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Rats!
Dec 31, 2008 18:53:53 GMT -5
Post by nwheather on Dec 31, 2008 18:53:53 GMT -5
What oh what have you guys done to me? I'm on a roll with starting my mouse colony, then today, I went & picked up two free female rats, that came with a cage, books, ball, food (not very good food). They originally were at an elementary school, & the nurse said they could not stay for sanitary reasons, so the mom of one of the students allowed her daughter to bring them home. Well, of course after a couple months, the novelty wore off & the little girl stopped taking care of them, so the mom listed them free on CL. I have no idea how old they are. Of course I have breeding in mind, so I picked up a young male.....they happened to just have received four baby males, so I picked one out. He is sooo cute & tiny! (I'll post pics soon.) I don't know how old he is, but he's little. We'll see how the females do for breeding, & if they are too old, I can get a couple young females if needed. My friends think I'm nuts. LOL Most are not to keen on me raising them for food, but when I come back with..you eat steak/hamburger don't you? All those cows are raised in less favorable conditions, just to be killed, so you can eat them. At least I can control my animals diet & welfare unitl it is their time.
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Rats!
Jan 10, 2009 19:10:30 GMT -5
Post by fuzzymom on Jan 10, 2009 19:10:30 GMT -5
Congrats on starting your rat breeding journey! If the rats lived at a school, and then in someone's home, chances are they are past breeding age. A female rat should not be bred before she is 4 months old and if she has not been bred after 4 months, she should not be bred after 9 months. Apparently this has something to do with the pelvis fusing together. If the rats were to get pregnant now, they would have a lot of difficulty and you don't know how old they are.
They probably spent a few months as adults at the school and then a few months at a home, so they are probably well over 9 months old. They could be younger, but chances are they are older. It would be best to go pick out a group of females that are aged 1-3 months old. That way you can raise them up to breeding size.
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Rats!
Jan 11, 2009 0:42:32 GMT -5
Post by nwheather on Jan 11, 2009 0:42:32 GMT -5
Thank you for the info. I was looking for a baby female, to start both off young, but it kept falling through. After having them, & interacting with them, I realized it will be hard for me to raise them for feeders, so I am looking to rehome them. I won't be breeding the rats after all, just the mice. When I picked up the male, I am guessing he was really young, & maybe just weaned.
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Rats!
Jan 12, 2009 16:22:00 GMT -5
Post by bigsis7 on Jan 12, 2009 16:22:00 GMT -5
Rats are really amazing creatures (almost like mini ferrets), so I don't think I could ever feed them to ferrets.ell good luck breeding the mice!
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