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winterizeing auto water system

C

cwolf

New member
Ok, I know its hardly even summer right now, but I am trying to think ahead and be prepared for next winter. I just got a freedom breeder rodent rack for my rat colony which is located in my garage. Where I live it gets cold, on the coldest days it can freeze in my garage, and I am trying to figure out a proven method of keeping their water system from freezing without heating the whole garage. Living in Illinois our electric rates are ridiculous and I am not going to even attempt that. The water system is an edstrom gravity fed with 3/16 tubing with a 5 gallon bucket. I have thought about using heat cable and running it along the tubing with a heater in the bucket, but edstrom warns against using heat cable with their tubing. I have also thought about creating a recirculated water system with a pump that pumps the water from the bucket to the rack and back to the bucket and heat the water in the bucket. The later method to me seems the most likely for success, but before I go spend a pile of money on that idea I thought I would ask the forum for help. Has anyone dealt with this and tried anything that works? Like I said before I would like to hear from people who have experience with this issue but all suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
chris
 
Intresting,... I don't have a system like yours but I wonder, if the 5 gallon water supply was heated by a aquarium heater. That might keep it warm enough not to freeze in the tubes of the water system. But the only way to find out would be to wait and try. Then if it still freezes, Yikes....

If you think it would still freeze I would go with the pump idea.

Good luck
 
Have you thought about how well the rodents will fare in a place so cold the water might freeze? I would guess they will huddle together and survive (depending on just how cold it gets and how long it stays below freezing), but I would think their production would go way down if not stop entirely in such conditions.
 
My demand for rodents is such that during the spring, summer and fall I can produce enough to get me through the winter easily with an abundance of feeders. The problem is starting the spring with a colony who is old enough, disease free, and acustomed to each other to start the process back up. Try to find someone willing to sell live females in number and you will understand what I am talking about. They breed fine down into the low 50's, just not as much. They also start growing a winter coat that most people have never seen, and their tails become hairy. They do huddle, and their living space is adjusted with alot more bedding, and they do fine, the problem is that the water freezes. What I may do is just put them back in lab cages like I have used in the past during the winter and use a 25 watt light to keep their water bottles thawed.
chris
 
Gosh. When I opened this up, my first thought was "bring them inside during the winter." Still think it's the best idea if there's such a good chance of the water lines freezing... If you have any room/area in your house--a basement, a spare bedroom, extra space in the bathroom--that stays warmer than the garage, I'd say just throw casters on the racks (if they don't already have them) and roll the thing into a different room when necessary...

Also, do water heaters normally emit heat? I have no idea if they do, but if yours does and emits enough heat, maybe try moving the rack into its vicinity during the winter? I would think your average water heater would emit enough heat to keep the area around it above freezing... :shrugs:

Maybe do the water bottles/light thing with the rack?

Another thought that came to mind is maybe mount a couple CHEs (or lamps, though CHEs will allow your mice to have day/night without things freezing overnight) near the rack, pointed at the water lines, with an aquarium heater in the bucket... You'd probably have to play around and test that one for a while, though, to get the right "formula."

If my ideas sound/are stupid, please forgive me. I'm just throwing stuff off the top of my head. =)
 
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