Rat Husbandry questions.

[guzzo]

Beware the female rat....I had a terrible experiance....I still have the occasional bad dream and wake up shaking......

 

[solar 17]

Females [rats] will cycle [come into season] as soon as they have a clutch/litter and every 96-100 hours after that, so they cycle almost twice a week as far as this bitey business some of my best producing females will take your fingers off if given a chance.... but l believe there is a huge difference between fear and respect ....solar 17 [Baden]

 

[jamesmoho]

rats/mice will ovulate for around 24 hours after they drop a litter, and since the gestation period and weaning age are the same, it is possible to have the female impregnated as soon as she gives birth and then again (give or take) as soon as the pups are ready to be weaned. the only problems ive had with cannibalism are with manx mice (tailless)

 

[her_xr6t]

Hey,.. i kept all my doe's in together with all their pups, 3 litters in total and what a fantastic little family they were,.. they all raised the pups like a shared agreement. quite often there would be 2 mum's in with the pups and one sleeping away from them. it was like they would take turns to give each other a rest. also bucks make excellent fathers. i tend to give my girls a break in between litters like 2 months before they get pregnant again. keeps them in good condition.

 

[-Katana-]

I have a couple of young grow on bucks that I would like to use as future sires.
They are the fastest growers in their litters and they haven't had runny noses and watery eyes.
Now I know all the rat breeding sites say that a 5 week old buck can sire young but I was wondering what the sites rat breeders are finding in actual practice?

 

[Indysmum]

Welcome..


ohh cmon, ur having us on right?

It would be more likely that mother has become pregnant to her male baby. It was happening to many people who didnt seperate sexes/mums and bubs until 5-6wks, have heard of it happen as early as 3wks.
I personally wouldnt advise leaving the daddy in same tub, or having litters back to back. I could go on about the concerns for the poor animal, but since this is reptile forum..ill argue from this angle-you will have a decline in litter size,total reabsobtion of litters or risk the mother start culling her young. Its way too taxing on the female, give her some rest time. Better for the litter production in the bigger picture imo.
Happy healthy rats= happy healthy snakes
*as for the storing of sperm, perhaps you are thinking of the plug that holds in sperm? This is immediatly after mating, not for any lengthy period.

 

[TigerCoastal]

you will have a decline in litter size,total reabsobtion of litters or risk the mother start culling her young. Its way too taxing on the female, give her some rest time. Better for the litter production in the bigger picture imo.

How much feeder experience have you got? i have been breeding the same rats back to back for 6 months with no decline in health, numbers, or anything like that. After the 6 month mark the numbers go down slightly, but i feel that it is linked to a lesser number of eggs in the ovary than what was there before, similar to a woman approaching menopause or that there are less mature eggs there that are ready for use. Even after a few months break i have found that the numbers do not increase, if they do its by 1-2 at most. All of my animals have been line bred, females are culled and replaced at around the 6 month mark, males depending on size. There is more to it than how many time a rat has been bred as to how many numbers you get. Food, ambient conditions, caging conditions, water quality all have an effect as well.

 

[-Katana-]

Something a little bit upsetting....

I had a first litter doe give birth to 1 small live pup and then she encounter issues passing the next pup...several hours of straining and she manages to birth the rest of the litter but they were still born.

As I said earlier she is a first litter doe and she was on a rising plane of nutrition to help condition her for lactation.

Is this something that happens regularly with first litter does?
Is it worth reconditioning and breeding her again?

I fostered the small but healthy pup with a different doe who gave birth at the same time and it has fed and been accepted.

 

[kevinsrodents]

Rats

I've had a doe give birth to her first litter and I kept the buck in with her because I read that the doe's come straight back into season.

How likely is it that she'd fall pregnant again straight away?

She's very protective of her pups and has bitten me twice and has bitten the buck ..he has bleeding ears.
I don't see this as a bad thing as I see this as a sign of a strong mothering instinct.

