# Best Way to Breed Rats?



## baz (Feb 7, 2007)

Hi all, I currently keep my rats in groups of 1.4 in large tubs. I seperate the females when they are showing signs of being pregnant and place them in seperate tubs where they raise he young on there own until they are 4/5 weeks. I then place the females back into the groups.
If I leave the females in the groups to rear there young, I lose the majority if not all of the young, for what ever the reason.
I need to increase the rat colony production so I am planning of makeing some new cages and reducing the groups to 1.2 in a hope to produce more. I have the following questions that you may be able to advise on.
1 Will the females succesfully raise there pups in a 1.2 group or should I still remove her to maximize the success?
2 If I leave the female in the group to rear her young, will she become pregnant again whilst rearing the young? Therefore giving birth to another clutch just as the first ones wean off

Your advice please

Baz


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## oakelm (Jan 14, 2009)

Personally I have 0.2 in a tub and move the male round once both females are definately pregs. Then intro the male back once all have been weaned, get good production this way and one good male covers about 4-5 tubs. I always have a couple of young males growing on just in case.

With a high protein food you can keep them in permanent 1.2 groups and the females will back to back breed. It runs the females down very quickly so you have to replace them often. I find the more stable you keep the females the less issues you get, I used to do the bigger groups and pull the pregs but it never really worked well for me


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## baz (Feb 7, 2007)

oakelm said:


> Personally I have 0.2 in a tub and move the male round once both females are definately pregs. Then intro the male back once all have been weaned, get good production this way and one good male covers about 4-5 tubs. I always have a couple of young males growing on just in case.
> 
> With a high protein food you can keep them in permanent 1.2 groups and the females will back to back breed. It runs the females down very quickly so you have to replace them often. I find the more stable you keep the females the less issues you get, I used to do the bigger groups and pull the pregs but it never really worked well for me


Thanks Emma
I am thinking of sticking to 1.2 and see if the pups rear successfully, I was aware that i would possiblby have to rotate the breeders regular. Another question if you left a male in and both females were then pregnant. If the male was then removed, could he be safely returned to the same females when there pups were 2 weeks old to get the females pregnant again or would the male be likely to kill the pups?

Baz


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## Jacky s (Jan 29, 2011)

hi, if you return the buck when the kits are 2 weeks old there is a good chance he will kill them all, if you leave him in there then the doe will have a litter almost every 3 weeks and has been said already, the does won't last long and the kits produced will be smaller and weaker and i am assuming not fit for food (i dont breed for food but i am assuming you breed your own as you want your snakes to have a good diet). The average non feeder rat breeder only has 2 litters from their does during the does lifetime, which is why we end up with large numbers of older rats, but i doubt this is feasable for you when feeder breeding, im not knocking it just trying to learn about how it all works. For instance, at what age do you stop using a doe? Does this doe then stay as a pet or does she become food for bigger snakes? If she is also going to become food i assume you would want her in the best condition too..........................sorry that was a bit of a ramble


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## baitman (Jan 13, 2011)

i have 1.2 ratio and just leave together, the female give birth and then both females help rear......


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