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lngviewbplover
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 251
Location: Longview,Tx
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 Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:38 pm Post subject: Giving it a shot |
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I decided to give breeding rats a shot. Went to the pet store and picked up 3 females and 1 male. I figured 3 to 1 would be a good place to start. He's either going to be really happy or really wore out. 
I picked up a 45 quart Sterilite storage drawer. Got home made a few simple mods to it to make it the rats new love shack!  Drilled a few holes up top for ventilation, put a big bowl of food inside, setup a water bottle, and put a big empty butter bowl with a cut out for a hide. Hope they like it. Will post pics here later.
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deborahbroadus
Moderator
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 6677
Location: Baltimore, MD
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 8:45 pm Post subject: Re: Giving it a shot |
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| lngviewbplover wrote: | I decided to give breeding rats a shot. Went to the pet store and picked up 3 females and 1 male. I figured 3 to 1 would be a good place to start. He's either going to be really happy or really wore out.
I picked up a 45 quart Sterilite storage drawer. Got home made a few simple mods to it to make it the rats new love shack! Drilled a few holes up top for ventilation, put a big bowl of food inside, setup a water bottle, and put a big empty butter bowl with a cut out for a hide. Hope they like it. Will post pics here later. |
They are gonna LOVE it, they are going to have fun putting their rat droppings in the food and water  ...get yourself a proper cage as soon as you can, because I wasted tons of food that way. 
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jb.t3ch
Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 572
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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you do know how fast they breed right? i have tossed the idea around to save money but man i hate rodents and definitely wouldnt want a million rats all over the place.
best of luck to you though 
how many babies can they have up to 15 or so... yuck! if you get 3 ladies thats like 45 rats all at once.. and the rat babies can become pregnant as early as 6 weeks of age...
i would have like 15 million rats running loose....
how many rats do all you breeders have?
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lngviewbplover
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 251
Location: Longview,Tx
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:28 am Post subject: |
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Heres a few pics to show what I've done to this to make it work for the rats. They can't put any rat droppings in their water, theres a water bottle setup to prevent that. For the food I've got an idea to keep rat droppings out of it too. The bowl of food is a temp thing for tonight. As far as having 45 possible rat pups, if I do I do, I know a few folks who will take some off my hands to feed off. I have a back up plan in place if I end up having too many rats.
Heres a few pics of my setup:
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RonCrawford
Site Admin
Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 2006
Location: Pottsville, PA (USA)
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:31 am Post subject: |
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Keep a CLOSE eye on them biting through your setup. The drawer has an edge that they can chew a hole through with ease.
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lngviewbplover
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 251
Location: Longview,Tx
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:39 am Post subject: |
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| RonCrawford wrote: | | Keep a CLOSE eye on them biting through your setup. The drawer has an edge that they can chew a hole through with ease. |
I saw the edge and I do plan on keeping an eye on it, if this becomes successful then I will do a different setup. I do have a plan in place to use the edge to my advantage. I will go and pick up a few small items tomorrow to make it happen. Will take pics and show when Im done.
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ted1025
Joined: 15 Aug 2006
Posts: 309
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:20 am Post subject: |
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Cool, whats your idea for the food too?
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NickMyers03
Moderator
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 1893
Location: fredericksburg va
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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ON THE FACT OF THESE CONTAINERS IS THERE SOMETHING LIKE THIS THAT WILL WORK SO IT CAN HELP HOLD THE SMELL IN  ?
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deborahbroadus
Moderator
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 6677
Location: Baltimore, MD
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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| NickMyers03 wrote: | | ON THE FACT OF THESE CONTAINERS IS THERE SOMETHING LIKE THIS THAT WILL WORK SO IT CAN HELP HOLD THE SMELL IN ? |
An exhaust fan! Take the smell out of the whole room!!
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deborahbroadus
Moderator
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 6677
Location: Baltimore, MD
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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lngviewbplover, a quick tip on the food. Mazuri is cheaper in the bulk and if you have a feed store nearby it's a snap.
I tried that food that you are using and they wasted most of it, plus it comes in little bags that run out fast.
Food pellets/cat food/dog food and some wooden blocks to keep their chewing to a minimum and you are set.
I give a mxture of cat, dog food and mazuri for optium growth in my rats.
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lngviewbplover
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 251
Location: Longview,Tx
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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| deborahbroadus wrote: | lngviewbplover, a quick tip on the food. Mazuri is cheaper in the bulk and if you have a feed store nearby it's a snap.
I tried that food that you are using and they wasted most of it, plus it comes in little bags that run out fast.
Food pellets/cat food/dog food and some wooden blocks to keep their chewing to a minimum and you are set.
I give a mxture of cat, dog food and mazuri for optium growth in my rats. |
The plus side to living in a small eat texas town is there a ton of feed stores around here. I will be giving them a call and asking around. I set up a small wire basket with plastic basket inside of it to hold the food out of poops reach by hanging it on the front of the drawer. They've been in the "love shack" now about 24 hours with no signs of chewing right now. Still to early to tell if they will chew. I have a 20 quart tub similar to the 45 quart and it has no edges. I decided that would be a lil small for them. This is a test run for me to decide if its going to be worth it in the long run, so this is keeping my costs to a minimum total right now roughly 50 bucks. Thats for the rats, the tub, substrate, wire basket and water bottle.
As far as smell goes its not nearly as bad as mice are.
Over all they seem to be pretty happy.
So how long is the gestation period for a rat? How often do does go into season?
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ted1025
Joined: 15 Aug 2006
Posts: 309
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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Got any pics of this food basket jammer you made? thanks.
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lngviewbplover
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 251
Location: Longview,Tx
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| Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 1:06 am Post subject: |
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Crude but effective
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deborahbroadus
Moderator
Joined: 16 Jul 2006
Posts: 6677
Location: Baltimore, MD
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| Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 11:12 am Post subject: |
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and VERY creative! Thanks!
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lngviewbplover
Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 251
Location: Longview,Tx
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| Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 8:44 am Post subject: |
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Well when I was in the rat "love shack" last night feeding and watering and saw that one of the Does is getting huge. So Im thinking she preggars. Now if the other ones would get that way LOL.
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