Breeding - Rats

[SnakingSprout]

I've read of people breeding rats to sell of as food or pets and I'm wondering how much it would cost to set up a rat cage with everything included?
Also how much money would I make per litter?

[jack_rep]

Originally Posted by SnakingSprout

I've read of people breeding rats to sell of as food or pets and I'm wondering how much it would cost to set up a rat cage with everything included?
Also how much money would I make per litter?

Thats really impossible to answer.

You would need to decide what food you were going to use. Then work out how much food they consume a week, which is variable dependant on the age of the animal plus whether a female is pregnant. Then you have to work out how much sawdust you are going to use and its costings.

(ill pretend you wont want a cage because they can be £50 a go) You will need quite a few tubs, one to house the males in (you will need two to keep the male company when not with the female), one to house the pregnant girl as a nursery container. Then you are going to need to keep the female separate from the male while she recovers from the birth(and a cage mate to keep her company so another female). You can hopefully use one of the nursery tubs if big enough to grow on the weaners maybe.

Water bottles and food dishes you can pick up for a quid each. So theres £10

Either way with a box costing you a tenner a pop, with the need for water bowl and food dish each. Then you are going to keep some chicken wire or sort to convert the tub, air holes arnt enough. Then rats each ranging from £2 to £10 depending on your source, (ur going to need 2.2 in my opinion). Your food and sawdust being totally variable.

In summary, unless you going to breed LOADS, you wont be making any money out of a litter.

[alan1]

Originally Posted by SnakingSprout

I've read of people breeding rats to sell of as food or pets and I'm wondering how much it would cost to set up a rat cage with everything included?
Also how much money would I make per litter?

as said already...

unless you are going to breed literally "shed loads" of rats, you'll hardly break even...

[wo0thigh]

I breed mice and rats, I keep them in tubs, cost about £4 each, with a mesh top, I buy food/sawdust bulk and it lasts ages! If you need any mice or rats let me know. Seems we live pretty close!