# breeding rats



## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

i am goin to start breeding rats but i think i have a proble it tubs i got have wheels will the rats chew at them ? also how long does a co2 canister from halfords last on average ?


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## jenny09 (Feb 7, 2009)

*rats*

hi, we use rubs as the sides are smooth, so there isnt anything they can get there teeth around to chew, the bottles can last a while it all depends on how small the chamber is and how many rats you gas at 1 time. 

thanx


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## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

if there is any way the rats can get there teeth onto ridge or hole, they WILL eat it away in no time. mine have even tunneled out of their proper rat cages bottom.


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## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

*2*

what size should i get ?


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## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

*g*

what will i use as bedding


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## moodyblue1969 (Jul 6, 2009)

i use wood shavings and give them newspapers to shred


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## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

*wat*

what do u feed yours


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## moodyblue1969 (Jul 6, 2009)

dog kibble,table scraps,carrots,fruit plus they get a small biscuit hand every night


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

phil7870 said:


> what do u feed yours


I feed mine a home made mix using a good quality rabbit food as a base then adding pasta, rice, dog kibble, ferret kibble, noodles and anything else I have in my 'dry' cupboard at the time.
They also get chicken wings, tofu, veg, fruit, the odd bit of lasagne( but dont' tell the rat police) and alsorts of treats.
They get table scraps as and when the grandkids leave anything, not much to be honest, they do adore pizza though.


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## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

*that*

that would work out expensive doin it that way or would it ?


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## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

it really depends on how many rats you need to have every week for food. i have about 24 snakes that need different sized rats every week. i have a colony of 14 females and 2 males and i still need to buy some frozen rats in every week. if you want to provide GOOD quality food for your rats then yes, it costs on the outlay AND in the maintenance.....but you rap the rewards via the food that you breed yourself. but when you start to overbreed your females , quality will be compromised. if you have less than ten snakes.....buy frozen food in bulk and save money that way. but i actually enjoy breeding rats as food. i even keep a few back and sell them on as pets as they are all well socialised and cute as hell!


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## Majestic Morphs (Apr 8, 2008)

Breeding rodents can be more work than keeping your snakes...


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

phil7870 said:


> that would work out expensive doin it that way or would it ?


 
Yes it does, a bit more than feeding pellets or pig feed, but I want to know what goes into my snake food, some are also pets and shown as well, I beleive that even feeders should be treated with respect and given the best before ther poor things are humanely culled.


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## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

*i*

could you feed something for example like pig feed and mix other stuf into it to make it better ? if so what would i mix to make it better ?


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## jack_rep (Sep 11, 2008)

im currently just feeding some high quality guinie pig mix. works out cheap but having a bit of trouble getting the new females up to weight as fast as I would expect.

trying to add suplementation to encourage growth.

Cheap feeds are a false economy as they reduce the productivity in the long term.


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## rachel132002 (Dec 4, 2006)

I keep my rats in racks like this









They eat Dr. Johns Silver Medal dog biscuits which is around £8.60 for a 25kg sack i think and they are on Hunters wood shavings which is about £8-9 a sack but lasts forever.

They are culled with one of these bad boys









I had the basic zapper but it didn't do good for big rats and then i broke it like a tit so i upgraded.

Runs on 4 x D batteries and you get roughly 40 zaps.

Rat goes in, gets a shock and is kaput but the device continues for a further 2mins to make doubley sure but i'm sure they're dead as soon as they touch the plate.


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## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

*w*

where did you get that


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## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

which rat zapper is better ?


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## rachel132002 (Dec 4, 2006)

Got it from Ebay and this is the better one, the little blue one is good but doesn't guarantee big sizes whereas i put some 350g ex breeders in last night and boom dead before they knew what happened.


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## Savanna (Nov 27, 2007)

Handy set up Rachel 

I went a guys the other day and he had exactly the same set up. As soon as I saw it I asked where he kept his royals which made him smile and relax. It's a racking thing lol


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## Savanna (Nov 27, 2007)

My honest opinion on this is that if you have no real interesting rats other than food for snakes it's not really worth breeding them as it isn't economical vs frzen bulk buy.

I have about 20 rats now. I breed for pets breeders and food. I wouldn't be without a couple around now cos they are fantastic social animals. What I mean is I get a lot back from them other than just food. So it knd of balances out. 

