Best feeders to raise?

[Taceas]

Hah!!!!

LOL! We all knew you were "mouse impotent", but that doesn't mean everyone else has that problem.

I've had way more problems with my rats than my mice as of late. So that's what I was basing my opinion on.

I like docile food items. I don't like having to fight it out over babies. I like to be able to reach in, get what I want, they get a treat/bribe, and I'm gone. Voila.

 

[mbdorfer]

LOL! We all knew you were "mouse impotent", but that doesn't mean everyone else has that problem.

:grin01: It worked! That's the Misty I know! :cheers:
Hope you're feeling a bit better. The only thing I can raise are those damn spiny mice and the're too cute to feed. I need therapy :crazy02:

 

[lefty_mussolini]

I voted rats. My rats are pretty docile, and they breed well. Big litters consistently. Also there is the added bonus of switching around members of the colonies without them tearing each other apart. The only problem with rats (as stated before) is that the babies are too big for hatchling corns. So I do have a small mouse colony for that.

 

[kimbyra]

Has anyone here seen or dealt with hairless rats? I saw some for the first time today. (They probably get chilly!) I don't know how their temperment is, or if they're good to breed.

 

[Bobo's Mama]

I have one and she is the greatest pet ever, but as for breeding.... :shrugs: she started off good when I first got her. Now about seven months later, she is having smaller and smaller litters. She had 4 and then 7. I think they age quicker than other rats. She is less than a year old, but I think she is already starting to go through "menapause". She also has a lot of allergies and respitory problems. I can't use Carefresh because she is allergic to it, and she always has runny eyes, eventhough my other rats are perfectly healthy. So I would say no for breeding, but yes if just for a pet. She is my sweetest girl.

 

[kimbyra]

Do you use Carefresh Ultra? I'm trying it out. It's good to know she has a nice temperment, but I wonder if her other problems are problems with the type of rat she is. They are kinda cute; they remind me of naked mole rats.

 

[Bobo's Mama]

I think they are related. When I get home from work, I will try to find the link for an article I read about them once. It explains their health problems. Most of it is genetic. There are 3 genes that produce hairless rats. And all 3, in some way, make the rat more prone to heatlh problems. Sadly, most do not live past 18 months. But I origanilly got her because my ex-husband is blind. At the time I got my rats, we were still together, and I thought it would be nice to get one haired rat and one hairless rat so he could tell them apart. I can't use Carefresh or Carefresh Ultra for my rats because it makes her sneeze and cough. I do use it with my mice however, and they love it.

 

[kimbyra]

Related? Cool! My daughter loves naked mole rats. I am seriously considering one as a pet, but we have asthma, so that holds me back... UGH. Snakes are great for asthmatics if you ask me! :cheers:

 

[Bobo's Mama]

If you have asthma, then a hairless rat might just be the thing. They don't shed like haired rats do and don't smell as much. But if you do get one, you really should get two. They need company because they are very social animals. They need someone to play with and cuddle with when you are asleep or at work or school. I'm sorry, I should have been more clear about related. What I meant, was that her health problems and being a hairless rat are related. Naturally, being a rodent, she is in someway related to the naked mole rat, but that wasn't what I meant. Oops. Anyway, yeah, I love her to death, but since I am breeding rats, when her time comes, I don't think I'll get another hairless one.

 

[kimbyra]

Oh geez, I misinterpreted! Of course they're not THAT related. :bang: I must be tired. I'm glad to hear that they are a possibility as a pet. (I have lots.) Rodents and birds kill my asthma usually. I was thinking if I kept the cages really clean it might be okay because they're hairless.
You know what I'm gonna do. I'm going to go to the pet store tomorrow and smell one to see. I'm not kidding. :crazy02:

 

[Bobo's Mama]

Well.... I'm not your typical feeder/breeder. My rats are pets first, then breeders. I have smelled her (she rides around on my shoulder all the time), and compared to the haired ones, she has very little odor. And, if you start them off young, so they get used to it, you can give them baths in the sink.

 

[kimbyra]

Hi again! If I got two, they would be pets - and spoiled. I think it was the urine that set me off come to think of it. If I change the bedding a lot, I might be okay. (Those hariless are so cute!) I'm a strange one, its the dander from birds and pee from rodents that shut down my lungs. :bang: When I went to the Brookfield Zoo, while visiting my sister last summer, I went past the wombats enclosure and almost passed out! I have a new saying now, "Wombats will be the death of me." I've only had that reaction one other time, when I went to the San Antonio Zoo. They have billions of birds there, like a giant bird sanctuary!

