# Breeding Rodents (Rats)



## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

Ok, i have 2.6 Rats and 2.0 have a cage and 0.6 have a cage. The females dont give me babies frequently enough so i have "spare". I need alot more rats than i am getting, so i will up it to 2.10 sooner or later. I am woundering if i can put a male with the females ( the females are in a HUGE cage) and they will breed and produce readily? OR will the male fight, and kill babies?

I have recently, last week got 4.15 mice so i hope when they start i will have a load of mice as feeder and spare food, but i still want to feed rats.

Anyway, can i keep 1.6 rats in a huge tank and will they mate ok?

Dan


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I have 1.8 rats together, the male does most of the girls and no one gets over-harrassed, they all produce fairly regular, I have never had a problem with my male killing babies, and I have even seen him carry them about for the females and when growing on he tolerates the young fairly well, although he will tell them off if they pester him to play too much! But I do have an incredibly tame and dopey male so I guess it is something you would just have to monitor.

My cage has a pecking order between the females and I have to say my male is not at the top of the pecking order either, he's about 3rd down, so again, I suppose it depends how dominant your male is whether he will fight with the females if housed permanently.


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

for better broods ad keep 1.3 in 2 cages instead of the 1 and 6 as that sape male will be lonly


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

adamntitch said:


> for better broods ad keep 1.3 in 2 cages instead of the 1 and 6 as that sape male will be lonly


Iv got it as 2.6 atm in teh huge cage, all females came from the top shelve to see the males...so i will se how that goes. I dont really want to split the females...


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## keeps2008 (Sep 22, 2008)

hi iv bred rats for years with a 1.3 ratio without a problem the male is very loving and very fatherly you shouldnt have a problem as long as there is sufficient space just make sure the females are not harrassed too much and have a small break once in a while : victory:


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

Male rats make good parents.
But still best to keep one male to a cage.
Some people "rest" the females between litters but mine live with the males permanantly.
Stephen


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

Hi,

I've tried breeding my rats in most ways.
I've had the males in 24/7 but the does got tired quickly and the litters soon became smaller as the doe got to about 8 months old.
I've had the does in pairs and let them mate the same buck but taken him out after 8-10 days and let them birth together. This way seems best but you have to have more than one buck that get along and can live together.
I also give my does a rest between litters so that their litters are better 'quality'.

My rat kittens seem to be bigger than the average kittens.
I have a kitt here I got a few days ago from a breeder, he is 5-6 weeks old, my 23 day old kittens are twice his size.
He is only 49grms whereas my kitts are around 70grms.

I breed mainly for show and pets though.


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## SnakeBreeder (Mar 11, 2007)

Having seen Saxons rats I can confirm she does something "special" with them. 
Also the diet she gives them is better than the food I eat myself :lol2:


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## toyah (Aug 24, 2006)

saxon said:


> I have a kitt here I got a few days ago from a breeder, he is 5-6 weeks old, my 23 day old kittens are twice his size.
> He is only 49grms whereas my kitts are around 70grms.


Gosh that's criminal  I would expect a 5-6 week old kitten to be a minimum of 100g, up to around 200g at six weeks. 49g sounds like it hasn't been fed anything more than just dry mix


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

toyah said:


> Gosh that's criminal  I would expect a 5-6 week old kitten to be a minimum of 100g, up to around 200g at six weeks. 49g sounds like it hasn't been fed anything more than just dry mix


I know.

He's tiny. I doubt he is as old as they told me.
They breed for BoP but again that's no excuse as I use some of mine for the snakes but I still feed them well.
He's been accepted into the 3 week old litter and feeding from the doe so he should build up pretty quickly now.
He's also a rex!!!!
I dont' know if they are smaller than normal coats or not????
I know my nakeds are always smaller until around 6 months old then they seem to catch up.


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## toyah (Aug 24, 2006)

Rexes don't tend to be smaller IME. Fingers crossed he catches up well.
#
Have you tried Insectivorous Feast? When I stopped using EMP it took me ages to find an acceptable substitute, but that is extremely high in fat and protein, perfect for babies!


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## Prem Morph (Sep 28, 2008)

snakelover said:


> Iv got it as 2.6 atm in teh huge cage, all females came from the top shelve to see the males...so i will se how that goes. I dont really want to split the females...


Hi I have about 1000 rats, the system I find the most productive is to have a colony of 1.5 as the females become heavily pregnant I move them to individual boxes to have their litters. I find I don't have any losses from the others standing or lying on them it doesn't matter how big or small your housing is they very often all want to lie together. 
The only thing I will say is to watch your males if keeping 2.6 together you may get aggression as they squabble for females attention you could try keeping the other male separately and swapping them every week this will keep them keen and up production


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## saxon (Feb 26, 2007)

toyah said:


> Rexes don't tend to be smaller IME. Fingers crossed he catches up well.
> #
> Have you tried Insectivorous Feast? When I stopped using EMP it took me ages to find an acceptable substitute, but that is extremely high in fat and protein, perfect for babies!


Yes I use the version that is for robins with mealworms in it.
It is very high protein the same as the insectivorous feast but a good bit cheaper.
I also give live mealworm and waxworm.

I've not had rexes before, not this young anyway, so just wondered if they were maybe one of the slower growing varieties.


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## BallPythonUK (Sep 21, 2008)

Hi - where is the best place to buy breeder rats? i was thinking 1.2 as i dont want too many pups all at once.

cheers


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

were are you located
try any pet shops in your area.


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## BallPythonUK (Sep 21, 2008)

im based in wimbledon


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