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How long does it take a rat to reach Jumbo size? I am trying to figure out how many rats I will need to produce enough jumbo rats to feed my boa collection. When full grown I can go through 50 or 60 a month.

Thanks,
Dan

Dan,

I usually figure each female will produce 10 pups a month. So figure 2 groups of 1.3. This will probably over produce, but you can freeze the rest for times when things go haywire. I actually average a little over that /month/female. The only difference about Jumbos is that you have to feed them out longer. I forget who said it, but someone thought that the grow out time between XL and Jumbo was unproductively long. Perhaps you might consider feeding XLs slightly more often. I don't know how long it takes. Mine never get that old. I feed corns and savu pythons.

DeMak

P.S. I always thought that Big Daddy was big but when I weighed him on a postal scale and converted, he only came to 700 grams...

Jumbo is usually a term applied to a fully grown and mature rat. Rats actually begin breeding before they reach this size, my estimate would be a year to get to "jumbo". You'd be better off feeding 2 younger adults than waiting for one rat to reach this size, if you are breeding your own rats.
I think most places selling jumbo rats are offering retired breeders, and those animals have been breeding for about a year.

>>Jumbo is usually a term applied to a fully grown and mature rat. Rats actually begin breeding before they reach this size, my estimate would be a year to get to "jumbo". You'd be better off feeding 2 younger adults than waiting for one rat to reach this size, if you are breeding your own rats.
>>I think most places selling jumbo rats are offering retired breeders, and those animals have been breeding for about a year.

I think if I had snakes that seriously needed jumbo rats I would switch them to rabbits instead. To get rats to medium is a couple of months. Another couple to good larges or so. Jumbos are usually old retired breeder males and a good 10 months. A rabbit would take 8 or 9 weeks.
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Sonya

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Sonya

I dont know if this will help .. but some butchers have baby pigglets that were premature or what not ?

*G* i saw a Boa once at a pet store and they were feeding it baby pigs .. of course the Boa was HUGE !!!!

maybe it was a python or something .. i really dont know my snakes