breeding rats

[ssshell]

hey I'm breeding rats to feed my snake with thier offspring and my female rat is about to have babies what kinds of food would be good to feed her to go with her normal rat food? and also how long should i wait before i start to breed her again? Im new at this, so any help would be much appreciated!
thanks, shell

[Steve]

i feed mine rodent blocks, i get them in ottawa WAY better then dog food or the cheap stuff from petstores

[sapphire_moon]

You will want to feed her things with extra proteine, and fat. Things like meat (not TO much), hard boiled eggs, roasted UNSALTED soy nuts (NEVER feed your MALE rats anything citrus)

And depending on how many babies you want depends on when you breed her again.

If you leave her in there, the male will probably breed her again withing 12 hours of her giving birth, then when babies are about weaning (around 3-4 wks old) the mother will be ready to deliver again.

[ssshell]

if the male breeds her right after she has her babies is that bad for her health at all?

[Steve]

in the long run yes...but in my case I can all my breeder females every 6 or so months

[Mark]

It shortens their lifespan but most people leave the male in. I usually rotate female at approx 8 months or when I notice a drop below 10 babies/litter. Also feed lab rodent chow if you can get your hand on it. It's a lot better for them then dog food.

[ssshell]

do you have any idea where i could get that?

[Mark]

local co-op usually can order in one brand or another. Mazuri seems to be the cheapest. I get my mazuri through my local co-op as it is the same or cheaper then ren's with no driving.

[sapphire_moon]

www.mazuri.com they have a "find a dealer" tab, try to see if you can find someone locally or not far from you.

[mykee]

If you feed a high-quality lab diet (like Mazuri 6F, it's what I feed also) then there's NO NEED to supplement the diet with anything. This food has it all for breeding and nursing rats.

[Steve]

check your inbox