I kinda got jipped into getting 200 small rats for a guy locally. I did it once and he took them away within a day. The shop I ordered from desided to do it again for me without my concent. It's my buddie who owns the store and he is now out of business. So I was forced to take them. They came from a mass breeder in an ajoyning state that supplies several petstores, and other entities with rats regularly. this is his living I guess.I have no idea of the conditions of his facility.
So the rats come in and are WAY over crouded in the store for 24hrs. 200 is now 147. I take the 147 in two large totes with food and water. They are over crouded. one is like 3'x18"x2' and one is 4x18x2 or so I prop a PVC in the lid for air and it's a little inatiquate. well I have been tropping rats about 5-10 a day. several are canabalising each other. I see some reperatory. that lasts about 2-3 days. So I go get 4 new plastic totes, 3'x18"x12" roughly with a 17x6" wire hole cut into the lid. New pine bedding from IFA no chem. high end food (and dog food) well now there are about 30 per container. I am still daily picking out a couple three rats that are dead, sick, or eaten. I even went through and decided to wack-n-freeze about 10 that were sick a few days ago. I keep looking for sick ones, but all look ok. But every day there is one or two dead. They are looking better, I think. But I have lost my butt on these rats. any ideas?
I breed rats for my own food 1:6 x 3sets in 75 gallon glass tanks. Have a 75 gallon holder with probably 10 smalls,8 med,and 5-10 large. All are fed the same in the same room, but I have had one old jumbo breeder male and two holder rats die in about 3 months. one in the holder I think came from the first batch of rats from the big breeder that got loose in my house. Why are mine so healthy, and his are just JUNK?
