Breeding Rats?

I have a ball python that eats the "small adult" size frozen rats from the pet store, one every week. They cost somewhere around $2.50 each. I wanted to save a little money on rats, so I started breeding them. I got my pair a few weeks ago, and just recently got a litter. I feed all of the rats Harlan Teklad lab block, which I get for about $3 a pound, and I use the cheapest bedding I can find. Now that I have started breeding them, I now realize how much care they need, and it doesn't seem like I am saving that much money after all. Does anybody here know about how much money I am saving, if any?

See if you have and feed stores in your area. I get my shavings for around $6-$8 per 3.8 cubic feet compressed. The bag is about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide and 1 foot deep approx to give you an idea(and thats compressed shavings so it goes a LONG way). I also get my pellets from my feed store also and it runs $12.00 per 50lb bag, that's about $.24 per pound. I use Furry friends lab pellets but they also get suplamented with other varieties as well.
yes it does cost a lot to raise rats, they eat A LOT.

I have #'s for manufactures and you can call them to see who carries their products in your area.

Shredded aspen- Harlan Teklad - 1-800-teklad
sani-chips- P.J. Murphy Forest products-1-800-631-1936

You can try those and see what you get.

Shanell.

with only one snake to feed you are probably better off just buying the rats . if you have multiple snakes to feed then it becomes more economical to breed your own rats . i raise my own rats too but i have 16 snakes to feed so it does save me a good bit of money . maybe you just need to get 5 or 6 more snakes to balance things out

Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing. I'll probably just end up buying them from the pet store until my snake is fully grown, then I'll buy them in bulk from the internet. About how long do the rats keep good in the freezer? I have heard that the nutrients start depleting after 30 days, but now somebody is telling me that they can keep up to a year if kept in a sealed bag.

Mark i like the way you think
scott

We vacume seal ours and they last quite a while. Shanell

if the rats are properly vacuum sealed they should be good for 6 months to a year .

I'm going to look into getting a vacuum pump, but do you know about how long they will last in just a freezer bag?

i would think atleast 2 or 3 months anyways .

How does a frozen rat 'go bad'?? I have some that have probably been in there for almost a year or going on two, i don't really keep track. Never had a problem wtih freezer burn or snakes refusing old rats.