Rat Farm

[Hsut77]

Do the drikers ever jam on or leak?

Have had one leak this week, but the tank never has more capacity then 20lt so there is no way one tub can fill with water.

 

[Jewly]

Do you give the rats more than just pellets? A lactating mother needs more than just pellets to remain healthy especially if she is up the duff every month.

 

[xenathepython]

I would love toi know more about your watering system, I'm suck and tired of water bottles, so any info, how much did they cost, can you get them in australia, if so where from??

 

[daniel1234]

Love the wire/pellet idea, I really need to breed but just dont want to (I have done it before in stupid aquarium set up, but not for herps). So what, each tub represents a litter does it? You simply transfer the rats from dirty tub to a clean one then ditch the contence of the dirty one, wash and start again? So simple yet very effective. This is why I didn't want to breed, cleaning up can be tricky-taking rats out while you clean up, partitioning sections off, all to hard, but this would be so easy

 

[Australis]

Great set-up youve got yourself there Hsut77
ive definitely got to pull my finger out! :lol:

Do you give the rats more than just pellets? A lactating mother needs more than just pellets to remain healthy especially if she is up the duff every month.

What else besides pellets does a lactating mother need?
I'm just using rodent pellets, bio-mare and some dry dog
food atm for my rats and mice, rarely anything else.

 

[Hsut77]

Do you give the rats more than just pellets? A lactating mother needs more than just pellets to remain healthy especially if she is up the duff every month.

The rats also get good quality dog food once a week and also veg once a week. They do well on the diet. They are also not pregnant once a month as I rest them after a litter. These are not mass produced rodents. The rats are well cared for and show it in the quality of food produced for my collection.

Other q's,

In terms of cleaning, easy as!!! Have 2 sets of containers, change over rats, dump the old littler, clean the tubs and refill. Takes 10 min once a week.

With the sippers have a look on www.agselect.com, you can get them in Australia but they are expensive!!!! I got mine for $6 per sipper including all tubing etc.

 

[Jewly]

I give my rats a small amount of fruit and vegetables each day along with a rat mix which I add a small amount of this apple flavoured pellet mix which they just love. With new mother's they need a daily diet of soft, high protein food (dog food, egg, chicken, etc) and this is also what the babies first start eating as well once they are weaned. I also offer my mother's slightly warm water with a bit of sugar mixed in to drink straight after giving birth.

 

[wokka]

Have had one leak this week, but the tank never has more capacity then 20lt so there is no way one tub can fill with water.

You are ahead of me! I was going to say the header tanks look a little big for four tubs. WE try to only provide one days water so if they flood it minimises drowning.

 

[pythons73]

Just wondering Jewly,why you give the mothers slightly warm water with sugar mixed in,is their any benefits in doing this.

 

[CodeRed]

You are ahead of me! I was going to say the header tanks look a little big for four tubs. WE try to only provide one days water so if they flood it minimises drowning.

Drill small holes in the tubs. That way if a leak occurs the rats dont drown.

 

[wokka]

Drill small holes in the tubs. That way if a leak occurs the rats dont drown.

The problem is that if a drinker on the top row jams it wets the tub below. We had about 500 drikers of three different types nd would get about a flood a week mainly from bedding ( a piece of wood shaving) getting caught in the nozzle.

 

[dickyknee]

I just dont see how the rats can eat their fill of food when the pellets are sitting on top of the wire, instead of being able to grasp it in their hands. It must be hard to take bites out of a pellet that doesn't keep still???

Not having a go at your design or anything, Hsut77.

I used the same wire and after 5 minutes they all had it sorted , a few bites or even a few twists of the pellet and it fell through very easily .

Hsut77 , nice set up , i do a similar one with concrete mixing tubs as they were very cheap for the size .
I am thinking of a drip system with a 25L , but I am thinking of using the actual dripper off my old plastic bottles , has any one done this or can any one see any issues with using them ?

 

[Jewly]

Just wondering Jewly,why you give the mothers slightly warm water with sugar mixed in,is their any benefits in doing this.

I was reading on a UK site that this breeder does that for her mother's just after they give birth. She doesn't give the reason but I would say that it just helps to raise the blood sugar level and give her more energy because she's probably too tired to eat much and she wouldn't want to be away from her babies too much at that time. Also, I'd say that the warm water is just a bit more palatable than cold water, especially as they usually give birth during the night.

 

[CodeRed]

The problem is that if a drinker on the top row jams it wets the tub below. We had about 500 drikers of three different types nd would get about a flood a week mainly from bedding ( a piece of wood shaving) getting caught in the nozzle.

Ahh yes the dreaded bedding in the nozzle. It always seems to be the same culprits every time too. I had one tub of adult mice that would jam their bottle every couple of days ... they live in the freezer now

Maybe if the drinkers are up high less bedding will get jammed in them?

 

[Retic]

Good set up there, I have had a couple of sippers leak but mostly it is because they weren't adjusted properly. It is so much easier than continually topping up bottles.
I can't see any reason for providing female rats with anything other than dry rat pellets, I have been breeding rats for years and never had a problem. By all means supplement their diet but they don't NEED it.

 

[FNQ_Snake]

Nice job mate. Very well thought out. And I love the watering system.

 

[blackthorn]

I just ordered some stainless steal rat sippers from Multiquip yesterday. $2.65 each plus shipping. Pretty sure they're in Australia... need to go and find some tubing though, already got a bunch of 20L buckets free from work.

 

[Hsut77]

I just ordered some stainless steal rat sippers from Multiquip yesterday. $2.65 each plus shipping. Pretty sure they're in Australia... need to go and find some tubing though, already got a bunch of 20L buckets free from work.

Do you have a pic of these sippers?

 

[garthy]

With the sippers have a look on www.agselect.com, you can get them in Australia but they are expensive!!!! I got mine for $6 per sipper including all tubing etc.[/QUOTE]

I purchased a pile of cheap water bottles and pulled the tubing/bearing set up out. I inserted this into some tubing that hung into the cage and fed it from a larger sealed vessel. Served its purpose beautifully and required so much less filling.

 

[Jewly]

I can't see any reason for providing female rats with anything other than dry rat pellets, I have been breeding rats for years and never had a problem. By all means supplement their diet but they don't NEED it.

How boring would it be to eat the same thing day in and day out. You appreciate being able to eat a varied diet and I'm sure your rats would too. My rats absolutely love their fresh fruit and veges and they would have to be more healthy and happy with a varied diet.