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Cant make up my mind on a colony, Rats or Mice

They look about the same size as my two month old girls, that is if your hands are around the same size as mine... :p So i'd say at least two months and possibly older.

Yes, it is possible to two PEWs(Pink eyed whites) to produce colored babies IF! they have it in their genetics. Since your only allowed PEW is Alaska you most likely wont get anything but PEWs but it all depends on the whole seller the store gets the rats from. If they live and bred in Alaska they should only have PEWs.
 
Ok so it is possible if they have it in their genes. Well I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't because of the law about only PEW rats up here. I just wasn't sure if it was possible or not (Kinda like no matter how much you breed German Shephards your not going to get a poodle haha) to get colored babies.

Now I read that most people wait up to a year before they breed rats From this site ...

http://www.ratfanclub.org/repro.html

Then 4 months on this site...

http://www.qualitybredboas.com/rattenhouden.htm




So what age do all of you start breeding them at? I want to start breeding them as soon as I can but I don't want to put them at any un-needed (I know the fact im breeding them for food so they are going to be at risk to an extent) risk.
 
Allalaskan said:
Ok, so I am uploading pictures as I type this but I have another question. Is it possible for an Albino Rat or mouse to have colored babies? I was at the pet store yesterday and while they were getting the rats I noticed they had 4 or 5 different mice in there with litters 3 of them were albino and half the babies were colored and the other half white. So I was just wondering, is it possible for 2 albinos to have colored babies or will two albinos always have albino babies?
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Yes. They MIGHT carry "hets" that would make colored or marked babies. No way to tell unless you breed father to daughter and breed at least one pair of full blood siblings.


Looking at rat fansites is going to get you "quality care" crap. Throw the rats together and see what happens. Females start having cycles at different ages, so I let them decide when they start breeding.
(IMO a year old rat has lived half her life. It's like a human having their first kid at age 50, or something of the like.)

If you want to be careful, which I think you might since this is all new, wait about a month. They look about 2-2.5 months old to me. 4 months is the age feeder breeders recommended to me, though I had one girl who did better at 3 months than a sister from the same parents who was 4.5 months old.

I think your rats may be at an age where they will still double in size and weight, though the buck will probably triple in weight, as they're thicker than females. Another thing about this: cull female pups and feed those to your pup eaters. Raise the male pups up for your larger sized eaters (BPs).

A local breeder here has a website that says she doesn't breed until 6 months, gives them a month to nurse, a month to recover, and then breeds again. This is BS. Unless your female gets skinny, which will probably happens with their firsts litters, keep them together. If a female doesn't recover from a littler within 2 or 3 weeks, don't keep breeding her or keep any pups. One of my girls would NOT wean her pups and some older pups (I kept her away from them for a week and she was STILL lactating), continually lost weight, and had a seizure from her health.

Another thing-- if you have a female lose weight like that but she's not super skinny with her backbone sticking out, try introducing fatty foods to her. Bird seeds, yogurt, cat/puppy food is all great choices. I prefer yogurt, as I see results with it immediately (except for the one that seized).
 
Also:
" Females of breeding age come into heat all year round, every 4 to 5 days, unless they are pregnant or nursing. "

Not true. After birth, females continue to cycle again.


Also, if you see any runts, get rid of them right away. I notice them after they start growing at around day 5 onwards. Runts are usually a bit smaller, are weak, look sickly, and are almost always skinny and showing their ribs.
 
Well what my plan was, was to breed one then when she has her pups throw the other female in and breed her, then in theory when she has her pups the other female I would think would be ready to breed again. Of course I only have 3 snakes so that would depend to on how many pups they have and how long it takes my snakes to eat them. Then again, I guess that would depend to on how fast the rats grow and how big they need to be for my snakes at that time.

So do you think I should wait a couple more months to breed my rats since you think they will still double in size? Im not sure how big rats are when they are born so I personally don't have a good idea on there age.
 
It would good to get a digital scale to weigh your rats and your snakes.

You need to determine what your feeding needs are and fill it with what you have available by euthanizing and freezing when the time is right.

