|
Post by fuzzymom on May 8, 2010 12:04:31 GMT -5
I've been so busy lately that I've barely had time to catch up with my rats. A few updates on my colony.
Nutmeg's litter is weaned and the girls are looking great. I'll be getting 2 tubs this weekend for the 4 girls I'm keeping. They will be able to breed mid July. Nutmeg is going to have a week or two off to get her weight back up and have some time to herself and rest, then she is going to be bred to Creampuff again. I want to see if I can produce more dumbos and more blazes this time.
Noel's litter is doing well. Mostly black berks and albinos. All of these will be fed off. Noel was bred right after birth, so we might see a litter in about 1-2 weeks from her.
Yoshi's huge litter dwindled down to only 4 babies. I'm keeping 2 from that litter as future breeders and my sister is taking a male. The two girls I'm keeping are a beige hooded and a black berkshire. Yoshi may have been bred after birth, so we might see a litter in 1-2 weeks from her as well.
Luna and Leena are doing well. They will be able to breed next month. I plan on breeding them to Bradley, my beige berkshire for their first litters. Then I might breed them back to their father, Creampuff, to see what genetics pop up.
Breeding Females: 3 Hold Back Females: 6 Breeding Males: 2 Hold Back Males: 0 Litters Produced: 5
|
|
|
Post by fuzzymom on May 17, 2010 13:03:53 GMT -5
The black berkshire from Yoshi's litter died (it was very small anyway). She stopped feeding them anyway (probably because her litter was due) so I pulled them and they are currently housed with Leena and Luna and doing well.
Yoshi had her 2nd litter. 16 in all and so far so good. Bradley is having some sort of eye issue. His eye is surrounded by what looks like blood but its been there for a while so I think it is that porphyrin around his eye. I'm thinking of separating him into his own tank to make sure it gets better before putting him in with Luna and Leena.
Nutmeg is gaining weight now and is looking much better. I'm thinking of waiting until her daughters have been separated from her for a while, leave her in with one daughter and give her another week to recover and then breed her again.
Everyone else is doing great and eating well. I can't wait until I'm at the point I am supplying myself with enough feeders for the snakes as well as the ferrets. I just need to get more organized. I was organized when I had fewer rodents but now I just feel almost overwhelmed. If I had a better system that was better organized I'd have no problem at all with cleaning and feeding and keeping up with everyone, but having so many tanks sitting around and such, it is just a pain. If I had a rodent rack, it would make life sooooo much easier, but I can't build one. The last time I tried it turned out really crappy and after spending over $50 I only had two tubs to work with (and each tub only holds a maximum of 3 rats, and when you have litters in there, there is even less space.) I can't wait until my husband and I move into a house. I'll have more space then and I can figure some kind of caging out that is easier for me.
|
|
|
Post by fuzzymom on May 19, 2010 10:10:34 GMT -5
Yoshi's litter is now 4 days old. Many are developing their color. Lots of black hooded rats. We shall see if any are dumbos.
I will be doing some major rearranging soon. When I get my paycheck on Friday I plan on going to the store and getting at least 2 more tubs so I can finally start organizing the rats into pairs (2 females live together and I rotate a male through several pairs of females) The pairings are as follows. Once I have everyone paired up and organized I will figure out how many males I need and get additional ones if needed.
Female/Female - Stud (an I indicates it is inbreeding)
Sage/Rosemary - Bradley Parsley/Thyme - Bradley Luna/Leena - Creampuff (I) Weefun/Female - Creampuff (I on Female)
Yoshi, Noel, and Nutmeg will all be solitary females since they are used to being bred and raising their babies alone. Noel and Nutmeg fight over their babies so pairing them up with another female is pointless. The Female above that will be paired with Weefun is a female from Noel X Creampuff. She does not have a name yet. So right now I need 4 new tubs for the rats. I will update as I begin making the tubs and as the above girls begin breeding. Luna (black berk) and Leena (albino) are due to begin breeding next month, though I may start them early if they are big enough (250g).
Breeding Females: 3 Hold Back Females: 8 Breeding Males: 2 Hold Back Males: 0 Litters Produced: 6
|
|
|
Post by 1 on May 30, 2010 20:12:03 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by horse656 on May 31, 2010 10:38:01 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by 1 on May 31, 2010 20:03:44 GMT -5
Looks escapable to me, but thats not a healthy scenario!
|
|
|
Post by fuzzymom on Jun 5, 2010 19:38:58 GMT -5
If you build it right, it is almost escape proof. You will sometimes have that rat that will chew its way out of anything, but many people who use these rodent racks never experience a problem. I have one that has two tubs and I've never had an escapee. Its been in use for about 2 years now.
|
|
|
Post by fuzzymom on Jul 13, 2010 20:59:19 GMT -5
Well the time has come to really consider whether or not this colony is going to survive. All my females are horrible mothers and terrible breeders. They are basically sucking money out of me through food and bedding and not giving me any feeders to show for it. I've already C02ed 3 of my rats and plan to euthanize another 3 soon. I am going to try breeding the 5 females I was raising up to breed but if they, like their parents, are horrible breeders, they too will be euthanized. I'm going to be starting over with my rat colony if the 5 don't do well. So you might have to be on the lookout for Fuzzymom's Rat Colony Version 4.0. I'll have better enclosures, a better food menu, and better breeding schedules.
If anyone is in the Richmond, Va area and wants live or f/t rats please let me know. I've got 3 jumbo rats in the freezer and another 3 ready to get C02ed (currently live). If the 5 don't do well, they too are for sale.
|
|