Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Looking for plans and information on setting up a rat breeding colony.I have 3 redtail boas and it is dificult finding rats.

Well, you came to the right place. Look down through the posts, you'll find folks here breed rats alot of different ways.

DeMak

There are many ways you could go about breeding rats,I could explain it in depth but it would be like posting a novel here,if you're wanting to start breeding on a medium to small scale for your own collection of Boas then I would recommend purchasing a couple 10 to 20 gallon tanks with secure screen lids,setting them up with water bottles,food dish and a bedding of either pine shavings,paper mulch,shredded newspaper or aspen,anything but cedar shavings cause of the toxic oils.
Be sure to purchase healthy rats to base your breeding colony,I breed them polygamously with several females to one male,retiring or rotating the males to keep bloodlines diverse.
I feed my rats on a diet of four-way horse grain,black oil sunflower seed and dye-free high protein dog food supplemented with "lab chow",the hard blocks used by commercial and laboratory rodent breeders.
The mating is generally up to the rats,they need no encouragement,pregnant females will refuse matings and enlargement or "showing" will be obvious about the second week with gestation lasting 21-23 days,litters generally yield anywhere from under or above eight babies to about twelve being considered a large (though not uncommon) litter though quantity generally depends on the age and health of the mother.
Babies are born pink and hairless,sometimes female rats that have been raised together will share nursing and nurturing duites and pile them all together but sometimes they will participate in baby snatching from eachother's litters,it really depends on how comfortable the female rats are with eachother,this behavior generally dissapears in about your second generation of rats as they are all raised together,if that makes any sense.
The babies will generally open thier eyes and start eating soid food about 12 days of age,though they will still nurse,they can be fully weaned at about twnety one days of age.
I generally separate all the males off in seperate cages to be raised to the size desired for feeders,any outstanding specimens set aside for breeding,same with females,pick the ones you like the best that are healthy and robust then raise the rest as feeders.
Well,I hope this helps,just some basic info to get you started,if I may place emphasis on diet,I find my mix works very well,you can buy in bulk at feed stores,mix it in bins and not pay so much and have a better quality diet than that commercially prepared for small animals.
Most feed stores will show you samples of thier horse feeds,look for a good,strong molasses coating and reject those with alfalfa pellets,the rats generally don't eat it and it just becomes waste to be dumped from the food bowls.
Good luck to you!

StormyHall