breeding rats?

[tom1400]

I've been looking into breeding rats. Just a few q's i need answering as i've looked on websites and cannot find the ones i need.

How do i introduce a male and female rat?

What age can i start selling the rats?

What size enclosure can i keep a female and her rat kittens in?

cheers tom.

[bosshogg]

Originally Posted by tom1400

I've been looking into breeding rats. Just a few q's i need answering as i've looked on websites and cannot find the ones i need.

How do i introduce a male and female rat?

What age can i start selling the rats?

What size enclosure can i keep a female and her rat kittens in?

cheers tom.

1- just put them in togetjher and kep an eye for them for fightint
2- 7-10 weeks old
3- mine are kept in rat breeders

[tigger79]

always put the male into the cage for a few days first, then introduce a female or two,

seperate the young at weeks old, make sure if you are selling them as pets you need to handle the young from about 2-3 weeks old,(once eyes have opened) but be aware of mum as she can be aggressive towards invaders, once she has had a couple of litters she will get used to you doing it but wont always calm down wen ya wanna handle them,

as for housing for a breeding pair you can use various size cages but i would recommend on thats 36 wide, 24 deep n 12 high, this gives plenty of room for young to grow,

[tigger79]

[quote=tigger79;679950]

seperate the young at weeks old,quote]

oopps, that should say 6 weeks old

[hermanlover]

ill give you 1 extra tip. dont interfear with them until eyes are open. i had a gory discovery last night when i went to check on my mice. i hadnt disturbed the nest but something muct of happened and they destroyed the litter. i managed to save 1 but i had to put it to sleep later that night. its not nice finding skeletons and body parts.

lee

[yellow_rat_gal]

Originally Posted by californiankinglover

ill give you 1 extra tip. dont interfear with them until eyes are open. i had a gory discovery last night when i went to check on my mice. i hadnt disturbed the nest but something muct of happened and they destroyed the litter. i managed to save 1 but i had to put it to sleep later that night. its not nice finding skeletons and body parts.

lee

Mice are different to rats, our rats were fine with us handling their babies from a day old.

[hermanlover]

really??? omg, i didnt even touch the pinkies and they killed them after 5 days. the worst thing was they just badly injured them and left them screaming. i had to finish them off. i didnt even have gas on hand (i know it not the best way to kill young) so i had to use the wack method. i think i onl done it because i could feel their pain. they were trying to crawl and 1 had its brain exposed.

was not impressed. today was ment to be their last day but i will let them put a bit more weight on and then bye bye to that colony. my othger colony is so much nicer.

thanks for help,
lee

[greenlikegecko]

another useful tip... baby rats can fit through the tinyest bars... even the ones that dont say 'unsuitable for baby rats' are sometimes no good tho i found if the cage is raised high off ground n not got ne thing near it to climb on they will climb back in the cage n not run away...

[tigger79]

thats so true, that always happens with my mice, if disturbed they kill the pinks, i lost 17 of em just days ago, (went to clean out n didnt know they were there) but the rats are calm n can be handled after a few days, but if its a new mum dont jump in to quick, as from experience if they new nervous mum they will kill young,

[yellow_rat_gal]

One of our mummy rats has turned vicious, that's our only problem. She's got so defensive and bit owen really bad when we cleaned them out the other day!