Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a fairly large tub that I have 1.7 adult rats in. Does any one have any experience with a large group like this? The tub is about 1.5 feet x 3 feet. Just wondering about pros and cons of keeping a larger group like this. I think freedom breeders has the large tubs something like I'm using and I've seen some people who have these filled with largre groups - though I'm not sure if these are only intended for raise-up bins.
They started having some litters. I'm wondering if it is more productive to go with smaller groups.
Thanks for any info,
Mike

I have a set up with cement tubs that are about that size. I've found that a 1.3 to 1.5 ratio works best. I've tried putting 1.7 in and they go through all the food in the baskets quickly, running out before the day is over, and it gets stinky too fast.

Plus, with that many females, you end up with different sized litters where the little ones get pushed out of the way by the big ones and die. So, more isn't better in this case.

Hope that helps.

np

Mike We used to raise ours in large groups and when we went to 1:4 we got a lot more productivity. Smaller is better IMHO
Chuck
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Thanks,
Chuck
Animal House

np