Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wondering if anyone else out there uses a digital scale to determine when rats are weaned or ready to breed. I can't keep a close enough eye on mine and remember when its been about 4 weeks so I just weight them. If they are 75 grams then I take them away from the parents. Also I try and wait until my females are above 200g before putting them with males. Anyone else do anything like this? If so what weights do you use?

I've thought of doing that but the scales seemed too expensive. I just put a note on the cage with the birth date. How much did you pay for your scale and what kind is it?

Having growth weights and dates would be more valuable than either alone, I think.

DeMak

I got a digital scale at walmart for $10-$15, can't remember exactly. The brand is Good Cook. It has a tare function, an auto shut-off, weighs in ounces (1/8 oz increments) and grams (2 gr increments). My only complaint is that it uses a 9 volt instead of ac, but for the price...

I bought this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11781&item=2938723180

From that guy, good scale. I bought it about a year ago and now I need to replace the battery. I use it to weigh my snakes and my rats. I've also weighed my cat, but no point in that really.

Good news! My BP with the infection that recently ate for the first time in 10 months currently weighs 1249 grams! Unfortunatly before this whole episode he weighed about 1800g...but he'll grow big again.

5.5 lbs / 2400 grams. It works great for rodents.

I like the one you got. I'm sure the extra weight capacity would come in handy. Still don't like the batteries but again, for that price...

I originally got it to keep a close eye on my ball python weights before breeding. Just happened to work great with rats too. The batteries lasted almost a year with nearly everyday use. It is now saying Lo everytime I turn it on so I ordered 5 more batteries on ebay. Total cost after shipping 4.00.

Digital scales are definetly VERY useful with the herping hobby.

We saw that one at WalMart for 20, but then went over to Office Max and picked up a digital scale that does 1 gram increments for 30 bucks. I think it goes up to 5 pounds.

I wean my feeders at 3 weeks, IF they're at least 60 grams.
I put the keepers into breeding groups at day 42, IF they're at least 175 grams.

Any that don't make both of those weights become food. I've tried older and heavier for both cases but haven't seen any measurable difference yet.

I have a big pile of these charts. I'll scan them when I get a chance.

Good layout. I've just been jotting notes on paper and leaving it on the tops off the tubs. I think I'll do something like yours, but maybe by the week so that I'll be able to read my own writing.

What is the # in parantheses (sp?) in the notes column?

DeMak

F2/11 pups/136g (12) - F1/10 pups/108g (10)

Female 2 has 11 pups left at 136 grams total (avg 12 grams each)
Female 1 has 10 pups left at 108 grams total (avg 10 grams each)

I weigh the litters rather than individual pups. Then when it's time to choose keepers, I'll weigh them individually and keep the larger pups. This saves a lot of time and still gives me the info I need. The number in parenthesis is just the average individual weight, rounded down if needed. Most of my feeder line females throw an average of 17 pups now and that's too much math to do in my head without making it hurt. Real quick... 17 pups at 983 grams... (?) lol

excellent idea ,do you have records for mice too
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pipatic.tripod.com/reptileworld

Sorry, I only keep records for rats and gerbils.

no probs,i can nick your idea to suite mine ,lol
no just wanting to see diff ways to do it,as i quite knew this breeding rodents ,have about 70 plus pinkies fuzzies and some going to weaners,
anyone else keep records ,etc
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pipatic.tripod.com/reptileworld

Better still, anyone know of any shareware or freeware for keeping track of rodent breeding?