Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello.. new to breeding rats and wondering if I should be concerned with temps in Northern California. In the winter it can get 45 degrees or so and at its hottest it might get 100 degrees in summer. How cold/hot is to much? Dan

>>Hello.. new to breeding rats and wondering if I should be concerned with temps in Northern California. In the winter it can get 45 degrees or so and at its hottest it might get 100 degrees in summer. How cold/hot is to much? Dan

35°F-90°F

At the extreams extra care is required. Rats consume twice the rate of water above 70°F and extra beeding is required below 50°F.

The above range is what my colony has seen in the last 8 Months.

I have yet to seen poor production from either extream.
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile
Specializing in Boa Morph's

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
0.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost
0.1 Possible Super Hypo
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Suriname/Columbian cross
0.1 Anerthrystic

thanks very much for your input, Dan

Yeah....35-90 degress is okay
I don't like to feel 35 degrees when I walk into the building.....but they will huddle.....they will keep their babies warm.....they will breed and survive.

Here is the problem with warm temps.
Depending on the size of the cage and the number of animals in the cage.........temps inside the cage can be 10 degrees or warmer than the air temp in the building.

If your rats get too warm, they will stretch out on their backs or rest their bodies against the cool sidewall of the cage in a standing position.
Too warm and it will kill the male's sperm.

Basically, they can tolerate cooler temps. Warm temps will have more of an affect on them.

My preference.........Room temps 40-85 degrees.

Very important......you can give some warm-temp relief to the cages by adding a fan. Blowing air across the top of the cages can have a big affect on reducing temp in the cages during the summer.

60-76-ish will yield you the greatest breeding results and the fewest problems. They will simply overheat and die at 100 and practically freeze to death at 45.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

My Snake room is alway kept at 75 degrees, is there any problem keeping the rat racks in with the snakes instead of in the garage?

If that means bringing the rodents into your house, you will regret that after about 10 minutes. No matter how much ventilation or bedding changes, the odor will creep throughout the house.
As for the snakes, if they can smell the rodents, they may always think it's feeding time and you increase your chances of getting tagged if you reach into the cage for cleaning, etc.

Several years ago, I also asked about keeping rodents in the same room with the snakes.
The response I got was "Would you want to live in a pizza shop?". Yummy!

I have kept my snakes and rodents in the same room for over 5 years and the odour has not "crept" into the rest of the building. The key is to clean your animals often (that means cleaning well before stepping in to the room causes your eyes to water from the ammonia). Clean and ventilated is the key.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

Dan, I have a 2 ton high seer AC unit to keep everyone at 70 in the summer and it gets in the 50s at night in the coldest part of the year in Fresno/