Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. I've started a rat colony to feed my colubrids (corns, milks, gophers, bulls) and have approx 45 snakes. I feed out the newly weaned rats. The rack I'm using contains 18 tubs (see pic). My question is how many adult rats should I maintain? I've tried 12 females and 6 males but production seemed lower than expected. This may have been due to me swapping males around and not really knowing exactly when the best time to do this. Not sure. My current thought is to house 12-15 females and 10-12 males. I know there are many of you who keep similar setups and I'm wondering what tips you may have for the best production for this type of setup. Thanks, in advance.

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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

Did you start with adult rats? Maybe too old and that is why production is low?
If it were mine I would stock one or two females per tub and a male for a week or two. Move the male when they are gonna pop and don't move a male into a tub till the babies are weaned at 4 weeks.
Personally I DO NOT run a rack system so I can't judge tub size. I run rats in 18X18X24 (lXhXw) inch cages with a wheel and 1.4 usually. Every month or two I move males around or move in a new young stud. I probably maintain too many males sometimes as you can get away with very few but I let them grow and breed and then use them as large feeders for my boas. Most of my snakes are as yours....small rat eaters.
When I set up a new cage I put in prime medium rats, not larges who may be past prime.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Thanks for the advice Sonya.

I did start with older males but they were only 4-5 mo old. This "go round" I'm starting with youngsters and growing them up. Right now, I'm keeping the boys and girls seperate. What age/size is best to introduce them?

Since the tubs in the rack are kitty litter pans, I try to keep one female in the tub with her babies. I'll have to swap out the males. Do I move the babies at 4 weeks then introduce the male?
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

>>Thanks for the advice Sonya.
>>
>>I did start with older males but they were only 4-5 mo old. This "go round" I'm starting with youngsters and growing them up. Right now, I'm keeping the boys and girls seperate. What age/size is best to introduce them?
>>
>>Since the tubs in the rack are kitty litter pans, I try to keep one female in the tub with her babies. I'll have to swap out the males. Do I move the babies at 4 weeks then introduce the male?
>>-----
>>Ken Roshak
>>BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

I usually retire my boys at 6 to 8 months. I set up a group of girls I want to use and keep them to 12 weeks or a nice medium size. Then I put in a male that is older by a month or so...that way he is more likely to be assertive with them.

If I was setting up your rack with one per tub I would put in a boy for a week or 10 days then move him on. I would wean out pups and then put him back in just because of the room alotted. Better timing might be to put him back in at three weeks but that depends on what you want or need for litters. My only worry when moving a boy to a new cage/tub is that the moms get rough to the point of mean or murderous if you put in a stranger when they have pups under two weeks or so.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

I surely appreciate the helpful advice.

Take care,
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Ken Roshak
BlackSwampSerpents@toast.net

Id love to see more pics of your rat rack looks different from others I have seen...