Practicing Good Breeding Standards
The debate on feeder breeding is a particularly contentious one, and many people within the rat-community feel very strongly about it. The reality remains, though, that just as we gain pleasure from keeping rats, others gain pleasure from keeping snakes and other carnivorous reptiles. As a former snake owner myself, I can attest to the fact that finding an ethical feeder breeder in South Africa is a difficult task.
Because I am no expert at feeder breeding, I sought out the feeder breeder that has gained the most respect amongst rat owners in Gauteng, and one that has gained quite a name for himself within the reptile world as well, to find out more about the running of this type of establishment.
Brendon Schaper, an employee of a renowned Snake Park, and part-time feeder breeder has developed a system of keeping his rats that has proven both humane and profitable.
“The point is that I bred rats in a way that made sense to me and suited the means and resources I had available. I must also mention that I have received compliments from one of the best known reptile experts in SA, who told me that my pre-killed feeder rats were the best he’d seen in years. Coming from this individual, that was high praise indeed.”
Diet:
The general consensus between breeders is that the cheapest, and therefore best, diet to keep your rats on is cheap dry dog food. Some of the better ones use rat and mouse cubes. This is probably an acceptable diet to keep your rats on, but Brendon did a bit more research and found a great alternative.
“The best diet I came up with was this:
· I arranged to pick up the waste food from a local Mediterranean restaurant. I got about 6kg everyday. I would sort through this and get a good mixture of all the food groups. Some pumpkin, bacon, sausage, fried eggs, pasta, salad, coarse bread, carrots. A little bit of everything. NO AVOCADO! EVER! This causes severe liver problems in rats.
· I mixed everything together in a blender, adding just enough hot tap water to make a VERY thick gravy.
· I soaked 6kg of rat and mouse cubes in just enough hot tap water to soften them into a porridge-like consistency.
· Then I mixed the “gravy” in with the soaked pellets (equal parts) until it was a very stiff porridge.
· I ladled a large scoop into every bowl for every cage and while the rats enjoyed their feast; I cleaned and refilled their water bottles.
· If I had any bones, like steak or chicken, I would mix this in afterwards as a treat. Rats LOVE gnawing on chicken bones to get to the marrow.
· I also asked my friends to keep any leftover yoghurt. I would then give this to the rats as a healthy treat. They loved this and some of them would get into the bowl and scoop up hands full to lick.
· Chopping the food in the blender and mixing it with the softened pellets created a homogenous paste that made each tiny mouthful nutritious AND contained all the minerals and vitamins a growing rat needs.
Why so much effort?? 3 reasons:
1. Rats are some of the most intelligent creatures in the world. They are curious. And they love food.
Feeding them the same pellets every day is no different from feeding a human the same tasteless gruel 3 times a day.
By using the above diet, I stimulated the rats’ curiosity as every meal was slightly different. Now and then I added some seed loaf crusts and other leftovers as a treat and (NB) I always fed them the same time every day. I eventually realized that they waited for me near feeding time and all of them would be standing on their hind legs, sniffing the air in anticipation. Very cute!
When their appetite was stimulated, they ate better and grew faster and healthier and yes, more nutritious for the snakes too.
I also found that the females gave birth to larger, healthier clutches and had a lower mortality rate. Their milk was richer because they had a more varied diet that provided them with amino acids to strengthen the pups and give them everything they needed to grow healthier
2. Money.
Feeding breeder-feeder rats is the biggest expense in such an operation. I saved 50% on feeding costs and fed them a tastier, more nutritious meal that not only resulted in lower mortality rates, but faster, healthier growth and benefited the snakes.
3. Happy, stimulated rats breed better and longer because they have a great diet..
Keeping conditions
One of the biggest problems people have with feeder breeders is the conditions that they keep their rats in. Overcrowded cages are probably the biggest cause for concern because it creates the perfect opportunity for diseases and parasites to spread. A lot of these diseases and parasites can be spread to the animals who these rats will be fed to, and another fact most breeders fail to keep in mind, is that some of their rats will inevitably be sold as pets (if sold live).
Brendon’s setup consisted of 3 different types of cages. He had one 2m x 1.2m cage which he used to house his breeding animals. He had tubs, in which he kept 4 females and 1 male for a week or two, and then rotated them back into the big cage for a week or two. The third cage type was a metal cage, which is used as a maternity ward. Once a doe looks like she’s going to give birth soon she would be moved into one of these. (photos below)
Because I am no expert at feeder breeding, I sought out the feeder breeder that has gained the most respect amongst rat owners in Gauteng, and one that has gained quite a name for himself within the reptile world as well, to find out more about the running of this type of establishment.
Brendon Schaper, an employee of a renowned Snake Park, and part-time feeder breeder has developed a system of keeping his rats that has proven both humane and profitable.
“The point is that I bred rats in a way that made sense to me and suited the means and resources I had available. I must also mention that I have received compliments from one of the best known reptile experts in SA, who told me that my pre-killed feeder rats were the best he’d seen in years. Coming from this individual, that was high praise indeed.”
Diet:
The general consensus between breeders is that the cheapest, and therefore best, diet to keep your rats on is cheap dry dog food. Some of the better ones use rat and mouse cubes. This is probably an acceptable diet to keep your rats on, but Brendon did a bit more research and found a great alternative.
