Reptile & Amphibian Forums

of my rat rack. Alot of people are interested in breeding their own feeders so I figured I'd show what kind of rack can be built on a budget. I think the total cost was less than $400 and that's including the tubs @ $5 a piece and the watering system. It holds 16 breeder groups of females at 3-4 females each, 3 tubs with breeder males in them and 6 tubs of breeder mice with 1 male to 7 females in each. With this set-up I produce on average 200 rat's per month and roughly 150 mice per month. The feed bill for this rack is $60/month and the bedding is roughly $40/month cleaning each tub on a weekly basis. So with me going through that many rats a month it is very well worth my time to maintain a small feeding colony.

Josh Hutto
JKReptiles

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2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Nice, I am considering making one. No need right now as I only have 6 snakes and my rats don't take up much space, but eventually I will need one or two of these. I notice you went with the somewhat lazy approach for the food, do they seem to have any problems getting to it? Where did you get the supplies for the watering system?

Sorry for all the questions, thanks for sharing!
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"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." - Kurt Cobain

"You laugh at me because I am different; I laugh at you because you are all the same."

~~ Krystal ~~

"""Nice, I am considering making one. No need right now as I only have 6 snakes and my rats don't take up much space, but eventually I will need one or two of these. I notice you went with the somewhat lazy approach for the food, do they seem to have any problems getting to it? Where did you get the supplies for the watering system? """

Just putting the food on top of the cage instead of making a food tray on the top of the screen works fine, if not better in my experience. The rats have no trouble reaching it from about 3 weeks in age. I purchased all the supplies for the watering system from agselect except for the 10 gallow rubermaid, that came from wal-mart.

Josh Hutto
JKReptiles
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2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Thanks!
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"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." - Kurt Cobain

"You laugh at me because I am different; I laugh at you because you are all the same."

~~ Krystal ~~

Do you have plans for this system?
How do you deal with the smell?

Thanks!
BRGDS,
AVD
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"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"
COLD BLOOD.........WARM HEART

I really didn't think it was going to turn out as nice as it did so I didn't take pictures of it while making the rack. However I will probably be making another rack in the next month or so and will take step-by-step pictures for reference for anyone that wants it. Now to the smell, the rack is kept in one of the spare bedrooms and does have a slight odor in the room. I keep the window open with the celling fan on to keep the ammonia levels down which greatly cuts down on the smell. I also make sure I clean the cages at least once a week, usually every 5 days. One thing that helps is that I use more aspen than needed so there is no soggy bedding when I clean. Hope this helps.

Josh Hutto
JKReptiles
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2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
0.1 High Contrast Albino (Gulf Coast)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, Gulf Coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(Gulf Coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (Gulf Coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

your rats remind me of mine lol i use black and white girls and brown and white males...the store i bought mine from color coded them for me ... it's kinda cool i think lol...im going to raise some of these current babies and start a new group (just need a new male).... i only have 4 adults so I do need more ...the mice are a different story ..there's no color code there Once i achieve surplus and make a little money ill go ahead and make a rack..i like yours by the way..
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we're here because a hobby became an obsession... if only every one had this much fun

some days your the dog, some days your the hydrant...don't know who started this saying but it's the truth