Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just got a real small litter 3 rat pups? why does this happen? i mean this rat has had great litters prior? just wandering why do they sometimes have crappy litters?? thanks.

Don't produce - fed off
Kill babies - fed off
Sick - fed off
Jumpy - fed off
Bite me - whacked on cement then fed off

How many litters has the female had? I usually retire my females after 8 to 10 litters. They are usually still producing fine but much longer and they will taper off. Of course that can depend on available replacement female. If female is still in her prime AND I need her, I will re-breed her. If I have an available replacement, she's snake food!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.25 BRB
12.14 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

wow i didnt know that after 10 litters they pretty much suck? im glad i started geting new breeders ready. is it ok to keep three females and 1 male that are about 5-6 weeks old together now or should that male be seperated so he cant breed the females? thanks for your help.

If kept together, they will breed as soon as physically capable!!

I had a tub of 20 "female" mice last year I was raising up for breeders. Yup, I missed it and one was a male. By the time I noticed the first plumping female, half the tub was pregnant. When I found the male he had a big smile and looked a little skinny.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.25 BRB
12.14 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

thanks. can you post pics of your breeding room? love to see it.
thanks again.

AKA garage, All rodents are done in a corner of my garage:

I started a long time ago with individual cages and water bottles. Worked fine but did take a bit of time to care for them including daily check/fill of water bottles.

I found these two racks for sale and bought them. SOOOOOO glad I did. With with auto watering and food hoppers that last well over a month, I've cut my upkeep down to weekly cleaning. I still do daily checks just to make sure all is well and look for babies. The right hand rack is currently my birth through weanling rat litters. The left rack bottom two levels are rat breeding. The upper 4 levels are the entire mouse colony.

A few months ago, I built this grow-out rack (from ideas found in this very forum) for my weanling to larger size rats. I found mortar tubs at home depot on closeout pricing, 75% off!! Made a rack to fit them, added watering and voila:

-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.25 BRB
12.14 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

very nice! thanks for that post..