I have newborn mice and rats in the freezer, along with several various sizes/weights up through adult. I don't have anything that can eat a full size rat so I don't let them get that big.

The large breeders can go to friends or the pet shop when they stop being productive.

BTW, I once bred two PEW mice and the entire litter of 12 was dark eyed and jet black. :shrugs:

Good luck.
 
PEW bred to PEW will NOT give anything OTHER than PEW. The PEW genes mask ALL other colors. To get colors one mouse or rat MUST be colored. If you DO get colors then one is so marked that it only has one or two hairs that are colored or a spot you are not seeing.
 
carnivorouszoo said:
PEW bred to PEW will NOT give anything OTHER than PEW. The PEW genes mask ALL other colors. To get colors one mouse or rat MUST be colored. If you DO get colors then one is so marked that it only has one or two hairs that are colored or a spot you are not seeing.
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That makes sense. I never really looked at them that closely so there could have been a dark hair or two somewhere. Unfortunately, that pair is long gone so no way to check.

Thanks.
 
Ok, that makes sense. Since colored rats are illegal up here then im sure they problubly are pure PEW. With the mice though, I believe you can have colored mice so I guess its a lot more possible for a colored male to get a hold of one of the PEW female mice.
 
Allalaskan said:
Ok, so I am uploading pictures as I type this but I have another question. Is it possible for an Albino Rat or mouse to have colored babies? I was at the pet store yesterday and while they were getting the rats I noticed they had 4 or 5 different mice in there with litters 3 of them were albino and half the babies were colored and the other half white. So I was just wondering, is it possible for 2 albinos to have colored babies or will two albinos always have albino babies?
Click to expand...

Yes. I try to mix and match often. That's how I got a lot of different colors. And albinos can have mixed litters if one of the parents is colored otherwise you will get all whites
 
I got a scale that measures in grams and ounces up to 10 pounds at Walmart for 38 bucks, so that's a place to check first.
 
It would be nice to have my own colony. But I've been to somebody's house who was breeding rodents and the smell was overpowering.
 
dan803 said:
It would be nice to have my own colony. But I've been to somebody's house who was breeding rodents and the smell was overpowering.
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It took me a long time to find the right set up but I've got it down to where you wouldn't know there were rodents in the house. There will always be some odor in the immediate area, especially close to cleaning day, but it's no where near what it was when I first started. Keeping them in a separate room or the basement helps also.

Rats are better than mice but you have to monitor the size of the pups carefully if you have a lot of smaller snakes. They put on weight quickly and can double in size in a couple of days.
 
HOw many mice and rats did you guys have? so far I dont have any smell from these guys yet, but it has only been a few days too.


I have been thinking about putting mine out in the garage but im afraid it will get to cold out there still.
 
JohnNJ said:
Too cold? In Alaska? You think? :p
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Well during the winter time ya lol, but come summer it gets pretty warm up here during the summer but so far there really isn't much if any smell so as long as they stay that way They will get to stay inside.
 
Allalaskan said:
Well during the winter time ya lol, but come summer it gets pretty warm up here during the summer but so far there really isn't much if any smell so as long as they stay that way They will get to stay inside.
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All kidding aside, you should stay on top of the cleaning even if you can't smell anything. Everyone's sensitivity to various odors is different.

I have noticed that with groups of rodents that are good about urinating in the same corner (not all do) the overall smell is lessened. But when you clean the tank/tub and move the bedding around the ammonia smell gets real strong.

My point is that you can't rely on your nose. You must clean weekly, even if its spot cleaning a corner, for all rodents. The ammonia collects at the bottom and can make it miserable for the occupants.

Also, with mice especially, the more stuff you have in the tank (wheel, hide, chew toys, etc.) the worse the smell. They have no bladder control and urinate on everything, including the water bottle. I have not noticed a change in behavior with my mice kept in tubs with NOTHING in there with them except bedding.
 
O ya, I plan on cleaning (today every one gets cleaned, snakes, rats, guinea pigs...) weekly, I just was noticing that it wasn't as bad as I had expected.
 
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