Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I've recently just started breeding my own feeders as it's gotten way toooo expensive to buy. I have 6 colonies of mice with a ratio of 5:1 and have been getting roughly 120 mice a month, is that average, below, or above. I'm also setting up 8 colonies of rats with a ratio of 4:1. I've just finished getting my rats together and all are young. what i'm wondering is how many rats should i expect to get per month. They are fed a very high quality dog food and an 18% rat chow. They are also kept at roughly 75 degrees. I've been told anywhere from 50(which seems low) and as high as 150(which seems high) any input will be greatly appreciated.
Josh Hutto ( JK reptiles )

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2.0 het pied (RDR, alan bosch)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel)
1.0 het citrus hypo(gulf coast line)
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
6 white eggs from pastel to norm breeding
4 various corns
1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

is that 5 males to one female?? Or did you mean 1:5 mice colonies?

A single female mouse can produce litters anywhere between 6-12 babies, average being around 8-10 each. It takes about 18-20 days gestation between litters. So each bin can produce roughly 40 babies per month.

Rats can have larger litters, 8-14 on average. Their gestation is about 19-21 days. One benefit with rats, is they can get the equivelent mouse size much faster (ie an adult mouse is the same size as a hopper rat).

Both do best in normal room temperature (70-75F)

i meant 1:5 for the mice and 1:4 for the rats. So what you are saying is that I can expect about the same number of rats as I'm getting mice, is that correct? I'm shooting for around 100 rat's per month and figured the 8 bins should be enough. Let me know if i'm correct. thanks Josh Hutto
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2.0 het pied (RDR, alan bosch)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel)
1.0 het citrus hypo(gulf coast line)
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
6 white eggs from pastel to norm breeding
4 various corns
1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

I just started breeding my own mice and rats this year also, here is my findings.

My rats have been having litters of 12-13 each month(except there first litters which were smaller)

My mice have been having averages of about 12 per month.
When i didn't cool the room the mice quit breeding....now it stays about 77 degrees after cooling and are back to breeding.
Jim