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Researching rats

Silvergrin

Silvergrin

New member
Hello!
I'm not new to snakes (or cats!), but I've never had rats before. I keep looking for an excuse to get a few though. ;)
I was pondering having a pair or a trio for pets, but letting them breed and using the babies as a snake treat. I'd take the babies at a young age, I doubt I could kill a rat past a pup. (I don't like mice much, but I like rats a lot!)
I was wondering what people's experiences in this sort of thing are - how do you feel about feeding a pet rat's babies to snakes, does the mom care much about her babies being taken, etc? ...in short, is it worth it for a few snake treats, or ought I just get a pet rat and not breed at all?

Also, any links to good sites on keeping rats would be much appreciated! Thanks :)
 
I have rats as pets, but don't use them for food. I just couldn't!
I don't know if mother rats miss their babies, but I do know that sometimes ratties mourn the death of a cagemate. They are very social animals and really need to be kept in pairs or more. Single rats lead very lonely lives because as much attention as you give them, they really need someone to groom, play with and cuddle with when youre not around.
 
It's very hard to kill the babies, I feel so guilty everytime. One time I was sure my hairlees female staired me down all day, although it was her cage mates baby. I was putting food in one night and that female bit my finger. The hairless babies are so cute, the regular rats are a little easier. Now one of my colonies has a litter that is different colors. What I would suggest is don't even look at or pick up the babies until you ready to feed them. susang
 
breeding...

I have rats and hamsters here. I am allergic to mice which took me awhile to figure out but the rats and hamsters work out great. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 males and about 15 females right now. I house 90% of them in 30 gallon rubbermaid containers with wire tops. What I have found is that some females are highly protective and some females are not. The babies are always fed off ranging from 5-21 days of age. I spent time working a farm and I got used to the fact of life that some animals are simply raised to feed other animals (ie:Humans in this case). Sometimes I will hold some back to 4 weeks if I need new females. In the end though what I don't keep to breed is snake food. I have several adult snakes that will only eat live so I do not face the issue of needing to pre-kill them. When I do pre-kill to freeze I will use CO2. I have not gotten to the point of surplus on the rats yet. Hamsters I use solely as pinkies/fuzzies and hopefully soon I will run into a surplus there so I have pinks froze for the spring hatch.
 
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