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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 5, 2010 18:34:58 GMT -5
I just use the tubs you can get from Walmart. Sterilite is the brand of tub I'm making into an enclosure right now. I can't remember the size but its good for about 2-3 females. I'm making it for my sister. I'm going to be putting it together tomorrow so I can try and take some pictures.
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 7, 2010 12:11:01 GMT -5
This is what I'm housing my rats in right now. It is a rat rack I built a while ago. It was supposed to have 5-6 levels, but I'm oh so handy with a saw and screwdriver and I messed up so many of the levels. We left it at two. In the top drawer I have Noel with her litter, and Nutmeg and Creampuff are in the bottom level. I have Yoshi caged somewhere else because of her RI. Ignore the mess. Full Rack Close up of Level (You can see Noel in the corner)
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 10, 2010 14:00:01 GMT -5
A little update.
Nutmeg - Still waiting to see if she is pregnant. She is kind of plump but I wouldn't say she looks pregnant. She has been helping take care of Noel's litter.
Noel - I fed off the males of her litter since I am only keeping the females. There are 3 females left. I plan to raise these up to breed.
Yoshi - Getting a little better. She is around 230g now.
Creampuff - My male. He has gone to visit with my sister and her rats. Her male is getting old and she wanted a nice young buck to impregnate her females. He'll be there for a few weeks.
Bradley - Our newest addition. A little beige male. He will be Creampuff's roommate. He is about 6 weeks old. He will be Yoshi's mate as soon as she is old enough.
Breeding Females: 2 Breeding Males: 1 Current Litters: 1 Expected Litters: 0
Plans:
As soon as I start breeding on a bigger scale, the updates here on my log will probably not be as frequent and the rats will not have their own little updates. It will probably just be pictures of any current or new set ups, updates on litters and pregnancies, updates on how many I'm producing a week/month. My husband has given me the go-ahead to breed on a larger scale (though I'm going to have to pay for everything myself since I don't want to ask him to pay for it. I'm trying to get a job, but in the meantime, I might sell some rats and mice I produce to pay for new enclosures (Around $10 each to make) and buy new breeding stock. By the summer I hope to have a dozen or two breeding females. From Noe's litter, I'm keeping the 3 females. They will become Group A and with Yoshi, Group B. Bradley will be their assigned male. This will bring my breeding female count up to 6. I plan on purchasing a few more females as soon as I have the funds.
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 14, 2010 22:28:26 GMT -5
Welcome the newest additions to our breeding colony. These 3 girls are from Noel's litter and we have decided to keep them as future breeders. They have no opened their eyes yet, but they are squirming around and being cute. The two dark females do not have names yet, but my friend named the little albino girl, Leena. The two dark girls almost look alike, but one girl is lighter than the other, almost dark gray as opposed to black like her sister. I took a picture of the two side by side, but the color doesn't come up right because it is my camera phone. Perhaps someone could take a guess at what she is. Creampuff is with my sister, hopefully doing what he does best with her female. Bradley is doing well. Yoshi is almost 250g! She's such a big girl!
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 15, 2010 14:25:04 GMT -5
The girls now have names. Leena is the albino. Laney is the lighter dark one, and Luna is the black berkshire. Breeding Females: 2 Breeding Males: 1 HB Females: 4 HB Males: 1 Current Litters: 1 Expected Litters: 0
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 24, 2010 15:46:56 GMT -5
Breeding Females: 2 Breeding Males: 1 HB Females: 4 HB Males: 1 Current Litters: 1 Expected Litters: 1
Nutmeg is pregnant again. I really hope this litter goes better than the first one. The three little girls are now 3 weeks old. Only 13 weeks before I can introduce them to a boyfriend. I think their male will be Bradley. We will see though.
My plans now are to put together a rat tub for the three girls to move into once they are weaned. I will be taking pictures of my set up once I get everything organized and where I want it to be. Noel is not looking particularly pregnant, so I don't think she is. Though she may not be showing as much.
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Post by 1 on Mar 24, 2010 17:32:39 GMT -5
Are the dads capable of inpregnating their daughters with out problems?
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 24, 2010 18:22:37 GMT -5
Yes, they are capable of impregnating their daughters, though I hope to keep inbreeding to a minimum. So far I am not breeding any related rats, though I am inbreeding my mice. Usually there are no issues but if they come up, I will cull the defected offspring and bring in fresh blood to the colony.
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Post by 1 on Mar 24, 2010 19:26:04 GMT -5
Sounds easy, they where originally domesticated as life stalk! I'm not assuming it is easy, but it sounds easy!
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 24, 2010 19:34:15 GMT -5
I'm not sure if they were originally bred as livestock but they are INCREDIBLY EASY to breed. However, for someone like me, impatient, waiting for a rat to get pregnant and then drop a litter drives me nuts. I hate waiting!
My first goal with my rats is not only to produce interesting colors and markings, but to first produce rats that have large litters. Noel's first litter consisted of only 6 surviving offspring. If she continues to produce small litters like this or her daughters produce small litters, I will not continue her line. Nutmeg's first litter was large-ish (11) but only 1 survived. Her next litter is coming up, so I hope to breed for rats that produce a lot of babies.
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Post by 1 on Mar 24, 2010 23:48:52 GMT -5
I know the guinea pigs where domesticated by native Americans who ate them, so, any thing else? BY, the way, your starting to make me interested in this! Dose any one ever escape?
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 25, 2010 14:48:49 GMT -5
I have not had any escapees from this colony....yet! I did have a few escape from my last colony though. I did not secure the lid to their tank and they got out. Never did find them. Beautiful beige hooded male too. From this colony though, I keep all enclosures tightly closed and I check them several times a day.
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Post by 1 on Mar 25, 2010 19:01:55 GMT -5
I've just been to a new pet store (as I predicted, ferret kibble, but no ferrets) I saw Guinea pigs twise the size of guinea pigs, and rats the same size as guinea pigs! Talk about GIANTS! So I must ask, how big are your rats?
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 26, 2010 11:49:50 GMT -5
My largest male is probably somewhere in the 400-500g range, which is roughly a pound. He has been at my sister's house over the past few weeks (she breeds rats as well and needed a male for her female) so I have not weighed him recently. He comes back on Sunday, so I will get a weight on him then. Of course, my other male is only a little over 2 months old and is quickly approaching 300g. We will see how big he gets.
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Post by fuzzymom on Mar 27, 2010 17:38:26 GMT -5
A small update. Laney, the little female rat I was raising up as a future breeder died today. Her two sisters are doing well and are continuing to gain weight as normal. Laney lost a lot of weight before she died. She did have an umbilical hernia when she was younger, but I thought it was fine once she hit 3 weeks old because it was no longer showing. I guess it caused something to go wrong and I don't think she was getting much food into her system.
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