# rat setups



## ADZz_93 (Jan 24, 2010)

im thinking of breeding some rats as im spending too much on frozen ones. gonna be building the setup and just have a few questions. what is the best feeding method? i dont want to go changing there food every 2 days by putting it on the ground. has anyone used thos gravity fed feeders?


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## coree2009 (Jan 24, 2010)

iv rat and mice racksfor sale if you interested mate


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## AMY22 (Jan 24, 2010)

How you house and feed your rats will depend on how you want to keep them, do you want them more as a ‘pet’ set-up or as coree2009 has with racks?


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 24, 2010)

for feeding snakes with, haha, in racks, coree, in in vic, maybe a bit far away to pick up a rat rack


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## chickensnake (Jan 24, 2010)

Amy it does de[pend on that, but you can have them as pets and still have them in a rack system iv got mine in racks and they are still my pets, lol.
You can have the bird wire with a funnel shaped bit going into the tub from the wire lid, then you put the feed in there. You need to make sure the holes in the funnnel bit are big enough to let the rats get the feed out aswell as small enough to still keep it in slightly so it doesnt just pour out into the tub. I just have food bowls that i change every 2 days but as you said you dont want this so all i know of is what iv explained


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 24, 2010)

i think i'll just go with putting it on top of the tub wire, also, were and what brand of tub is the bet, and were to get them?


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## AMY22 (Jan 24, 2010)

When I said as a ‘pet’ set up I meant do you want to have an enclosure as you would if they were pets, i.e. a cage with toys and hides, etc., or did you want to have them in racks.


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 24, 2010)

in a rack system, not as pets, i may put a few little hides in there, but it isn't a priority


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 24, 2010)

oh, and also, how do you go about raising the pinkies


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## AMY22 (Jan 24, 2010)

Well if you have a rack system you can have cage lids like this-






then you can put the food on top. We had these in the lab to house the rats and mice while I was doing Companion Animal Services last year and they are convenient. I would suggest putting cardboard boxes in there for somewhere to hide as well, rats live hiding in places and need something they can get into, things like tissue boxes are really cheap obviously and you can just throw them out instead of needing to clean them etc.


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## AMY22 (Jan 24, 2010)

ADZz_93 said:


> oh, and also, how do you go about raising the pinkies


 
With the parent rats you mean? First thing to remember is remove the males or you’ll have no pinkies left!


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 24, 2010)

thanks for the help


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## AMY22 (Jan 24, 2010)

No dramas, I hope my info was mildly relevant and helpful


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## Serpentor (Jan 24, 2010)

AMY22 said:


> With the parent rats you mean? First thing to remember is remove the males or you’ll have no pinkies left!


not true at all.

we have one male to 4-5 females in several tubs on a permanent basis, and the males never cause any trouble. In fact, they often sit on the pinks to warm them.


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## cris (Jan 24, 2010)

IMO rats are best kept in a large cage or avairy, you can still keep the same amount as if you had them crammed into tiny tubs but they are able to move around, get exercise and are less likely to get cooked on a hot day. Its less work to look after them, they are healthier due to getting more exercise and its not cruel.

Some herpers put the worst examples of intensive chicken, pig and puppy farms to shame as far as cruelty goes.


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## AMY22 (Jan 24, 2010)

Serpentor said:


> not true at all.
> 
> we have one male to 4-5 females in several tubs on a permanent basis, and the males never cause any trouble. In fact, they often sit on the pinks to warm them.


 
It doesn’t happen EVERY time, but it does happen. Especially in overcrowded situations and smaller cages. As a precaution a lot of breeders will remove the male as soon as mating is over.


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## wranga (Jan 24, 2010)

AMY22 said:


> With the parent rats you mean? First thing to remember is remove the males or you’ll have no pinkies left!


 i never remove my males. their left with 3 females and any pinkies 24/7 and ive never had a problem with males killing pinkies


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## Jungletrans (Jan 24, 2010)

l never have a problem as long as only one male . lf you leave him in he will knock up the females as soon as they have had their babies . A cheap way to do it is in old fishtanks , l have some 4 footers from the hard garbage , they dont have to hold water . Just make a wire lid . l have just made a big aviery for their summer house .


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## Sdaji (Jan 24, 2010)

A lot of people have decided to have a go at breeding rats to save money or even make money over the last few years. Many are now realising it's not as good as they expected it to be and are getting out of it in droves. Because of this there are plenty of cheap racks for sale which no one now wants. If you want to breed rats you're probably better off buying a rack now rather than building, as the demand is so low you'll pay less for a rack than you would for materials, but you might want to think about the fact that you will probably end up be getting out of it for the same reasons they did, and wish you never bothered


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## Feurety (Jan 24, 2010)

Hi , this is my rat setup .. the 2 big tubs are for breeding, the rack is for birth/growing
I only have 3 snakes to feed so 2 males and 6 females suplys my feed perfectly year round with xtra to sell for food/beding cost. feel free to pm me any questions.


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## Snake_Whisperer (Jan 24, 2010)

This is an example of my gravity water and feed system. Sipper is Edstrom and the feed cage is just a wire peg basket from BigW. With a colony of 3/1, food lasts around 5-6days, less when there are bubs eating from it. Perfect feeder for use with Norco Rat & Mouse pellets. 

Ditto wranga, I leave my 1 male with his 3 females 24/7 as well and never a problem. Only occasionally lose a litter if it's the female's first.


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 25, 2010)

Than. Everybody


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 25, 2010)

*thanx


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 28, 2010)

Can u get the mixing tubs from bunnings?


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## dtulip10 (Jan 28, 2010)

the edstrom water sipper, are they the same ones as from the agselect.com website??


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 28, 2010)

bump, planning on building a rack this weekend and need to know where to go


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## ADZz_93 (Jan 29, 2010)

where is the closest place to Phillip island you can buy decant rat pellets?


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## holden08 (Feb 4, 2010)

hi where do you get your rat food thanks and where did you get your tubs for the rat rack


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## Snake_Whisperer (Feb 5, 2010)

dtulip10 said:


> the edstrom water sipper, are they the same ones as from the agselect.com website??


 
One and the same!


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## Aussie Python Lover (Feb 5, 2010)

Feurety said:


> Hi , this is my rat setup .. the 2 big tubs are for breeding, the rack is for birth/growing
> I only have 3 snakes to feed so 2 males and 6 females suplys my feed perfectly year round with xtra to sell for food/beding cost. feel free to pm me any questions.




Thats a good set up you have there


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## Jen (Feb 5, 2010)

Just a tiny tip, don't know if this will work for you, but find out if there is a lab/vivarium near you that uses mice/rats in bulk/breeds them etc, they may allow you to have the bags of feed/bedding that are unable to be disinfected into the facility. Our viv lets me take any that can't go in for my friends.


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## ADZz_93 (Feb 8, 2010)

Img_0064.jpg


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