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Good and Bad of breeding these rats

johnbort2

johnbort2

New member
First off, I was able to get a pregnant female(kid at pet store didn't care), so 3 days after purchasing her for $3, I now have 12 pinkies! If I bought these at the pet store at $1.50 each, I would have spent a lot. I have learned a lot about rats in the process, as I love to do research. I have learned that they are smart, clean and the female is a wonderful doding mother.
Now...the ugly. My 4 year old son comes into the snake room and starts naming them. I had bought 1.3 med-large rats and 1.3 smaller rats. The smaller ones are pretty cute and we had one that would actually come up to us every time we opened the tub. This one is called "stewart" and another one called "Terence". So now my 4 year old goes into the snake room literally every hour to make sure they haven't been fed to the snakes. My wife, who still won't let reptiles in the house, calls me at work and says "I think we should get a rat cage for him and then keep him out of your snake room" So...$100 later, my son has Stewart and Terence in a cage in his room(which by the way has 3 levels with ramps etc). It is pretty darn neat seeing how smart these guys(which are actually females lol) are. Steward is like an outgoing puppy dog.
I had to feed my pastel ball a live rat pink last night. As I took it from the momma, I actually felt a bit of remorse as I took her baby away from her. I NEVER thought I would think twice about feeding rats(always fed f/t),but I have come to kind of like them. Although, the remorse goes away when I see that full content look on my radiant pastel ball python :)
I have decided though, that the successful breeders(ones that don't bite me especially..lol) won't be fed to the snakes. After producing young for feeding, I don't think I will have the heart to kill them. Wow, I never thought I would feel this way..ex Marine, Bowhunter. Anyone else experience this after breeding rats?

John
 
This is my first time breeding rats and I feel the same as you. My rat popped yesterday and eventhough I havent taken the pinks away yet, I already feel guilty. Curse you emotions!!! :twoguns:
 
LoL.... oh my, that is hysterical :) I feel for ya - we go through the same thing here! Only it's with Dwarf Hamsters - those big eyes looking up at you...

I don't have any issues feeding them or their babies, but my daughter does. We've worked out a system where she helps me go through the Hamster cages and pick out the pinks, fuzzies or any adults that aren't doing well in the colony, then she leaves the room. It's the only way. She's learning to be pragmatic and that is a good thing :)

-Tonya
 
i breed mice and i always hate when it comes to killing time :(. there so cute and just have no idea whats about to happen. i always feel so bad after heh. but i do love watchin my snake eat lol.
 
It is harder for me to feed off something that my rodents have produced rather than thawing out a frozen block shaped mouse. Rat pups are a lot more nutricious for snakes and help them grow faster though. If you're breeding for color it can be hard because in the younger ones you're not sure what will develop.
Keep in mind though that as you run your rodents through pregnancy after pregnancy they will get worn out. Seems like you have a lot of rats for production so that you can rest them a bit, but I'm not sure how many snakes you have. Just the one? Taking one baby away from a mom on her second or third consecutive liter is actaully helping her out. The other babies will benifit from more feeding and she'll have one less baby to suck up her resources.

I hope it gets easier, it usually is if you have a few "special" ones. Then the rest can kind of be looked at in a different way. At least for me. I hope it works out for you too.
 
I am definately the wierd one here.....I don't have dogs or cats...I honestly prefer rats as pets. They are cleaner, alot of fun to watch and show me affection everyday. They form strong bonds to their cagemates to the point that some of them grieve when a cagemate dies and are so smart its scary sometimes.
I also love my cornsnakes.
As a result I spend a millon dollars a week on frozen mice!

My rat loving friends don't understand why I love snakes.
My snake loving friends don't understand why I love rats.
 
Guilt, remorse??? What does that feel like, tell me :grin01:

I love the rats, I hate the smell... I doubt ill ever breed mine. I have a rule with the mice, If you look cute/unusual - you live.

I have no problems whatsoever bashing the mice off a wall to feed my hungry snakes :p
 
I have 26 snakes as of now. I only have a couple ball pythons that refuse to feed on f/t..all the other snakes do. I am just breeding a few for this purpose, so I will give the females long breaks between breedings.
 
This is why I don't breed my own and only keep snakes that eat frozen/thawed mice. Like starsevol, I also have kept rats as pets for years and am very attached to mine as pets only. They're fantastic loveable little animals. I also love my snakes and understand their need for food.

If someone else raises them and they're already dead, I have no problems. I'm afraid that I couldn't even raise a hog and eat it after it was butchered. I get too attached to what I raise.
 
I started out breeding rats for a local raptor rehab center. After I started breeding them, I realized how smart, clean, and sweet that they were. Because of that, now I have 8 pet rats (6.2), that are only pets. I dont breed them, heck I even got two of my boys neutered! They live in a mansion, hehe. So yeah, I can see where you are coming from :)
 
My opinion has changed slightly. We bought my son a rat cage and I put in 2 rat girls for his room. One was more outgoing than the other. The "outgoing" one for no reason bit him REAL bad. Very deep and lots of blood. Jack did nothing but pick her up from the play table. She got fed to my 3000+g ball python. The other one is doing real well and has learned to hang out on our shoulders and not try to get away. Rats are real neat, but I can't tolerate ones that bite like that...and this was no nibble. I put another one of her siblings in with her form company in the cage.
 
well, i did just give one of my rats to a guy with a red tail boa to feed her off. she was going to be another breeder rat for me, but she bit me and my dad, so i feel she brought it on herself, lol
 
cOULD THE BITER HAVE BEEN PREGNANT? tHE ONLY TIME iVE EVER BEEN BITTEN, AND EVEN THEN THEY'VE NEVER BROKEN THE SKIN, WAS W
 
Darn it hit the wrong key didnt mean to past that without fixing it. Anyway, the only time Ive been bitten was messing around inside a pregnant rat's cage, or one with a new litter. Theyve never broken the skin though. For pets Ive had the best luck starting with them as newborns and handling them daily so they are well socialized.
 
Yeah, I've never been bitten by rats, and our neighbors have rats (they're on their like 4th generation :) ). I play with the rats all the time, and I've never been bitten. They rarely even nibble. I'm amazed that one of your rats bit your son so hard.
 
no, she wasnt in the colony yet. she was fine when i first got her but then she staqrted flippin out
 
Tula_Montage said:
I love the rats, I hate the smell... I doubt ill ever breed mine. I have a rule with the mice, If you look cute/unusual - you live.
Click to expand...
My adult creamsicle will only eat live, so I purchase three mice every two weeks. My standing request is for, "the fat ugly ones". Let someone who wants a pet buy the cute ones.
 
She wasn't pregnant. She had never been with a male. It wasn't a food nibble for sure. That is why I fed her off...couldn't be trusted again. And by the way, i held her from the time she was born, so it wasn't that she wasn't used to handling. Her cage mate is still a great pet and we all give her attention every day. I tried to put another female in with her for company, but it was somewhat smaller and she picked on it.

John
 
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