rodents eat a diet very high in fibre, and their food smells "barny".

Wretched5705 · 05-14-12, 09:25 PM

Do you mean barny as in like a barn? Or did i completely miss that?

insignia100 · 05-15-12, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykee

I found that the good quality foods (Mazuri 6F and Purina 5021) were the biggest stinkers of all; they both smell like a barn.

Some of us actually enjoy the smell of a barn.

(Well, a clean one, that is.)

hellosugaree · 05-15-12, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wretched5705

Do i keep the male and females in a big community tub together or just throw a female in with the male whenever I want one to get pregnant?

There is a pretty good sticky on here that talks about breeding rats. Definitely check that out if you haven't. I think exwizard breeds rats on a big scale so if he hasn't given input here make sure you talk to him. One thing though: rodents are very social. They shouldn't be housed singly except moms for birth and nursing. Males will fight if you introduce two adults that have never seen each other. Littermates that have spent time together are usually fine. There are plenty of ways to do it though depending on your needs and preferences. Good luck!

hellosugaree · 05-15-12, 07:04 AM

Oh and to get at the original question aabout smell... rodents stink. If you clean the cages regularly and don't have too many, you can keep in manageable. Some people are more sensitive to this than others. Try to find someone locally that has them (try posting a Craigslist ad) and see if you can visit their colony. That might give you some idea.

mykee · 05-15-12, 07:37 AM

Yup, barny. Lol...

Wretched5705 · 05-15-12, 10:20 AM

I found a store nearby that is able to deliver woody pet but it is the horse bedding, has anyone used this over the rodent bedding?

mykee · 05-15-12, 10:33 AM

I used it for about six months a few years ago. It is really heavy, super dusty and stinks like rodent piss almost immmediately.

Wretched5705 · 05-15-12, 10:40 AM

Really? Man and they were saying it was odor absorbing....would the rodent bedding be any different or is it all just the same?

hellosugaree · 05-15-12, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wretched5705

Really? Man and they were saying it was odor absorbing....would the rodent bedding be any different or is it all just the same?

No bedding will alter the fact that you have to change them frequently if you don't want an olfactory symphony going on.

Wretched5705 · 05-15-12, 12:53 PM

Well i understand that, I just dont want my room to smell absolutely repulsive between weekly cleanings

Gungirl · 05-15-12, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykee

Yup, barny. Lol...

Well... I'm a redneck so barny is ok with me. Although I would not keep them in my bedroom.

hellosugaree · 05-15-12, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wretched5705

Well i understand that, I just dont want my room to smell absolutely repulsive between weekly cleanings

Understandable. Would you still consider breeding if it required cleaning twice a week, or are you set on only doing one change a week?

If you are rich or like to build stuff, you could buy or build (respectively) a ventilation setup. In large rodent colonies used in labs or commercial facilities they exhaust their cage air outside which cuts down on the stink quite a bit, but not completely.

Honestly though, if you are only doing a few rats and you stay on top of cleaning, I think you will be just fine. People keep pet rats and it doesn't drive them out of the house unless they don't clean the enclosure regularly.

How many rats are you thinking?

exwizard · 05-15-12, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellosugaree

Understandable. Would you still consider breeding if it required cleaning twice a week, or are you set on only doing one change a week?

If you are rich or like to build stuff, you could buy or build (respectively) a ventilation setup. In large rodent colonies used in labs or commercial facilities they exhaust their cage air outside which cuts down on the stink quite a bit, but not completely.

Honestly though, if you are only doing a few rats and you stay on top of cleaning, I think you will be just fine. People keep pet rats and it doesn't drive them out of the house unless they don't clean the enclosure regularly.

How many rats are you thinking?

Twice a week would work and for a small setup, it wont take that much time.

Our rat colony totals 460+, not including the mice. Idk if that qualiufies as large but for some people that not large at all. However, we use a commercial size portable fan blowing the air right up the stairs and out the back door. No odor in the house at all. If youre that concerned about odor, set up a window fan to blow in exhaust mode.

I agree with this statement completely. I used to keep pet rats right in my bedroom. As long as I cleaned the cage regularly, the odor was almost nonexistant.

In addition to all that, a successful breeding colony of any size should have a male to female ratio of 1.6. This way you could have half the females nursing while still having a 1.3 group in each tub or cage.