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Stinky Factor

Do Rats stink less than Mice?

  • Yes

    Votes: 20 74.1%

  • No

    Votes: 7 25.9%
  • Total voters
    27
Lore

Lore

Insert Witty Phrase Here
Ok, so from what I have heard Rats have a FAR less "Stinky Factor" than Mice do. I want to confirm whether this is true or not.

As you all know I've had issues breeding my mice, 3.5 months, no breeding, had 1 pregnant one and the darn thing died. :eek1:

So MICE... I GIVE UP. I'm culling the 3 I have left and freezing them for snake food.

This Saturday I will be at a local All Animal Expo where I can pick up some nice Rats, I am even considering Hairless Rats. (If anyone could give an opinion on that one too I'd appreciate it.)

So in short... Mice... no babies... BIG STINK...
Rats??? :shrugs:
 
Hey there,
I find mice much easier to breed then rats and they can be kept in smaller tubs/tanks which takes up less room. If you need quantity then mice are a much better choice.
Rats need more room and take a little longer to breed then mice I have found and for the most part somewhat smaller litters.
I would recommend getting 1.4 younger mice and letting them grow up together. A ten gallon tank would be ok, or a rubbermaid tub. I have had that problem also but they usually come around aslong as they are not to old. But when you have about 500 of the things at any given time it's quite easy to find babies. lol
Just my thoughts.Check out my site and see how the mice are kept and cared for!
Hope this helps....
Ryan
~Valley Pets~
 
I've obtained mice from the All Animal Expo that breed quite well. Lots of variety in coat types and colors also.

As for the smell, no contest. Nothing smells as bad or as strong as male mouse urine. Can't believe someone actually voted for rats smelling worse.

Rats are easy to breed, but personally I have a much harder time euthanizing them than I do with mice. It's easier when they're still pinkies but I always want to let them grow to see what colors they end up with.

Hairless rats tend to be a lot sicker and the females have trouble nursing and raising young. They eat more and require more warmth.

I think the best breeder to buy from is Carl & Linda Vail, they're close to the entrance and sell rats, mice, african soft furred rats and crickets. They sell Harlan lab blocks and Sani Chips too. I got mice from them a while back that seem to be good healthy breeders. They sold me my first African soft furred rats, though they haven't bred yet, the female looks pregnant.
 
OOOH! Do you have photo's of your African Soft Furred Rats? :crazy02: Thanks I will check them out tomorrow. I don't need them to support my collection with food, just as a side hobby of having some nice Rats and the kids enjoy watching them... So a pair of rats is probably all I'll get.
 
Oops, it's too early for me and I haven't had coffee yet. Rats DEFINITELY stink more than mice. Their poops are much larger. I used cat litter for both my mice and rat cages. The mice never had a noticeable smell and the rats ALWAYS did.

There are definitely some pros though. Most of my mother mice didn't handle litter after litter very well. They wear out much faster than rats.
Rats are easier to handle and I'm pretty sure rat pinks are a bit more nutritious for snakes. You gotta watch out though... the babies are a lot cuter! They're a bit harder to feed off in my oppinion.

Also, size is a factor. A group of 1.2 or 1.3 can be housed comfortably in a 10gal tank. Rats need a lot more space. The males get HUGE. I have some male mouse vs. male rat pictures that I took awhile ago for someone on the forum asking a question.
Here they are:

Mature male mouse:
malemouse.jpg


Robin
IMG_3041.jpg


See, way too cute to feed!
IMG_1341.jpg


Good luck with your decision. After breeding both rats and mice I think I'm going to stick with thawing them out.
 
Call me biased, but.....

......both are vile vermin. :puke01: Both deserve to be eaten.

And don't even get me started on hamsters. :grin01:

Since there wasn't an appropriate category, I didn't vote....but now you know where I stand on the issue. ;)

regards,
jazz
 
If they're more for pets, get normal rats. the African soft furred ones are very skittish and the female is a nasty biter. I tried getting them to trust me by putting my hand in the cage with treats. At first they were scared, then they lost their fear and would take treats, then the female started biting my hand every time I put it in the tank. Now I have to wear leather work gloves when I have to deal with the female. Once I get a litter to raise up I think she's going to be snake food. I'm hoping the other female I got and any future litters which will be handled from birth won't be biters. They're also fast and very strong jumpers so they can't really be handled at all.
 