“The best diet I came up with was this:
· I arranged to pick up the waste food from a local Mediterranean restaurant. I got about 6kg everyday. I would sort through this and get a good mixture of all the food groups. Some pumpkin, bacon, sausage, fried eggs, pasta, salad, coarse bread, carrots. A little bit of everything. NO AVOCADO! EVER! This causes severe liver problems in rats.
· I mixed everything together in a blender, adding just enough hot tap water to make a VERY thick gravy.
· I soaked 6kg of rat and mouse cubes in just enough hot tap water to soften them into a porridge-like consistency.
· Then I mixed the “gravy” in with the soaked pellets (equal parts) until it was a very stiff porridge.
· I ladled a large scoop into every bowl for every cage and while the rats enjoyed their feast; I cleaned and refilled their water bottles.
· If I had any bones, like steak or chicken, I would mix this in afterwards as a treat. Rats LOVE gnawing on chicken bones to get to the marrow.
· I also asked my friends to keep any leftover yoghurt. I would then give this to the rats as a healthy treat. They loved this and some of them would get into the bowl and scoop up hands full to lick.
· Chopping the food in the blender and mixing it with the softened pellets created a homogenous paste that made each tiny mouthful nutritious AND contained all the minerals and vitamins a growing rat needs.
Why so much effort?? 3 reasons:
1. Rats are some of the most intelligent creatures in the world. They are curious. And they love food.
Feeding them the same pellets every day is no different from feeding a human the same tasteless gruel 3 times a day.
By using the above diet, I stimulated the rats’ curiosity as every meal was slightly different. Now and then I added some seed loaf crusts and other leftovers as a treat and (NB) I always fed them the same time every day. I eventually realized that they waited for me near feeding time and all of them would be standing on their hind legs, sniffing the air in anticipation. Very cute!
When their appetite was stimulated, they ate better and grew faster and healthier and yes, more nutritious for the snakes too.
I also found that the females gave birth to larger, healthier clutches and had a lower mortality rate. Their milk was richer because they had a more varied diet that provided them with amino acids to strengthen the pups and give them everything they needed to grow healthier
2. Money.
Feeding breeder-feeder rats is the biggest expense in such an operation. I saved 50% on feeding costs and fed them a tastier, more nutritious meal that not only resulted in lower mortality rates, but faster, healthier growth and benefited the snakes.
3. Happy, stimulated rats breed better and longer because they have a great diet..
Keeping conditions
One of the biggest problems people have with feeder breeders is the conditions that they keep their rats in. Overcrowded cages are probably the biggest cause for concern because it creates the perfect opportunity for diseases and parasites to spread. A lot of these diseases and parasites can be spread to the animals who these rats will be fed to, and another fact most breeders fail to keep in mind, is that some of their rats will inevitably be sold as pets (if sold live).
Brendon’s setup consisted of 3 different types of cages. He had one 2m x 1.2m cage which he used to house his breeding animals. He had tubs, in which he kept 4 females and 1 male for a week or two, and then rotated them back into the big cage for a week or two. The third cage type was a metal cage, which is used as a maternity ward. Once a doe looks like she’s going to give birth soon she would be moved into one of these. (photos below)
Example of the "Plastic Tub" containing 1 x male and 4 x females
Metal cages in their shelves, these are the "maternity wards"
The maternity cage up close
For bedding, use newspaper. Rats love shredding it to pieces, so you can just throw in the whole sheets. Wood shavings are not advisable as there are studies that suggest pine and cedar shavings release phenols that are harmful to the rat’s respiratory system, as well as their livers.
For water bottles, Brendon suggested the following:
“I used jam bottles with a 3mm hole in the lid for water bottles. Just fill with water, turn upside down and they get their water by licking the hole.
You can make a 1 or 2 L water bottle very simply. Take a nipple drinker that you buy from the co-op. You know, the ones with the stainless steel tube that is tapered on BOTH ends. It has a ball bearing inside.
Finally, the last part of Brendon’s operations that won us over, was the fact that he humanely euthanized his rats, and froze them, BEFORE selling them. As an experienced snake keeper he knows that any snake, no matter how stubborn, can be converted to frozen food, read more about how to do this under “Snake Owners”.
For water bottles, Brendon suggested the following:
“I used jam bottles with a 3mm hole in the lid for water bottles. Just fill with water, turn upside down and they get their water by licking the hole.
You can make a 1 or 2 L water bottle very simply. Take a nipple drinker that you buy from the co-op. You know, the ones with the stainless steel tube that is tapered on BOTH ends. It has a ball bearing inside.
- CAREFULLY separate the nipple from the plastic lid until you have a steel tube.
- Now find some soda bottle caps. PnP coke bottles work best as they have a small rim inside the cap.
- Drill a whole right in the middle of the star in the inside of the cap.
- Now take a standard home tap washer and push the nipple through the hole in the washer. It is hard to do, but it can be done.
- Now push the nipple with the tap washer around it into the whole in the soda bottle cap.
- The washer is slightly larger that the rim, but if you use a screwdriver to gently push the rubber into the rim, you can screw it back onto the bottle and it seals airtight.
- Now tie a piece of binding wire snugly around the base of the bottle and let it end with a hook.
Finally, the last part of Brendon’s operations that won us over, was the fact that he humanely euthanized his rats, and froze them, BEFORE selling them. As an experienced snake keeper he knows that any snake, no matter how stubborn, can be converted to frozen food, read more about how to do this under “Snake Owners”.