Rat breeding

[Flood]

I am starting a rat colony, but I only know the basics for breeding and guidlines for keeping them. So, what I would like to know is:

-how do I know when they are pregnant?
-what do I do while they are pregnant?
-what do I do after they give birth?

I have five females and eight males, obviously the extra males will become meals. I will probably keep the five females and two or three males(depends on how hungry some friends of mine are). Anyways, help me out anyone that can.
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[captainmorgan]

I'm getting ready to do the same thing and I was just gonna ask these questions....you beat me to it. Only advice I can give is don't feed the males that got the baby juice. Some females can be infertal to. If they are infertal, there feeders!!! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[Boaguy]

Your going to want to have more females then males..
what i have figuered out is its better to have more then one collany..
even if its just 1 male and 3 female in each one i would have atleast two colanys..
that way u can rotate the makes once a week so they think they get new females and they want to breed more [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
when u notice a female getting bigger (u will notice it) u put her in a seporate container away from all other rats.and u will keep her and her babys there until they are feeding on real food then u put the mom back in the colany.
hope that answers all your questions [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[captainmorgan]

do you breed rats boaguy? thanx for the info...
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[hisba]

I bred mice and rats in the past (I no longer do, the time, effort and cost of cleaning and
caring for them was not worth it..) You will know they are pregnant.. they will swell
up like they have a small orange inside. heh (if you've never seen a pregnant rat or mouse..
it's quite surprising how HUGE they get!) Also, the male will quite mating with the female
once she becomes pregnant. I know mice go into heat every couple of weeks and can
be bred easily one month after giving birth. You don't need to really do anything special
for the female once pregnant, just provide some paper towels or some other material she
can tear up and use to build a nest, I also liked to give mine calcium on their food and some
dabs of peanut butter for extra fat/protein. After she gives birth (and hope she doesn't kill or
eat the babies!! esp the first time mothers, sometimes they don't seem to understand what to
do but will do better with their second litter) just leave them alone. Don't disturb the mom
too much or touch the babies (unless you are removing them!). Any specific questions? I can
try to help... the most important thing is providing a good healthy diet for them.
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[SnakePool]

I had 26 females all dropping litters within the same 2-3 wks. I kept 1 male to 5 females. I would keep the male in there with them the whole time. If you want to beable to go in an handle the babies so you can pick out a feeder or just look at how cute they are, you need to handle all of them on a regular basis. If you don't develop that trust with them, the minute you even breath funny on the babies or disturb the litter in any way, they will kill the whole litter. This is not a good thing especially when the litter was 12-15 babies. My suggestion would be if your going to do this for the sole purpose of feeding your snakes, your better off breeding 25 females and up. The more the better. It's not easy and they get expensive. It saved me some money but I had over 100 babies every 4-6wks. Like hisba said you'll be able to tell when they become pregnant, they will start getting round and start wobbling when they walk. Gestation is 21-25 days, on average 23days. They can become pregnant immediately after birth. They go into heat every 3-5 days.

Post anymore question if you have them.

Good Luck!!
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[Flood]

Thanks for the info guys.
And...HAHA Cap, I got to it first. What do I win???
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[Boaguy]

Captain.. i used to breed.. not anymore.
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[Flood]

I only have two pythons eating rats right now, but I have already set up a deal with the pet stores that I go to sell them rats. Currently they are paying up to $3 or $4 per rat(mid- sized at that). I will sell them a lot cheaper and considering how fer pet stores there are around here I should do well.
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[captainmorgan]

You win a rat, remind me.... [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

Thanx Hisba, how many snakes you got SnakePool???? [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] I don't need that many!!!
I want to get my kings on to rat pups and I'm paying about $6-$7 bux a rat for my 2 boas. I'm more curious on the diet need?? Do they need a big enclosures to breed. I got some seeds, dog food, peanut butter and crackers. Will that work? I heard dog food is healthy and they'll eat it. True? Thanks for the info, I only got a 10 gallon tank right now, until I get rid of the fish in the fish tank....hehehee [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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[LdyDrgn]

Be careful with feeding dog food. Many contain dyes and additives that are not healthy. It may feed the rat ok, but in turn feeding the rat to your snake, it may not be the best idea. I just wanted you guys to be aware. I'm sure you want the healthiest rats possible to feed your 'babies'. Good luck with it!! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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[captainmorgan]

thanx ldydrgn, I'll just stick with the seed and peanut butter....
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[SnakePool]

I have about 20 snakes. At the time I had around that many. The reason you want to have that many breeding is because they don't produce what you need to feed you snakes on a weekly basis. If your just feeding 2 snakes you would be better off buying them at the pet store or ordering frozen from a supplier. They are only good for breeding for about 6 months and then you have to "recycle." They are ready to breed at 3-4 months and they reach menopause(sp?) at around 16-18months. Their litter numbers become unstable after about 9-12 months. It gets EXPENSIVE very quickly. Seeds and PB don't offer a balanced diet. I would buy some Rodent Blocks, feed stores carry it sometimes. I use Lab Diet, I believe it is made by Purina. I also give them PB once a week as a treat, veggies every other day, crackers as treats, unsalty chips.... yes my rats are spoiled. I have 4 females and 4 males that I kept after I stopped breeding rats. These are my pets and are no longer being bred. Here's a baby pic of mine...

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[impermanentrage]

I posted this on another feeding forum as it pertains to commercial dogfood:




Lab blocks are fine. , mixed with grains, cereals etc, that you pick up at any petstore, for rodents. In fact, blocks mixed with birdseed should be sufficient. If you still decide to feed dogfood due to the price? I would research the product thoroughly. In particular pay attention to the first three ingredients, as these will likely make up the bulk of the item[s]. This being said you should also pay close scrutiny to all other aspects as well. Pay attention to ensure that little or no animal by-products are used, as too much animal protein and fat is detrimental to the overall rodent's physical health. A little is not entirely bad, but most dogfood on the market is made up primarily of lamb and or chicken by-products. Ironically for your situation, the most expensive dogfoods on the market are the ones with the most amount animal by-products, as this would be healthiest for Fido. However, since we are speaking of rats , sometimes the cheapest grain based dogfoods on the market are the healthiest in comparison for rodents. Stay away from any dogfood advertised as "high" protein. Look for dogfoods with little or no animal by-products, they do exist, and they are generally the cheapest. They also usually don't have the Fruit-Loops coloration to them. You should always look for any unnecessary additives to the food , whether for canine or rodent.
But if that's too much to get into than just get the blocks, grains, and some bird seed.

I had to stop breeding them myself.


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[Jessymay52388]

I got a prob. I have 1 male and 2 females. The females are about 6 months old and the male 4 months old. I got the male by acciedent! he was gonna be snake food he was only 3 weeks old, i fell in love(sheesh!) and kept him. now hes a big handsome guy, i have seen him breedin with the females but nothing yet. they will soon be snake food if they dont produce!!!

Jessy! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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