| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 10/08/2009 : 22:49:43
At what age is it not safe to introduce another female to a male and female rat?
and do you take the male out once she is pregnant or leave him in there?
does anyone know what weight ,male and female adult rats get to? |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Gypsy |
Posted - 16/11/2009 : 17:49:42
I haven't read the all the posts, so i don't know if your question has been answered. Anyway, i used to be a rat breeder (not for feeders, for pets) Does (females) come on heat every few days, and lasts for a few hours, so your best bet is to put the male and female together for about a week. After a week take the male out, you don't want to keep him in for the whole of the pregnancy, as he will stress the female out, and he will kill the babies when born, and get the female pregnant again, it's best to give the female about a months rest at least before breeding her again. I'm not sure about the two females together at the same time for mating, the male will love it (lol) but the girls might get too stressed. The pregnancy will last 21 days give or take. If you're letting them grow to over 5 weeks, take the males out, as they will breed with mom and sisters. Hope this helps, if you need any help with breeding, drop me a message =) |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 10/10/2009 : 23:10:04
ok, so is it ok to hold one of the babies back then? i have three breeding females right now..
lost a pregnant multi this morning, have no idea why, she was due to drop anyday and she was dead in the tank this morning, so am gutted as i fed jaws to Peanut yesterday...so i only have two breeding age females now and they takes ages to get weight on... |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 10/10/2009 : 18:18:36
I would say at least 2 males 4 females and they would all get a break you can rotate as well |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 09/10/2009 : 10:56:40
Danny, how many breeding rats do i need to support five royals?
soon to be six.. |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 23:37:19
quote:
Originally posted by spor
well by the time we move i'll have royals 2 will be on fuzzies and 2 will be on weaners at that stage. and i'm sure there will be more down the line... Anne how have you found it ow that you have settled into it a bit more. i remember the subject coming up a while back.
Not sure how the family would cope with it as Wife and kids all have Pet rodents of various kinds. Do they need a lot or any day light. just thinking if i built rack system in to a cupboard with air holed doors would that be ok? Think for family out of sight out of mind!
Its hard doing it this way, only because i am so soft and i get attached the multis, even though they are evil sometimes, its just the way they are....the babies are so cute...
i dont find it so hard with the rats, but have not done any of mine yet so dont know..
they need light to breed they wont breed in the dark..
but i like the fact that i have fresh food and i know what they are eating and that my snakes are happy..
Danny, i think the babies may have died cos they were under the two week old ones and maybe could not get milk or suffocated under them...one is still alive and i am hopeful that it will still be tomorrow, |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 22:00:31
Yeah they would need day light to be able to breed i tryed breeding them in my garage and they did nothing so i moved my rack near a window and now they dont stop |
| spor |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 21:47:31
well by the time we move i'll have 4 royals 2 will be on fuzzies and 2 will be on weaners at that stage. and i'm sure there will be more down the line... Anne how have you found it ow that you have settled into it a bit more. i remember the subject coming up a while back.
Not sure how the family would cope with it as Wife and kids all have Pet rodents of various kinds. Do they need a lot or any day light. just thinking if i built rack system in to a cupboard with air holed doors would that be ok? Think for family out of sight out of mind! |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 12:51:04
Strange was she feeding the other babys in there with her??? If so the fresh babys never got a look in
You could try breeding her again and see what she does on her own |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 12:29:58
its the same with multis Danny, i started with three and now have around fifty that is not including the ones i have fed Kaz on...
she is doing much better now, she is taking one in three fresh kill so we are slowly getting there with her..
those baby rats were dead this morning all of them so fed them to Jazz my corn...i dont think the mum even tried to feed them, so now i am left with do i breed her again?, but this time on her own? or send her to sleep?
maybe if she was alone she might be ok.. |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 11:29:14
Also i started with 2 male rats and 4 females and now have 70 odd rats running around now and more on the way
Each female has about 15 babys (well mine do) so you have to keep an eye on all the rats wise it gets out of hand very quick |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 11:22:02
quote:
Originally posted by spor
hi thinking of getting into breeding rats for food when we move as i'll have a huge garage to be able to keep them in. whats the best way to start. any more pics of set up would be very useful to me as well .I'm handy with the old diy. where did you get your initial first breeding pair. ? and i guess does it really work out for better or do you just spend the money you would have spent on frozen food on keeping the rats? cheers sean
Well it all depends on how many snakes you have and if they are fussy eaters.
