Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. To start, like some others I'll be breeding for feeders, but that doesn't mean that I'll not treat my rats quite well. Anyways, I LIKE my new babies!

My husband and I are good friends with one of the owners of a local Pet Land, and he was breeding dumbos and selling at $12 each through the store. We got 6 for $2 each, and we're going to be breeding for them (so they don't have to mess with them anymore - the mom is MEAN since she's not been socialized). They are 5-days weaned, and REALLY fun!

They are a couple days early of the males "dropping" so as to tell if they are males, but Blaze already dropped and the others show no signs (got them Saturday). SO I think the other 5 are girls...

I presently have them in a 18"x18"x24" tall glass cage (front swinging doors) with a water dish, food bowl, treats, two hampster wheels and home-made cotton stuffed animal toy to sleep with/on or tear apart if they desire. This Friday they will be moved into larger quarters - for now, they fit nicely and are hopping around and playing constantly. They also each get 20-30 minutes out to play each day with us for socialization.

My present problem is these babies are all starting to nip. Put your hand in, they ALL come over to investigate, nip finger tips, and climb up! I like everything except the nipping. What should I di about it?

Here are my other questions: What is a good set up for my situation? I want to make sure they have enough room to be happy, not just enough to keep them breeding. Eventually just for my snakes, I'll need 12 females breeding on a 5-week cycle (or 15 on a 6 week cycle), and plan on keeping Blaze busy with them rotating. Should I keep 2-3 girls per cage and just rotate Blaze around to the girls as needed for breeding? Also, should I make sure he's not in a cage with babies ever?

I want all my non-food rats to be well socialized so as not to be nippy when I play with their babies, as well as for outreach to the public occasionally so as they are not scared of such interesting creatures.

Any suggestions about what I should do for them? Thanks for any advice!

ps - Blaze and three girls are black-masked with some white on their heads, with white body and black splotches. Two girls are black except for their bellies and a little on their sides. The black-backed are unnamed so far, but the other three girls are Crook (crooked blaze on her face), Beauty, and Splotches (looks much like Beauty, but her back is more sploched with black). Pics as soon as I find my camera - just finished moving this week too!

My daughter (2yrs old) named one of the black girls "Blackie" (original, isn't it?), and as it turns out she's the WORST NIBBLER OF THE BUNCH!!!!!!!!!! She nibbled my ears, my neck, my finger tips, the webbing between the fingers and the centers of two finger pads (the center of the print is extremely raised on my fingers)!

This is driving me bonkers! I had a hampster when I was 5 who bit the daylights out of me every chance he got, and so I jump each time I get teeth on me! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have plenty of food, and chew sticks to enjoy and that toy to chew...

ON the other hand, I can hardly wait for them to get old enough to start breeding. I'm going to get a few medium albino females for Blaze to *cough* enjoy company with while my girls get to the right size to breed properly (2.5 months I think). I just love the babies. We're presently breeding a few white mice for our small king and corn snakes, and I LOVE hearing those babies squeeking all the time! I just hate the females nipping me for playig with the tinies... lol!

I'm still looking around for a few other colored rats for my breeding for pets at PetLand. I want a light or medium brown, and normal pure white, and maybe a true grey or such... I just enjoy seeing what I can produce.

Any suggestions for a good place to get a Russian Blue or two that are not inbred? I am trying to get a variety of rats in the breeding so as not to line-breed yet still get a good variety of colors going. I love critters...

I have been breeding for 18 years now. Here is what I use.
3 females and 1 male per cage. Male is never removed.
I feed Mazuri rodent ad lib. 6F I think is the product number
20 gallon long tanks with toppers
http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/toppers/
aspen bedding and clean as needed
I put card board boxes and PVC pipes in the cages for enrichment and nests.
As far as the nipping. They are just checking you out.

Thanks!

With the babies, though, how many can you keep in the 20gals with the 4 adult rats and for how long? I'm just thinking that since it takes 4-5 weeks for each girl to breed/birth and breed again, that's 30 babies a month taking the full 4 weeks to wean. Do you have nurse mothers for that? If so, how many pinks do you put with each nurse mother?

I want to be as nice as possible with my breeders, so I think I'll be cycle breeding generally so I don't have a surplus, but... I'll also have a couple girls as just pets I think too... We'll see what happens.

Thanks for your help again!

~Krystie

Rats usually don't all get on the same cycle so you aren't going to have 30 babies all at the same age. Rats go into estrus and get pregnant within 24 hours of giving birth. I wean and gas at 4 weeks of age. You can wean at 21 days. Yes, a 20 long works fine for 1 male and 3 females with babies, nursing their own.

Rats, especially young rats, nibble to investigate their surroundings or bond with newbies. This is normal rat behavior and you shouldn't discourage it unless they nip too hard. If that is the case, make a loud, high-pitched squeak, like another rat would do if it was hurt. This will usually help them back off. Also, be careful not to flinch if they nip. Flinching sometimes encourages them to nip harder. They need to get used to hands so offer them your hands as often as possible. If you get a wire cage, don't feed them through the wire - open one of the doors, lay your palm flat, and offer a treat that way. Passing food through the cage is another way to make them want to go after finger tips.

As for the breeding later on, you're going to want one male to a group of females. You can't have more than one male with in-season females - the males fight and possibly even hurt each other.

Oh, and I forgot to add. Aspen, or a paper-based bedding such as Care-Fresh or Yesterday's News, is best for rats. You want to avoid pine or cedar at all costs - they are very dusty and contain a lot of oils which will upset a rat's very delicate upper respiratory system, which can be fatal if left untreated.