2nd attempt at keeping keeper rats.

Ok so if you would like to re-cap on my 1st attempt please visit:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100797

This time I think I had things going for me. I decided to keep two female all black rats from the second litter of my Black femal X White & Tan male. The female had her litter and at 6 days I culled only half the litter of 9 and then at day 8 I culled all but the two keepers. I think I planned things right because my second female in this cage gave birth to 12 more babies within 12 hours and just took on the two big black baby girls. On the next litter I culled off some at day 4 then more at 6 then the rest at 7 so that now the two keepers are the only ones left. Today my wife saw both keepers hopping about the cage and following moma around so I think these will do well. So last time I culled all the babies at once, just about and something happened so the Keeper was eaten. This time I gradually took away babies to keep the stress of loosing babies low I guess. Does any one else have to go through this much trouble to keep back one or two keepers out of a litter? Or do we think the first experiance was a fluke? Any thought or comments are welcome. I am just happy I get to see some new rats from birth to adulthood and be able start breeding them. :dancer:

I think your first experience was a fluke. I pretty much cull what I need when I need them and don't pay any attention to the specifics. I rarely have babies eaten. That isn't to say never, but rarely. Rats are good mothers and as a rule you shouldn't have a problem unless you just get a bad one.

Just a note, you said that you kept two black females and culled the rest. You do know that you will need a male at some point right?

wade said:

Just a note, you said that you kept two black females and culled the rest. You do know that you will need a male at some point right?

Click to expand...

lol yea. I have the original male and from what little I know the males keep cookin a bit longer than females do so I figured I would not cull a new male till 3rd generation. My original Male and females are probably 6 - 8 months old as it is so I didn't think my timing would be that bad doing this.

That should probably work for ya, but personally I would have kept a few more just in case, or even to set up a second colony to be sure. That's a lot of work you did, it shouldn't be too difficult to get them going.