Small Rat Breeding Set Up Advice

[Amynickid]

Hey guys, I recently just decided to start breeding my own rats for my friend and my own snakes. I was wondering if anyone has any helpful tips. I have read that it is best to wait until female rats are 4 months old at least but countless feeder breeders I know breed them from 8 weeks. For me it will be trail and error with the knowledge I know. No matter how much you research, it still is the internet XD. Just wanting brief advice from experienced breeders. I will only be breeding 1-3 females at a time. As I do not want it to get out of hand xD haha. Also when do most of you guys start breeding females (age wise)? And what problems have you encountered? Cheers.

 

[pinefamily]

Breed them from too young, and litter sizes can reduce. Depending on how many rats you want to breed, you will want at least three or four females to every male.
Setting up is entirely up to you. We also did it by trial and error, with a lot of reading along the way. If you are not going to use the proper rat tubs, make sure you use tubs that are completely flat on the bottom and sides; give them nothing to chew on. There are lots of ways to go about it, but if you are only breeding a few, keep it simple. The proper tubs are expensive; we ended up using 20l tubs from one of the cheap shops, and made wire mesh lids with wooden frames. Using a soldering iron, we put holes in the side for drink bottles, and held them in place with elastic stapled to the wooden frame. We found we had to put a metal washer around the hole to stop them chewing; liquid nails is the best to hold the washers on, even loctite didn't hold.
Wood shavings in the bottom of the tubs, and Laucke brand rat pellets are better.
Hope this helps.

 

[Row78]

I have heard that the best breeding age is 5 months, with a ratio of about 4 females to the male. Gestation is aprox 21 days, by that stage you can tell for certain that the female is pregnant. With regards to tubs, make sure they have plenty of ventilation and where they are kept doesn't get too hot, or has the ability to be cooled. The cold shouldn't bother them too much. The laucke mills rat and mouse food is great, mind you the 20 kg bag is a bit awkward to carry. Also, not a great subject, but have you thought about how to euthanise the feeders?

 

[GBWhite]

I've been breeding rats and mice for my snakes full on for about 25 years now. I had a mate of a mate who bred them for Sydney Uni and he offered the following advice that has always worked for me.

The best age to start putting males and females together is around the 8 to 10 week stage as after this time the female's pelvic girdle starts to contract and this has an effect on litter size. The same happens after the females reach around 9 months. Males have to be in with the female the day she drops her littler to knock her up again otherwise you'll have wait another month for her to ovulate. Select future breeding females from the largest litters to maintain consistency with litter sizes. Keep them well ventilated and do not allow them to overheat. We feed ours a mixture of Barrastock Rat and Mouse cubes and Biomare.

Cheers.

 

[Amynickid]

Yeah that helped I just have some hand me down enclosures. paid $20 and I have three water feeders. like 4 bowls. 4 enclosures.two are bird cages I lock with wire. got some free wooden boxes and i use logs, sticks, paddle pop sticks, toilet roll tubes, old clothes for their play stuff. and cardboard for them to nibble on. I got some expensive rat food from the pet shop and some cheaper rat food from another. when that goes ill stick to the cheaper stuff. got some cardboard paper kitty litter in bottom to try it out. and some ripped up kitchen roll and newspaper to shred and use as nest for them. I only have one male and one female atm. I would have had two females but one had early stages of a RI so I froze her off.

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I have heard that the best breeding age is 5 months, with a ratio of about 4 females to the male. Gestation is aprox 21 days, by that stage you can tell for certain that the female is pregnant. With regards to tubs, make sure they have plenty of ventilation and where they are kept doesn't get too hot, or has the ability to be cooled. The cold shouldn't bother them too much. The laucke mills rat and mouse food is great, mind you the 20 kg bag is a bit awkward to carry. Also, not a great subject, but have you thought about how to euthanise the feeders?

also I am freezing them off as I need them. I have been told that they go into hibernation due to cold and go to sleep. And die in their sleep. this is what I would like to believe also. I do not want to co2 gas them as I will only be freezing them off and breeding them as I need them.

 

[Row78]

This is only true for pinky. Once they get fur, it is like us going to the arctic. It is much more humane and less painful for a rat or mouse with fur to be euthanised by co2. Then once fully passed, frozen. Using co2 causes less pain to the rodent. Please reconsider not using co2.

 

[Amynickid]

I've been breeding rats and mice for my snakes full on for about 25 years now. I had a mate of a mate who bred them for Sydney Uni and he offered the following advice that has always worked for me.

The best age to start putting males and females together is around the 8 to 10 week stage as after this time the female's pelvic girdle starts to contract and this has an effect on litter size. The same happens after the females reach around 9 months. Males have to be in with the female the day she drops her littler to knock her up again otherwise you'll have wait another month for her to ovulate. Select future breeding females from the largest litters to maintain consistency with litter sizes. Keep them well ventilated and do not allow them to overheat. We feed ours a mixture of Barrastock Rat and Mouse cubes and Biomare.

Cheers.

I have researched this and I have found a few flaws with your reply... I know you can breed them that young but their is smaller litters and some females have birth complications. It's a risk I will take only once to see how it goes. If it goes will I will keep doing it if not I will wait till they are older. Also If you leave the male with the female after giving birth they will not have any break inbetween pregnancies. Would you like to be carrying babies your whole life none stop? Also if you do some research you will find your uni mate is wrong. They go into head once a week. -.-

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Okay cheers

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Cheers Row nd pine family

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How can you tell if the rats have mated and the female is inseminated?

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How can you tell if the rats have mated and the female is inseminated?

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there has been no proof found of their pelvic bone shrinking at that age from the research i have done. only after 9 months as they head to the rat version of menopause. i didnt mean to say it is untrue but the research ive done says otherwise and ive done a lot.

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but the one month wait thing isn't true.

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but the one month wait thing isn't true.

 

[Row78]

You could see a viable plug in the female, but this also does not necessarily mean that babies are there. I keep the male in with the female for 3 weeks, then when I can see that she is pregnant, I remove the male. She usually gives birth the next week. Then 4 weeks later the Bubs are weaned. I then give the female another 3 weeks to recover and then put her with a male again.

 

[Amynickid]

Sweet thought so, was just asking someone actually real ahahha not just the internet XD hahahha cheers

 

[pinefamily]

Once the young are weaned and taken away from the mother, we give her a week rest then back to it. Otherwise we would need too many rats.

 

[solar 17]

On the coming into season bit "immediately" they give birth they are "receptive to the male and then every " 96 hours " after that so every 4 days they cycle provided their health is good that R.I. that was mentioned is "Myco Plasma" and 99.9 % of the time its fatal....once a rat starts to fall away over the renal/kidney area and are wheezing l am afraid its time they went to the big rat colony in the sky.
These days Myco Plasma is rampant in fact its rare "IMO" to purchase rats that don't have it and unfortuneately short cuts in feeding and overheating speed up its progress and in MOST cases I.M. and even I.V. antibiotics aren't successfull in the vast majority of cases. ~B~