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Show me Rat setups please

RonniesReps

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As it says with my tegus and monitors Im needing to start to breed my own rats. Struck out so far bought a male and 2 females woke up and male was being ate while there was a full dish of food. have had these guys for 4 weeks. If you would show me your setups looking for low cost to start with. and what is your groups how long you leave the male in. Tips and pics would be great thanks
 
Attached are pics of regular rat racks, mouse tub, and soft fur rack.

For regular rat racks (black tubs/wooden frames), I use groups of two females per tub. They're raised together, and will help one another raise babies. Males are rotated through the tubs, left in each for about two weeks. (when girls are looking noticeably pregnant) Moms have babies, care for them, and when they're big enough to wean I pull them and put them in one of my growout bins. The pink tags in the picture are tags I have on all my tubs. I jot down info on each, like when tub was last cleaned, when male was put in, when babies were born, etc.

Mice I put in the big sterilite tubs I've modified for them. I use one male, and three females. They are all raised together and I leave the male in at all times. Same as above - moms have babies, care for them communally, and when they're large enough to wean I put them elsewhere to grow up to the size I need.

Soft furs I raise in ten gallon tanks. One male, two females. I use tanks for soft furs because they love to chew and there's no way in hades I'd trust these guys in anything plastic. Groups are raised together from weanlings, and are cared for as the rats and mice above.

Last pic is my growout troughs for my soft furs. They take so long to grow to a decent size, that I just put them in these and kind of forget about them for a couple months. They are rigged with automatic waterers, and modified hog feeders that will hold their lab block.

Everything eats Mazuri 6F. It's just what I can get easily, locally.

All my feeder breeders get things to mentally stimulate them. Wheels for soft furs and mice, wood blocks to chew, foraging treats, cardboard tubes, etc.

Good luck!
 

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newbie question here but can rats be in 10 gallon tanks? im wanting to keep them in glass just do to the fact they will be in my basement.

Yes. I even made a rack out of them once.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219727&highlight=approach+rat+rack

I use the mortor tubs now, sooooooooooo much more easier in every sense. One problem with the tanks over the tubs, is the weanlings have trouble reaching the edstrom water nozzles and I had to use a water bottle.

I made the racks below for less that $200, I think, and I have two females in each (some people run five females, too much maintenance for me). 14 slots total, 24 females in 12 racks and two weanling tubs. The male is rotated every week to a new tub and no rat gets left alone. They are social creatures and it's just in good nature to let them have a partner.

4bd80855.jpg


and as for bedding always use nothing but pine shavings correct

That's really going to be your call. Pine is pretty cheap and most alternatives are going to cost more. There is some speculation as to whether pine is safe for rats and while I have read some articles, I haven't found anything to convince me it's really that harmful. I've been using it for probably two years and haven't had one respiratory issue and only a couple deaths resulting from complicated births. I get the huge bag from walmart for $6 and it doesn't have much dust.
 
Reptile Basic is going to have most of the watering accessories you need.

When creating a water resivoir, I suggest making it small and make sure to have a lid for it. Smaller means more fill ups and fresher water. A lid keeps dust and other particulates from settling in the water and gunking the lines.
 
alright thanks I believe thats the way ill go is a rack with 10 gallon tanks or 20 longs if i can pick them up cheap. Should prob just use on female per tank correct.
 
alright thanks I believe thats the way ill go is a rack with 10 gallon tanks or 20 longs if i can pick them up cheap. Should prob just use on female per tank correct.

When I had the six 10 gallon tank rack, I had one female in each tank and rotated the male every two weeks. I would recommend two for socialization reasons, however, they will be a little cramped and the litter/substrate would have to be changed frequently. I also bought six large suction cups and tied shoe laces on them. I stuck them to the tank to use as handles.

This is just my personal suggestion, but I would try to give the females at least 12 weeks in between birthing to give them a chance to fatten up. I think this is just proper quality of life but I have been to a few local facilities and most seem to run them 24/7 without problems. Not that it's right or wrong, but something to think about. All of my babies are huge, fat and healthy and I almost always get a 12-19 litter per rat. I think replenishing the fat reserves offers more nutrients the mother can create, but that just an assumption.


Oh BTW, I recall you mentioning you were looking for a cheap startup. The tank rack is going to cost more than the tub rack.

Price for wood would be close to the same for the two racks. Might save $10-15 with the tank setup.

Hoses and water nozzles will remain the same.

Chicken wire will run about $10 more for the tub rack.