 

[SnakeCreations]

Hi All -

I've really enjoyed this thread - thank you all so much for your information!

I currently have Rats - two are hairless, a male and a female. The other two are a rex and a standard. I've had them for a year and only gotten one litter out of the Rex female and then she ate all but four of her litter - eww. The hairless female absolutely refuses the courting from the male, as does the standard. The hairless definitely have genetic problems, however they have been the most fun pets - very smart and affectionate. One question for those of you that have Rats - I was reading that you shouldn't breed the females after one year!! Is this true? I really would like to get a non-hairless male to mate to the girls for my larger snakes.

Since I have young and small corns I decided upon mice, thank you all for your information. I bought three last night from a local pet store, adorable little things. I handled them and picked the least aggressive...aka I didn't get bit by those... LoL. They were immediately named Breakfast (the small black and white female), Lunch (the very pretty tan/red eyed female) and Dinner (the black and white male). I'm still shopping for two more females who will be aptly named Supper and Brunch

Thanks again!

Tonya

 

[serpentalley]

If you have asthma, then a hairless rat might just be the thing. They don't shed like haired rats do and don't smell as much. But if you do get one, you really should get two. They need company because they are very social animals. They need someone to play with and cuddle with when you are asleep or at work or school.

I've been breeding fancy rats (blues, dumbos, rexes, hairless etc) for quite a while and I was told from an allergist that it is actually the rat's urine that triggers asthma. Apparently rat's urine can be particularily troublesome for some asthma sufferers.

And yes, you should actually get 2 or three, regardless of the type of rat because as stated, they are social animals, especially the females (males are more territorial and don't usually get along too well). The hairless rats need to be kept in groups because they need to cuddle to keep their warmth. They also need extra protein in their diets since they burn more energy trying to keep warm.
The "true" hairless rats would not be very good breeders because the females usually cannot lactate and plus they have terrible immune systems.
The "patchwork" hairless rats come from double rex rats and are just like regular rats in terms of health and breeding. Surprisingly, these babies grow fur and then lose it to become the "patchwork" hairless type. Patchwork hairless rats can be totally hairless or have patches of fur here/there throughout the life.

MaizeCrazy, in terms of breeding a female rat past 1 year, it is ok if she's had litters before. The concern is breeding a female past 5-6 months of age if she never had a litter. The pelvic bones fuse together around that age and she could die during delivery. It is recommended to breed rats for the first time around 4-5 months of age. They ususally have babies until around 1.5 years and the litters get smaller and smaller as they age.

For those of you who are curious, I posted images of Bella Rose, as a baby, then as she grew fur, then as she shed it again with some patches left. She is of the "rex" genetic background, meaning she has 2 genes for the rex (curly) coat. One rex gene results in a wavy coat. Enjoy!

 

[Bobo's Mama]

Awww, she's cute. Here's one of my hairless girl. I'm not sure what kind of hairless she is. She never has more than just "peach fuzz" all over her body. She does lactate though, but has a tendency to eat some of the babies. She also has curly whiskers. Personality wise though, she is the most affectionate of my three rats. I do have a question though. Would her offspring be "het" for hairless?

 

[serpentalley]

Awww, she's cute. Here's one of my hairless girl. I'm not sure what kind of hairless she is. She never has more than just "peach fuzz" all over her body. She does lactate though, but has a tendency to eat some of the babies. She also has curly whiskers. Personality wise though, she is the most affectionate of my three rats. I do have a question though. Would her offspring be "het" for hairless?

It is hard to tell from just looking at your rat as to what type of hairless gene she has. I am not familiar with the genetics of the true hairless rats. What do her babies look like and do any of her babies ever exhibit rex fur? What is the father like (rex, straight furred)?

For double rex hairless, they need both genes to express the hairlessness (homozygous). A het rex would be curly. Breed 2 rexes and you get some straight fured, some rexes and some hairless. Breed a double rex hairless to a straight fured, they are all rexes. Breed a double rex hairless to a rex (curly), you get some rexes, some hairless. Then breeding 2 double rex hairless rats should result in all hairless babies. Just remember with double rex, some babies can regrow some fur on parts of the body and some don't. Plus the whiskers are shorter and curlier than rex rats.

 

[Bobo's Mama]

Because my snakes are still on the smaller side, I haven't raised any of her babies to the "fuzzy" stage yet. The father of her babies is a straight haired Himalayan. I'm also not sure about leaving her babies in with her for longer than a few days. With the last three litters, she has eaten at least 1 baby.