Any advice or tips welcomed.

Thanks,
~Akwendi.

Hi, I keep 8 Does & 2 Bucks in a cage for breedind and the Bucks never come out of there, She should give you new pups every 35 Days. hope this has been of help to you. Regards Kevin
[email protected]

 

[beeman]

Something a little bit upsetting....

I had a first litter doe give birth to 1 small live pup and then she encounter issues passing the next pup...several hours of straining and she manages to birth the rest of the litter but they were still born.

As I said earlier she is a first litter doe and she was on a rising plane of nutrition to help condition her for lactation.

Is this something that happens regularly with first litter does?
Is it worth reconditioning and breeding her again?

I fostered the small but healthy pup with a different doe who gave birth at the same time and it has fed and been accepted.

Once that has happened here she is culled, There is no room for rodents that
produce dead or small litters, It costs to much in labor, feed etc to hold non productive rodents!

 

[saximus]

Haha take the hard line Beeman . So all of your produce biggish litters even on their first?

 

[beeman]

Haha take the hard line Beeman . So all of your produce biggish litters even on their first?

Our line does produce good sized litters for their first !The smallest litters are usually 12-13 with the occasional first of 17-19!
We have worked for years getting our line so it returns a high production rate
so there is no need to carry underproductive rodents

 

[-Katana-]

Just a question about marking litters.

I have a few litters due for weaning and with space being a bit tight I'm going to have to mix litters in my grow out tubs.
There are females pups from one very large litter that I want to keep as future breeding stock.
I was wondering if anyone has ever tried marking rats by dipping their tails in undiluted food dye?

If so,

How long will the dye last and will the dyed rats be attacked by their tub mates (for being "different") and will there be any residue left in the rats that will be harmful to my pythons when it comes time to cull them for age?

 

[saximus]

I was actually thinking about something similar lately. I was just going to put a dot on them with a permanent marker. I figured one little dot couldn't be bad for the snakes. They are "non-toxic" after all

 

[Fuscus]

I have grow out tubs and normally remove any preggers but was away for a couple of weeks. Now I have a large ball of youngsters in one tub. Looks about thirty or forty a couple of weeks apart and all seen to be doing well, despite the other rats still in the tub. And the rats are all non biters

 

[RamsMice]

Yer a soon as they drop there litter the males go in for round two lol mine anyway and as the time I realize because mine give birth early hours the males are already at it again so there no point separating them for mine I just leave them in there. But in some case I separate them

 

[-Katana-]

I was actually thinking about something similar lately. I was just going to put a dot on them with a permanent marker. I figured one little dot couldn't be bad for the snakes. They are "non-toxic" after all

Hahahah!
Just imagine rats with purple, blue, pink or yellow tails!
Rainbow Rats - Because the purdy ones taste better!

 

[Wild~Touch]

Rather than saving the whole litter for future breeders I generally select the young ratties that do better than their litter mates, eg. bigger body size and brighter personality and cleaner shinier coats. = thriving youngsters make better breeders in the long run
Hope this helps
Cheers
Sandee

 

[-Katana-]

I will cull any youngsters (and adults for that matter) who come down with the snuffles and, any who don't I keep for future breeders. I hope that selecting this way will give me a line rats that have a stronger immune system.

 

[ingie]

When I select for future breeders I do the same as Bredlislave and Akwendi. I monitor the litter and pick them off one by one as they show any signs of being smaller, skinnier or sickly, until I am left with the healthiest strongest babies. It is a good idea to regularly monitor the health of potential breeders, by holding their back up to your ear and listening for any noises other than a heartbeat. If they have a little wheeze, sneeze or a rattle don't bother keeping them for breeding as these symptoms will quickly increase as they age, and effect their productivity.

Once I tried marking albino rats with permanent marker and it was gone within a few hours! Very annoying lol. I have heard food dye lasts longer and I am going to give it a go on my black eyed white rats so I don't get them mixed up!