The advantages are that you can keep stock to the exac size you want for an entire collection of snakes babies through to adult. You know what has gone into them. They can also becme great pets. You will always fing a favourite in a group of rats u just can't help that. 

But expensive they can be vs other food sources so I guess it's down to personal choice and your liking for rats as living breathing animals.


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## covkev (Dec 29, 2008)

ok so with it being worth while......
if you do it right it works out alot cheaper than buying frozen.
i have my rodents in lab cages/tanks and racks that i made myself all stored in the garden shed.
bedding wise i use mainly shredded paper and wood shavings and food wise everything from rabbit mix to table scraps along with cereals and other dry foods.
atleast this way you know what your snakes food has been fed on.
the only down side of it all is its time consuming.


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## phil7870 (Nov 11, 2009)

*rw*



Savanna said:


> My honest opinion on this is that if you have no real interesting rats other than food for snakes it's not really worth breeding them as it isn't economical vs frzen bulk buy.
> 
> I have about 20 rats now. I breed for pets breeders and food. I wouldn't be without a couple around now cos they are fantastic social animals. What I mean is I get a lot back from them other than just food. So it knd of balances out.
> 
> ...


yeah your right i dont because if i got attached to them i couldnt kill them so im try not to get in anyway attached to them because no that i wouldnt be able to do it .i dont see anything wrong with that because even tho im not attched to them i still want to give them a good life and a humane ending .on about table scraps i noticed over the last week the amount that is left over in my house if the any thing that you cant feed them


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## redreps (Jul 10, 2007)

rachel132002 said:


> I keep my rats in racks like this
> image
> 
> They eat Dr. Johns Silver Medal dog biscuits which is around £8.60 for a 25kg sack i think and they are on Hunters wood shavings which is about £8-9 a sack but lasts forever.
> ...






thats a similar set up to mine. what i would like to know is where you can get the drinking systems from. i have water bottles in each cage and filling them up takes up a fair bit of time. if i can get hold of the drinkers systems that would make them alot easier.


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## rachel132002 (Dec 4, 2006)

Rats are great fun, i love em especially the babies but it's always in the back of my mind they are food so i'm never attached.

Some people don't like how i keep my rats, in racking but they aren't pets that's the key thing to remember - they have a purpose, the people that moan invariably don't however care about how their chicken that made their KFC was housed though.

However all my rats are clean, have access to food and water 24/7 and if they get ill with something that's not just going to right itself then they're culled because they don't need to suffer for any reason.

It is a lot of work at times, water bottles are my biggest annoyance in life i HATE that job but it needs doing and gets done and it's worth it when you have a shed full of clean boxes and happy rats rolling around in the shavings.

I'm sure if they were suffering they wouldn't breed as well or look in as good as condition as they do but many will disagree.


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## rachel132002 (Dec 4, 2006)

redreps said:


> thats a similar set up to mine. what i would like to know is where you can get the drinking systems from. i have water bottles in each cage and filling them up takes up a fair bit of time. if i can get hold of the drinkers systems that would make them alot easier.


I'll find out for you, a few people i know have them.

What i will say though is it is expensive and run it off a tank not the main water supply, a friend of mine was on the mains and something went wrong somehow and yeaahhhh 1 rack with 50+ rats was a rack of water with a 50+ drowned dead rats wheras if you do your calculations you can have a tank so that even if you spring a leak the boxes will never fill with water, some will get in but the rats will be able to get above it to breathe.


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## rachel132002 (Dec 4, 2006)

Water Systems
John Hopewell (Marketing) Rotherham South Yorkshire, Chinchilla Cages - Degu Cage - Degus Exercise Wheels - Cages - Animal Cages - Rat Cage - Ezi-Filla - Ezi - Easy - Automatic Water Drinking Systems - Guinea Pig Runs - Rabbit Feed Hoppers - Birds -


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## redreps (Jul 10, 2007)

that website is just what i'm after cheers rachel your a star!


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## phil45 (Oct 9, 2007)

this guy is cheaper Nipple Drinking System i set it up with a one gallon water bottle saves loads of time


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## Danny Action1 (Apr 30, 2009)

I use the John Hopewell drippers for my rats you have to be carefull that they dont get flooded my Rats wedge the dripper some how and flood there cage so now i dont fill the main drum up as much and have to check the water all the time 
But still better than filling all the water bottles up (20 bottles takes ages)


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