Ralph Davis Reptiles - The Martrix

OLD_RODENT_ROOM_2

This is a pic of a holding tub for small rats........this is also a racksystem......it is 4 tubs high......each tub can hold several hundred small rats. It has water sippers in the rear of the cage and an internal food hopper......When I pull small rats from their mom's.......
this is where they go.......they stay in here a week to feed and grow.......after that they become food........I pick through them one time a week on cleaning day to get the "cream of the crop" females.......these girls will be future breeders......I also pull "studdly" looking boys too!!!.........you need many more girls than boys when breeding.......I always have Rat holding bin
new females and "back up" males to add to my breeding colonies when need be........

The holding tubs get dirty fast.......these need to be cleaned more often than one time a week........and sometimes may need a fan placed over them to keep the rats from overheating........and most of all they need to have food at all times......they will start eating each other in a heart beat if food runs out........I use a Ziegler block food to feed all my rats.......this system is designed for the use of block food........the rats need to eat through the wire mesh.......this takes some work and will keep them from gorging themselves.........