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hairless rat breeding questions

G

groomingdiva

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Hi,

I am raising hairless rats for feeders. Do they generally have smaller litters? this is my 2nd litter and she only had 5 one died a few days later. My regular rats seem to have 8-10 babies. The hairless aren't related and are fed a combo of rat blocks, high protein puppy food and bird seed. Also, a selection of veggies and whatever leftovers I have.

Thanks,

Steph
 
Hey Steph... For what it's worth... I just had a two female hairylesses drop a total of 16 and one DOA?? I took a pic to show ya if you wanna email me?? Or; about 8 each I guess?? I definitely notice a little smaller litters from girls lacking hair for what it's worth... A good litter for me is 12-14 from my hairfulls... Lol.. Hope this helps...
 
Thanks Tom,

I was just curious. My hairfuls are a little older, so maybe they don't have the oomf anymore to produce 12 at a time. The balds are still young and this is only their 2nd litters for both girls. I didn't get a pic to come thru, but I believe you :yesnod:
 
I have a pair of young unrelated hairless that have just mated for the first time this week, so I expect to see a litter in a few weeks. The person I got them from has had great success with her stock. I will let you know how things turn out with mine. I do provide an under tank heater for mine under their hide box for added warmth. This type of rat comes from lab stock that had many problems, weak maternal response being one of those problems. But out breeding to healthy normal rats has improved this hairless strain a great deal.

My rats are just pets. I raise mice for feeders.
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Tanya had her babies November 26. This is them today. She has been doing a great job with nursing. I took Paul out so he wouldn't mate with her. The poor little dude; he is lonely so I let him sit on my shoulder and "talk" to me every day. She on the other hand is not interested in anything but the care of her babies. A first rate mama! LOL!

I have heard that hairless rats when eaten by snakes tend to cause the snakes to have sort of loose stools because there is no hair to bind the feces together. I don't think this would hurt the snakes but might gross out the snake keeper!

Genetically it looks like all ten of the babies will be fuzzy. I will post more pictures as they develop.
 
I love hairless rats! However, they can be harder to breed if you are using hairless females. Hairless females generally tend to have smaller litters, and more deaths. I've read that they tend to have a harder time raising them because they don't produce as much milk, and they are known to eat their babies more often... but who knows if that's really true. I successfully bred a hairless female a few times. Her first litter she produced 8 but only raised 3 to weaned age, her 2nd litter did much better though and all lived.

I've heard that your best bet is to use a hairless male and "het" hairless females - in other words a normal haired female who carries the hairless gene. That way she doesn't have the complications hairless females tend to have but will still produce hairless babies. Of course there are several genes in rats responsible for baldies so it could depend on your specific line of hairless. Just thought this information could help someone else. The information I have was found on various rat breeder websites, unfortunately I don't have the links on hand :(
 
Well i can too say i wouldnt use hairless as feeders for the simple fact they bleed all over the frickin place
 
irishanaconda said:
Well i can too say i wouldnt use hairless as feeders for the simple fact they bleed all over the frickin place
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They have tender skin and one has to take care with caging and furnishing that there are no sharp pointy things they can hurt themselves on. Also mothers should raise young by themselves as two females my tussle over possession of the babies and injure them.

It seems feeding live would lead to more of a bloody mess than pre-killed. Some snakes are ferocious eaters, too.
 
Greatballzofire said:
They have tender skin and one has to take care with caging and furnishing that there are no sharp pointy things they can hurt themselves on.
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I have no clue why u would say this....


Greatballzofire said:
It seems feeding live would lead to more of a bloody mess than pre-killed. Some snakes are ferocious eaters, too.
Click to expand...

I feed alot of snakes, some live PK and FT and id rather feed a PK or live for that simple fact that FT makes way more of a mess as well as the substrate tends to stick to the rat. The hairless is the only one i dont feed alive just for the bloody mess it makes.
here is a vid of my room if u get bored
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7zwqhz5GAc
 
irishanaconda,
Nice rattery you have!
My rats are pets so I have a more pet oriented setup for them, that's why I mentioned sharp objects, etc. Wire, that sort of thing.
I feed all my snakes in separate feeding containers so no problem with substrate sticking to the food. But then I have only 21 snakes, so that is no big chore. I feed mostly live or if it can bite, pre-killed, although all my snakes will also eat the fts.
 
In some cases

bkelley02 said:
Is there a benefit to using hairless mice for feeders over regular haired mice?
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In some cases yes there can be benefits. Take for example some snakes that normally eat things other than mammals. You can rub a frog or fish on the hairless rat. The scent and the skin feel more like familiar prey items. We have had this methd work with some finicky animals that initially wouldnt eat furred rats or mice
 
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