Rat breeding

any tips? pointers?i am building a rack for thme, anyone want to share theres? do you have plans? is a 20'' by 26'' by 6'' big enough for a 1.3 ratio? and can anyone tell me the numbers they are getting? has anyone failed at breeding rats? i already have mice going

If you can easily breed mice, then rats are just as easy, if not easier. Look for the male rat with the largest testicles and use him for your breeder, it is a fact that has been proved that the males with the largest testicle will impregnate the most females. Sometimes I will even house two male rats with a group of females to entice a bit of competition for the males and one will dominate and impregnate as many females as he can.

You can house a 1.6 ratio easily in a tub that size you are using. My tubs are 22" x 16" x 6" and I have a 1.5 ratio in them. I get 13+ babies in each litter, the largest litter I have gotten was 18 babies. This is one of the racks I built, it is a 4 rat tub and 6 mouse tub set:

Cage Size

Those measurements are good except for the height. They need more height to be able to stand up 8.5 is better. Dont forget what with bedding and such the height will be less. Even though they are used as feeders they should still be kept in appropriate conditions or as I like to say "temporary pets" :eatpointe Giving them opportunity to move and excercise will make for healthier feeders.

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My feeders are cooler than your pets

Rats are easier to keep and breed than mice IMHO. I use 66 quart opaque sterilite plastic bins. I cut the center of the top out and pop rivet 1/4 galvanized hardware mesh in the hole. I hang food and water bottles from the mesh using small eye bolts and large paper clips. I use a male to female ratio of 1 to 3 or 4. I also drill a hole in the side and hang a 32 oz. water bottle. never had a rat chew out or escape. I don't need a rack system so these bins work well if you only need three or four bins of rats. the bins are kept in a shed that is not heated or cooled in the hot Central Valley of California. outside temps run anywhere from highs of 109 in the summer to lows of 20 in the winter. they do well in the cold, but production slows in the heat of summer. I freeze leftover rat pups in the winter to use in the slow production summer months. I used to use rodent lab blocks for feed but it was a PITA to find so I took the label from the rodent lab block and found the closest match in a readily available dog food, have been using it for years with no problems. I service and harvest the bins once a week. I am using aspen bedding and once in a while I will use pine shavings when the stores are out of pine shavings. I hold back enough pups to start a new colony when the parents start slowing down on production, old breeders are given away or traded for crickets as I don't have any snakes big enough to take the jumbo breeders.

As far as my setup, the 6 inch high tubs work just fine, the largest rat in the tubs are the males and they fit without any problems since they only stand around 4 inches tall. They have plenty of room. If the tubs are too tall the weaning rats may have a problem with getting to the food if you have a set up similar to mine where the food rests on the wire mesh and the rodents eat through the wire. I know people that use the 4 inch tall tubs for their rats and they do just fine, though I personally think that is a bit too small. All in all, it is a personal preference as to what you want to use.