Reptile & Amphibian Forums

just wondering how to setup for breeding your own rats and do you have pics of the setup what is the intitial cost for start up thanks

Well...um...it depends on how many you need. Probably a simple rubbermade bucket from walmart and a 1.3 just left together will do for some time. If you need more just duplicate what you've already done. If you need large production you will need a rack and should think about a large breeding bucket that the females are rotated in and out of. I think the freedom breeder racks are going for 1900.

How many exacally do you need and what size?

Jeremy
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Wear Sunscreen

Im curious about this breeding bucket you speak of. If i had multiple nursing females from multiple colonies, could i put them all in a large enough container without problems? I could see if they were familiar with one another but would think adding unfamilar females would be stressful.
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James Grigsby - " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

I've built several racks that are made out of 2x4s, 1x2s, some hardware cloth, screws and mortar tubs from Home Depot. Very very easy to build and assemble. And fairly inexpensive too, especially if you can find left over scraps of wood. And you can build different designs of racks to allow for a different number of tubs depending on how many rats you have. I have a total of 3 small racks and one large rack. I have well over 200+ rats and any one time usually. They thrive in this type of setup.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions!

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Michael Rehker
"Which of us has not been stunned by the beauty of an animal's skin or its flexibility in motion?"
--Marianne Moore

I'm going to build a similar rack using the same tubs. How do the small rats and/or mice get to the food when it's on the screen? My tubs are 6" deep.
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Jay A. Martin

Well I'm not exactly sure. I keep the babies in with the moms until they are 21 days old than I usually separate them. I have another larger rack that contains some cat litter tubs that I sometimes put the weanlings in if they are small. But most of the rats seem big enough once they are weaned to stand on their hind legs and reach the food just fine. I've seen some of the really small ones climb upside down on the wire and eat that way. Some how or another they get the food they need.

Make sure to get the mortar tubs at Home Depot and not Lowes. Lowes carries the cheap thin plastic tubs but Home Depot carries the heavy duty, thick tubs...and they even have a newer set of tubs that are bigger than the current ones I use. This rack setup works so perfectly and efficiently. Good luck with yours.

Hope that helps!
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Michael Rehker
"Which of us has not been stunned by the beauty of an animal's skin or its flexibility in motion?"
--Marianne Moore

I picked up the ones from HD today. I use Mazzuri (sp) rodent feed. THe chunks are not small - about the size of a dog treat. In other words, they could not pull it through the screen. Is this ok? How wide are the holes in your mesh? Is it wire mesh like chicken wire or something else?
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Jay A. Martin

The hardware cloth/wire mesh is 1/2" size, which is perfect for rats. 1/4" size is used for mice. And the Mazuri food is what I use also and it works perfectly in the racks. I use the 5M30 from Mazuri and have also used the LabDiet 5001. You don't want the food to easily fall through the wire. The lab blocks sit on top of the wire and then the rats eat "through" the mesh. They bite off chunks they want...since they are able to get their noses and mouths through the openings...and then the food falls through and drops down into their mouth/throat. They have no problem eating this way and it eliminates waste as they will only chew off what they want to eat.

So as long as you use the 1/2" mesh with the rats they will do just fine eating the Mazuri lab blocks.

Hope that helps...let me know if you have any more questions!
Good luck!
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MichaelRehker
"Which of us has not been stunned by the beauty of an animal's skin or its flexibility in motion?"
--Marianne Moore

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for all the answers! How many rats do you put in per tub? I have the small tub (27 X 10). I was thinking 1 male to 3 females.
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Jay A. Martin

Don't worry about the questions!! I enjoy talking and answering...plus we all learn something from it all.

That's usually the ratio I use 1:3 but sometimes I use 1:4 and rarely 1:5. It depends on the rats themselves. Sometimes after my breeder/stud males have been with the females for at least a week I'll rotate him and sometimes separate the females depending on how many are in a tub. I have some females that produce huge litters and some that don't so it depends on that also. And of course the more rats in a tub the more often you must clean it. But I try to sell my overstock of rats to a local pet store and some private snake owners...then I'll freeze and overages after that.

And of course as soon as the rats are 4 weeks old, I separate the males and females. I always sell or feed off the males first. I keep a good supply of females available and only have 4 stud males that I use to breed. That way I keep inbreeding to a minimum if at all.

Hope that helps. Fire away with any other questions!!
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MichaelRehker
"Which of us has not been stunned by the beauty of an animal's skin or its flexibility in motion?"
--Marianne Moore

Thanks for all your help! My rats are happier already.
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Jay A. Martin

You're welcome. Glad I could be of help! Good luck with the rats!
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MichaelRehker
"Which of us has not been stunned by the beauty of an animal's skin or its flexibility in motion?"
--Marianne Moore