 

[nerys]

funny things, have seen them on sale in the uk for as much as £25 EACH (about $40-$45)

there can be a few health problems associated with them i am told

this is some advice given a to friend with one;

I have bred one litter from a hairless doe - the girl at the front in that photo. - as a test litter, mated to a standard buck not carrying hairless. Unfortunately she could not lactate, so all of the babies were lost except one we drove to Newcastle to be fostered by a lady who had a litter of furry babies at the time. Being unable to lactate is very common in hairless rats, which is why they are not commonly bred (the fancy tends to frown upon breeding animals which are unable to rear their own young).

Depending on which hairless gene you have, you may also find the hairless have immune system problems, kidney problems, and eye problems. It is impossible to tell which gene you have through inspection, but keep a close eye out as obviously the earlier you seek treatment for these ailments, the easier it is to keep them under control.

breeding a rex to a rex gets a hairless i think, the double rex gene is actually lethal (but only to their hair!)

i breed fancies, and also another species of rodent called Multi-Mammates..

they are bigger overall, adult body weight 60g, and with 12 pairs of nipples birth and suckle more pinks than fancies.. they can also have two litters of different ages on the go at one time. they are a lot less handleable than the fancies... all my fancies, 12 x 2 1/2foot cages, are hand tame, and would no more bite me, than me them!

i breed for colour in the fancies, as it keeps me interested in them that way... yes they are cuter, but, needs must... the vast majority of my mice are pre-killed prior feeding, not my best time of the week, but hey ho..

some mice also get sold on as pets, and to start other peoples breeders..

here's the last 4 to go to a new home..

a tub of mixed mice..

i do well with satins... these are golden satin.. do you think they slide down easier?

patched satin

long hair satin siamese..

chocolate tan satin... s'cuse the poo..

some have long hair...

black and tan long hair..

dove long hair

red and white long hair

cream long hair

 

[nerys]

just a few more...

i keep upwards of 80 snakes and 40 or so 4 legged scaley beasts.. 12 tanks of fancy mice and 3 tanks of multimammate mice.... the mice take me no more than a few hours full on once a week - to clean out, and thats all they are handled for too... dunno how you guys manage to have skitty ones...

mine are handled from hopper size, but only as i say, once a week, into spare tub, and back out into cleaned tub.. seems to be all they need to be hand happy... the only skitty ones i have, came from a pet shop, and are nutters.... they are in with a tame pair of mine, and calming down slowly though..

water and feed is topped up in the week as needed...

they have these for houses, which enables me to keep a good few females to each male.. rather than the rack systems more commonly seen..

size comparison pics done for people

fuzz VS pink

& pinks/fluffs/small mice

and some other funky colours and patterns

dove tan

lilac banded

red, this strain carries a single copy of the lethal yellow gene, leading to obeseness...

and this is carrying some rex (curly whiskers and crimped coat)

sable siamese

coffee fox..

lol, i could go on, but best not...

makes it more interesting breeding them for colour as well as food... if i am going to have to spend part of my week cleaning out stinky mice, well, then they may as well be easy on the eye, and produce something to keep my attention for a few hours...



N

(i know, yes, i am mad... its the only way to keep life from getting boring!)

 

[serpentalley]

Because my snakes are still on the smaller side, I haven't raised any of her babies to the "fuzzy" stage yet. The father of her babies is a straight haired Himalayan. I'm also not sure about leaving her babies in with her for longer than a few days. With the last three litters, she has eaten at least 1 baby.

Perhaps the baby she ate was already dead?

Try giving her a nest box (like a square 4L plastic ice cream pail with the lid on and a hole large enough in the lid for her to get in/out). If you don't already, remove the male or any other female so that she can raise the babies alone in peace. Plus, the male WILL mate with her within 24 hrs of delivery (called postpartum oestrus) and that will affect her ability to lactate and have nice sized litters. Try not to disturb her for the first few days. I give them cotton balls that I've torn up (otherwise the babies can get tangled in the long fibers) after the babies are born (otherwise the wet babies stick to the cotton).

I've NEVER had a mother rat eat even one baby! They let me stick my hand in there when delivering and I've even had to help a mom deliver a few babies. If a baby were to die, I always find them dead and still in the nest, never touched by mom.

Hamsters on the other hand are very nasty with babies and can eat/kill the whole litter in a few minutes right in front of your eyes. I had one who retaliated any time I removed a baby...she would eat the rest.

If your female is a double rex hairless type, the babies would all be rexes with that cross.