Hi everyone. I was just wondering if anyone can give me some more tips on breeding rat colonies. I have been doing it almost two years but I am always open to more information. At the moment I’ve got 630 breeding female norways (90 colonies), 300 breeding female ASF’s(60 colonies), and 600 breeding female mice(150 colonies).
Anything you might want to add. Oh I built all my racks my self, well with the help of others of course.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
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Wow that’s a pretty awesome sized colony. I don’t really have anything to add. My rat colonies are pretty weak at the moment. I feel like I should start over but everyone I spoke to says to persevere.
My mice are doing great though. I never thought I’d enjoy working with them as much as I have the last few months.
I don’t know where your located, that can maybe help give others come up with some tips for you if they’re more local to your area.
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Here’s a thread I made a few years ago with some generic tips.
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Dog food is dog food. Absolutely! And most of it is not good for your dog! Lots of dogs have died being fed commercial food. Even well known brands!
The red dye used in it is, in many cases, hyper allergenic. It builds up in the animals filter organs and causes all types of issues. According to my vet it can cause blindness and deafness in some cases or, in my dogs case, hives resulting in a bald dog that has stinky urine and feces. She, the vet, said it also likely contributes to joint problems. I gave him bagged food if we were away from home or he raided someone elses dish. The bully.
My last dog passed at almost 15 years because I fed him animals. Rabbit, deer, cow, elk, pigs and more. He loved his fruit and veggies too. I had to fence any garden plants or he’d eat everything. He was a bull mastiff. They usually only live 8-10 years.
When dog food is used as a rodent diet, when the rodent is consumed, the dye builds up in the snakes tissues and leads to liver, kidney and spleen malfunction. Easy to assume it would drastically shorten any snakes life.
When buying feeders from a rat breeder, I always ask what their diet is. I like to visit them as well, to make sure. I want to know if they change diet too.
It doesn’t matter if the snake I’m feeding is a normal ball or an albino white lipped python, I want them to die of old age, if possible, when they’re 3-5 decades old. Not 10-15 or less.
Rats will eat almost anything and then some. Diet is super important, especially for feeders. Imo a rat shouldn’t look old and worn out at 18 months. With a good diet even breeder females should live to 2 or 3 years. They have been known to live up to 7 on a proper diet.
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