Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wondering at what age should I stop allowing my female rat to breed? Great grandma is 14 months old and just had a litter, but this time she only had 5 little ones, so Im thinking her time as momma is up.

What about the males? At what point are they not good stud males?

My breeders are my pets as well so will live out their lives happily but Im wondering if its time to retire my 4 males as well, or when it will be time.
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1.0.0 YBS
1.3.0 RES
1.0.0 red belly cooter
1.0.0 Fire belly toad
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
cats, dog, ferret, rats, mice and hamsters

Great Grandma sounds about spent, time to retire her. Depending on how they are producing, the males could go longer, just remeber, the sooner you retire them, the more retirees you have in the old folks home

None of my breeders are pets so is easier for me to retire them. My males will go well over a year (even two or three years), as long as they are producing, I let them keep going. For females I get around 6 - 10 litters from them before they peter out.

Any rat, male or female that is not producing decent sized litters gets retired. I have a growout rack for larger feeders that I also use for replacement breeders.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks.

Great grandma, has had 3 litters, well this is her 3rd. Only the last one was for feeders and the 3 remaining in this litter. It is so warm I really didnt expect her to have any, which may have also contributed to small litter size. The day before her daughter(8months) and grandaughter(3 months) each had 9.

My males range from 10 months to 16 months, so I guess Im okay there.
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1.0.0 YBS
1.3.0 RES
1.0.0 red belly cooter
1.0.0 Fire belly toad
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
cats, dog, ferret, rats, mice and hamsters

3 litters? 10 litters? We are talking about rats here, right, and not dogs? I don't name my rats or really keep track of their breeding, but in their colonies of 1.5, my females will begin producing babies at around 3 months of age and pretty much knock out a litter ever 4 weeks or so. They breed for well over a year and a half, so we're looking at closer to 20 litters until they're "burned out". Are these breeder rasts or pets? Seeems like not much is expected of them....
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www.strictlyballs.ca

Your kidding right? 20 litters before they are burned out? Try like... 9, and those last 3 are bound to be very hard and small in size.

Female rats are very fertile between 4 and 15 months of age, with the last few being very small and difficult to birth for her.

I keep 30 breeders right now, all named, all are cycled, all are respected and welcomed in my home. I keep close track of their production, pairings, patterns and colors, along with health and temperament.

If your female is 15 months old, time to retire her to just babysitting young females.
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~C

And yes, I am talking FEEDER breeders here.
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~C

Not sure where you're getting your rat stock from, but if my females only produced 9 litters over their reproductive life, I would cull the whole lot of 'em and re-stock with a different supplier. My females live in colonies of 1.5 and I can count on 50-70 babies per month per colony, and they can easily produce litters of 10 well into 18 months. Time to reconsider your line of rats.....
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www.strictlyballs.ca

You must have some super rats. From what I read (simply because I don't do harem breeding) the female rats die at 12 months of age from exhaustion.

I suppose you have found the ticket to monster producers
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~C

Four words: Swiss Webster & Sprague Dawley.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

I'm well aware of the lines... Impressed that you managed to get your hand on some.
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~C

Their genetics are worth the price and shipping up here to Canada.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

I had "pet "rats before I had carnivorus reptiles. My breeders are pets, their young are food.

So I try to do the best for everyone healthwise, including healthiest babies so my monitors get healthier food.

Indiangirl, Im glad to see you cycle your breeders and name them,and thanks for your comments.

Mykee, if you'd read the first post you would KNOW we were tlking about pets that are bred and not just feeder mills, but even my strictly feeder mice, not named are cycled to have extremely healthy young. Proof it works is all my fuzzies, whether rats or mice are close to double the size of pet store, or frozen bought fuzzies.
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1.0.0 YBS
1.3.0 RES
1.0.0 red belly cooter
1.0.0 Fire belly toad
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor
0.0.1 Blackthroat monitor
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
cats, dog, ferret, rabbit, rats, mice and hamsters

I conpletely agree that breeding and feeding your own rats is not only much healthier for our snakes, but much healthier for our rats. I have close to 100 breeder rats (non of which are pets, tried that for years, too much heartbreak) I've decided to utilize the rats for their purpose, providing food to my reptiles while still treating them with respect.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

treating them with respect I love to hear that.
I understand the heartbreak, when the time comes that Ill need to feed larger rats, I will likely have to handle the same way.

I have 3 children as well, so for me there will always be a small number that are loved pets-others will not be seen by kids and hardly by me.
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1.0.0 YBS
1.3.0 RES
1.0.0 red belly cooter
1.0.0 Fire belly toad
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor
0.0.1 Blackthroat monitor
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
cats, dog, ferret, rabbit, rats, mice and hamsters

Just because you're feeding these creatures to other creatures doesn't mean they can't live comfortably with a littel bit of dignity. I see far too many breeder and feeder rats treated like garbage left to sit in their own urine and feces for weeks between cleanings. Sickens me.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

i agree. i raise mine to sell for snake food but i still bust my guts to keep the cages clean and the rats feed and watered like they were family. my son names some of them, and has been tuaght to treat them with respect like the family dog, but understands what they are for