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I had a rat explosion when my ball went off food for a few months. Even with close to 30 rats in one cage there wasn't alot of smell. Now I have 1.3 mice and 2 days after cleaning their cage, they smell again. I can't wait until my snakes are big enough I don't need pinkies/fuzzies. I will probably switch to rats eventually, if I could find soft furred's I would go with them.
Mice are just nasty.
 
Lore, I've been breeding rats and mice for a whole year now (yay for experience :rolleyes: ). I like both, but rats are definitely more friendly and outgoing. I guess its because of their size that I like them more. I don't feel like I'm going to smoosh them when I hold them. Rats that you hand raise can be very nice and sweet, but I wouldn't let your kids handle them until you know the rats well. If you get a rat from a petstore that hasn't been handled, you really have to watch out. Rat bites can be really painful. As far as hairless rats go, if you want to do that, get a hairless male to breed to the female. Hairless females have a hard time raising litters and sometimes only have a few babies. And then, if you want more hairless, just breed one of the babies back to the dad. Hairless can be kind of hard to find and will usually be a little more expensive, but they are SO cute! Hope that helps!
 
grdn1014 said:
ive been thinking about raising mice as feeders but the smell has driven me far far away.
Click to expand...

Mice aren't too bad to deal with if you use the right bedding. The key is a good pelleted bedding and changing weekly. I don't usually notice the smell until it gets around day 6 or so. Rats on the same bedding can go 2 weeks before there's any odor, and even then it's nothing like mouse odor.
 
Hey,
I house anywhere from 300-500 mice and about 50-60 at any given time and would have to say that most of the smell comes from the rats. Just my experience and I can't speak for anyone else. They are cleaned every weekend and come about thrusday or so you can really smell the rats for sure. Maybe it's just the numbers I keep that make the difference? Who knows?
Ryan
~Valley Pets~
 
Maybe it is the numbers, maybe your rats are overcrowded. How can you not notice the male mouse urine over and above everything else?
 
I raised rats for near 5 years. Had one that lived almost 4. If its for a pet, I most definitely recommend getting rats. They're cute, funny, and have very unique personalities. I never had a problem with smell after I switched to alfalfa pellets (rabbit food) as bedding. They are also very trainable. Had one girl leash trained, knew her name, came when called no matter where she was, and never relieved herself on anyone. They often times will potty train themselves. As for kids, bonding definitely has to be made between rat and child before too much goes on because those bites can be vicious. Otherwise I never had problems with my nieces and nephews playing with them. They also love dinner left overs and chicken bones. Be warned though, it is very easy to spoil the little critters. If you have any questions feel free to ask. :)
 
add a small amount of vanilla extract (natural or imitation - it doesn't matter) to their drinking water. The extract passes right through their systems and greatly reduces the stink...

you only need 2-3 teaspoons per gallon
or
just a few drops per bottle
 
I have 5 rats in one cage, and no stink whatsoever. I get three tiny mice in a cage and they stink within 5 minutes! No contest here, mice are 20x stinkier! And, I found that my rats were much more prolific than my mice. My mice would never breed and when they did, they kept eating the young. I vote rats!
 
so rats may not stick as horribly, but are they as efficient as mice for producing feeders? rat pups are pretty big too imo.
 
I work in a place that thousands of feeder rodents pass through every week. The rats are far less offensive smelling. We clean our rodent bins every day. The numbers we keep mean that both will smell pretty bad, but the mice are WAY worse. Not to mention that mice are far more likely to bite than rats. I am allergic to rats and I'd rather be around them then mice.
Also, when I was breeding rodents, the rats seemed to produce better than the mice.
 
lefty_mussolini said:
I work in a place that thousands of feeder rodents pass through every week.
Click to expand...
Pardon my ignorance, but.....

......where is it that you work again?

:sidestep::sidestep::sidestep:

regards,
jazz
 
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