I only started doing it as i have live feeders and always forgot to get any frozen food out to defrost but know 6 of my royals are on fresh killed which means no more hair dryer to warm the food up and scenting food
As for cost is very cheap to run its just the set up to start with thats the most money
Also alot of time aswell for cleaning once a week and doing water bottles every other day plus always checking that they have enough food
You can gets rats from anywhere and start breeding its so easy |
| spor |
Posted - 07/10/2009 : 01:27:41
hi thinking of getting into breeding rats for food when we move as i'll have a huge garage to be able to keep them in. whats the best way to start. any more pics of set up would be very useful to me as well .I'm handy with the old diy. where did you get your initial first breeding pair. ? and i guess does it really work out for better or do you just spend the money you would have spent on frozen food on keeping the rats? cheers sean |
| pablo |
Posted - 06/10/2009 : 16:43:59
quote:
Originally posted by Danny Action1
Since ive been keeping rats all my rats have been fine and the males have been gents towards the ladys
As soon as i can tell they are pregnant i normaly put the female on her own or with another pregnat rat and i always do a head count every week on the babys and never missing any
But some times i get caught off gaurd and she drops with the male with her and they all seem fine never any problems
As for converting them just keep on and on with fresh killed maybe miss a few feeds and then try again. also you could stay with live for a few weeks then try a twitcher for a few weeks then if that goes well try fresh killed and hopefully it all works
Sorry for the delay, been away for a while, but in answer to your question, nope never had a problem. But as with everything that may just be the way MY luck ran. If you know know what I mean.
If you recall previous threads regarding cohabitting Royals. They get quite heated with some people saying it's no problem because I've done it for years, etc...
I won't say it won't be a problem but it might not be. I would guess that size of the area they are kept in would have some effect on their behaviour.
Pablo |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 06/10/2009 : 15:17:48
They should be fine if they have all been together for a while then i would just leave them alone and just check every now and then to make sure the babys are ok maybe put another house in the cage to see if she moves the babys in there but should be fine |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 06/10/2009 : 15:00:45
Danny they are in one big cage together, there are two mums and now two sets of babies...
should i move the new ones up the other end or leave them where they are? or move the older ones? i am worried if i touch them as a new mum she would kill them... |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 06/10/2009 : 13:33:07
I feed the mum who has dropped the babys cat food for a day or 2 and the babys will eat anything as soon as they are ready to i feed all of mine on a complete dog food which is 24% protien and thats all they eat apart from the odd treat
AS for the babys are they all from the same mum???
I would house just 1 set of babys and the mum or 2 mums and 2 sets of babys in one cage if both mums dropped together never 2 sets of babys and 1 mum wise some will die where there is not enough to go round |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 06/10/2009 : 10:46:33
Thanks Danny for all your help, got my third litter due any day now...
what do you feed your babies on?
mine are on a rat mix with scrambled egg and a few dog biscuits chucked in for now, do you reckon that will be high enough protein for them?
Just gone in and mum has had her babies, but they have been born right in with the older babies.
Should i move them leave them to sort it out?
would one mum nurse both of them or what?
Thanks Danny  |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 26/09/2009 : 14:07:20
for each baby 1 week off and i think rats are good for about 6-10 litters then they retire |
| wolfspirit |
Posted - 26/09/2009 : 09:20:36
well second litter was born overnight, the other mum, the one who bullies was the other side of the cage so i am presuming thats what they do, but so far so good...
you know you said about giving them a break when they have had there babies, if like the first mum had nine is it nine weeks before i can breed from her again?
and how many litters cans he have? |
| Danny Action1 |
Posted - 25/09/2009 : 15:25:18
Since ive been keeping rats all my rats have been fine and the males have been gents towards the ladys
As soon as i can tell they are pregnant i normaly put the female on her own or with another pregnat rat and i always do a head count every week on the babys and never missing any
But some times i get caught off gaurd and she drops with the male with her and they all seem fine never any problems
As for converting them just keep on and on with fresh killed maybe miss a few feeds and then try again. also you could stay with live for a few weeks then try a twitcher for a few weeks then if that goes well try fresh killed and hopefully it all works
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