Mortor tubs will run you $5 x 7 = $35. The cheapest place I found tanks new was at walmart @ $12 a pop. $12 x 8 (6 females, 2 grow outs) = $96. You could find them used on CL for about $10 a piece but the only problem with that are the tanks vary in height dependant on the manufacturer, which would result in different heights and the tanks not mating with the toppers. Making sure all the tanks are the same height will save a lot of fustration.
 
I use it for asf's and rats

Heres a list of what you need for (1) 4 level rack,IF you use the shallow concrete tubs from Lowes.
The width of the wood works for me because these are the common drop offs I have from building cabinets.

2- 6"w x 48"h (rear legs back)
2- 3"w x 48"h (rear legs sides)
2- 3"w x 48"h (front legs)

8- 2"w x 22 1/4" long (frame front & rear)
8- 2"w x 25 1/2" long (frame left & right)
4- 2"w x 20 7/8" long (food hopper)
8- 1 3/16"w x 26 3/4 (tub rail side)
8- 2"w x 26 3/4 (tub rail bottom)

I begin by nailing a 3" piece to a 6" piece to form a big "L". After both "L"s are made I make my frames for the screen by nailing (2) 2" x 25 1/2" in between (2) 2" x 22 1/4" For the food hopper/brace i nail (1) 2"w x 20 7/8, 6 inches from the narrow side. This now differenciates the from from the back now.

After the frames are made I cut my screen just shy of the width and length of my frames and staple it to the face of the frames.

Next take (1) 2"w x 26 3/4 and face nail it to the edge of (1) 1 3/16w x 26 3/4. These will form small "L"s that will be used to slide the tubs on.

I assemble the rack by screwing my frames with the screen attached to my rear "L" legs and front legs remembering that the food hoppers should be away from the rear legs. Start at the top and I space mine 12" apart = 4 tubs in 4 foot.

After the screen frames are assembled, screw the small "L"s to the legs butting the 1 3/16 up against the screen. The 1 3/16" side will be used to space the tub up against the bottom of the screen.

The rack should now be complete. Sometimes i have to unscrew the small "L" if the tub slides too tight otherwise your rack is done.
 
I use it for asf's and rats

Heres a list of what you need for (1) 4 level rack,IF you use the shallow concrete tubs from Lowes.
The width of the wood works for me because these are the common drop offs I have from building cabinets.

2- 6"w x 48"h (rear legs back)
2- 3"w x 48"h (rear legs sides)
2- 3"w x 48"h (front legs)

8- 2"w x 22 1/4" long (frame front & rear)
8- 2"w x 25 1/2" long (frame left & right)
4- 2"w x 20 7/8" long (food hopper)
8- 1 3/16"w x 26 3/4 (tub rail side)
8- 2"w x 26 3/4 (tub rail bottom)

I begin by nailing a 3" piece to a 6" piece to form a big "L". After both "L"s are made I make my frames for the screen by nailing (2) 2" x 25 1/2" in between (2) 2" x 22 1/4" For the food hopper/brace i nail (1) 2"w x 20 7/8, 6 inches from the narrow side. This now differenciates the from from the back now.

After the frames are made I cut my screen just shy of the width and length of my frames and staple it to the face of the frames.

Next take (1) 2"w x 26 3/4 and face nail it to the edge of (1) 1 3/16w x 26 3/4. These will form small "L"s that will be used to slide the tubs on.

I assemble the rack by screwing my frames with the screen attached to my rear "L" legs and front legs remembering that the food hoppers should be away from the rear legs. Start at the top and I space mine 12" apart = 4 tubs in 4 foot.

After the screen frames are assembled, screw the small "L"s to the legs butting the 1 3/16 up against the screen. The 1 3/16" side will be used to space the tub up against the bottom of the screen.

The rack should now be complete. Sometimes i have to unscrew the small "L" if the tub slides too tight otherwise your rack is done.

wow thank you very much for the details, about how much did it cost you to build it with 4 levels?
 
Heather..its a 8' cattle trough ( can also be bought 4'or 6')
with a framed/screen top.. been doing it this way for 10 years...keep all rats together..ratio..hmm 20 females 5 males...I inspect daily...remove soon to be moms in cold wheather and setup with other females, when wheather is warm no need to remove. call me if you need more info 951 943-1914 ;)
 
Where are you guys buying your food to keep up with these large rat setups? I'm looking to start doing it myself to cut down on costs to feed my crew and I'm not finding anywhere to pick up bulk rat food.
 
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