Rat breeding

Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Djbowker

Active Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2013
Messages
189
Reaction score
0
Location
Blackwater Qld
Trying to breed my own rats, and both times we've I've got a boy and girl, the boy has gone onto messily kill the female.
What am I doing wrong?

The first lot, the male and female had been housed together at the pet shop, the second lot hadnt.
 
Not sure if you are doing anything wrong as I have heard of stories like this but I keep my males separate from my females until they are ready to breed and only put them together for a week. I have also had in larger litters occasionally the runt killed and stomach eaten out which was a little disturbing the first time.
 
go to a rodent forum, the main one is very good, and also very accepting of feeder breeders. Don't breed with anything that aggressive, yes they're destined to be food, but you still want to be able to breed and handle them easily.
Try to source a pair from a reputable breeder, that's your best chance of getting a healthy pair with suitable temperaments.
 
Find a good breeding to buy your startup stock from. I have 9 tubs setup with FFM who stay together all the time. Just move the babies to grow out tubs when they are ready. Have never had mature rats kill each other. Any breeders that eat there offspring or bite me get culled. Haven't had to do this for ages. My mice on the other hand are always eating each other!!! Hope to breed this out eventually.if you were closer I'd give you some start up stock, hav rats everywhere!!!

Sent from my HTC One XL using Tapatalk 4
 
Yeah, my first lot would bite me, I took that as a sign.

The second lot however I could handle, and seemed friendly.
 
There are different genes that code for different kinds of aggression in rats. Some rats may be great towards people but kill all babies of other rats, or they might be great to other rats and bite people, only bite when they have babies, kill their own babies when put under stress, males who only fight new males they haven't met before, males who fight all males, females who fight other females, so many different (and frustrating) types that stifle reproductive success and/or your ability to safely care for and harvest them. All of these types can be bred out of a colony, with proper use of outcrossing, inbreeding and selective breeding. However, it can be a very slow process, especially if the kind they have is to kill others.

As people already said, the best way forward is to start again. Most people have some issues with their rats, whether they notice or not, but your best bet is to go to another person who has good success breeding rodents in bulk for reptile food, and getting some babies from them. Third time lucky! :D The kind of person who would be best to choose from, is someone who has multiple males and females breeding in one tub without fighting and killing, because you know they won't be baby eaters or hate all other males and females etc.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top