Colorado Rat Breeder-Camarattery

pic taken 12/5/2009
 

Our rattery was just remodeled on 6/5/2009. We have had the same set up since 2004 and decided it was time for an overhaul, now we have the new "state of the art technology" in caging. Now we have less rats and larger cages, so they have TONS of room! I made certain of that.
Update: 12/05/2009 the nursery just gained one more Critter nation cage! We now have 3 of the CN cages! This new one is for the babies!

   Here is Camarattery's rattery. Its' not very big but I am proud to say it's always very clean. As you can see our rattery is very well lit. And there are lots of toys that are rotated frequently to keep things fun, I also have a wheel in every cage. Because my rats love to run!  The lights are full spectrum so they give the rats the ability to utilize the vitamins they eat by duplicating the sun at noon time. They produce the UVA and UVB that the sun does. Plus it's just depressing to be in the dark.

   The cage on the far right is the nursery. This houses babies 2 1/2 weeks till they go home. The tubs across the top of the cages are for moms and brand new babies up to 2 1/2 weeks. I am not using all of them in this picture, but they are fully set up. The next cage over from the right is the males, and the one on the left is the female’s cage. And of coarse you can see my pool there as well. This is for my BIGGEST and oldest boys and my all time favorites. They live in there all year around. And yes when you come over you may play with all of my ratlets. I encourage it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Comments we have received on our new rattery set up. Comments received from 12/5/2009 on..

PS Camarattery, what were you explaining about it not being a pet only environment?  Your cages aren't covered in hammocks, but I don't see anything wrong with them, or anything other than the tanks that have to do with it being a breeder's house.  OoO and I absolutely love the pool set up.  It's really fun looking. smesyna 12/6/2009

Camarattery - those are some LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY rats!  Can't I shrink down and join them? pennytherat 12/6/2009

My rats are jealous!  Can't wait to see it.  Looks great!  Sarha 12/6/2009

Neat!  I bet you are excited to have it complete.  Looks nice. Marissa 12/6/2009

WOW Amy. Looks great. I'll bet you feel like you're in heaven. I'm so jealous of all the room you have for your rattery. I would love to keep my play pool set up but then I wouldn't be able to get into my rat room. Lol Karen H2R 12/6/2009

Looks good Amy! I bet the babies are happy! Melissa 12/5/2009

The Girls

(I will post different configurations of how the cage looks at different times)

The top

The bottom

The Boys Cage

The top

The bottom

The rats are really loving their new cages. Their excitement level could not be higher. They are loving the hammocks by rat happy as well! They have more toys than they can possibly play with, and they are just enjoying life to the fullest! And I am enjoying my clean house.

Nursery Tub's

Here is a picture of a momma in a nursery tub. As you can see the tubs are spacious for the moms and babies, but not so large that the babies get lost, pushed aside, and cold. The water bottle if affixed to the lid of the tub so you will not see it in this picture. Mom will give birth in this tub and stay here until her babies are 2 1/2 weeks old. At which point she and her litter move to the Critter Nation.

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All of the rats in my rattery are treated with the utmost respect and love. They are my pets before anything else. I am a small rattery so I am able to give each one of my rats a great deal of socialization and love.

All of the pregnant moms are placed in the nursery cage and fed a higher protein block to insure that they are getting all of the nutrients a pregnant rat needs to make a healthy litter, I use Harlan 8604. This is done right away after conception and she will continue to be fed this diet while she is nursing. After the babies are weaned they will remain on the Harlan 8604 until they are 3 months of age to ensure that they get what they need to grow into healthy strong adult rats. After that they are put on the adult formula as per the certified rat nutritionist at the Harlan labs.

The Play Place!

My Boys	My Girls
My Dwarf Boys

My Happy Girls Napping	Close Up Of My Girls Sleeping
My Boys Playing	Close Up Of My Boys
Deeds & Others Eating At McD's	Sam Hall Eating At McD's
Los Paranois, RAMR D & Jumble	Help & Happy being exposed under a tunnel

We have had a bigger pool for about a year now. So it's about time we posted it here! This one is 4' across. And nowadays the boys live in there full time. This is their 2nd year in the pool.

Notice the veggies in the water for fishing! My boys are quite the fishermen!

My standard sized male rats live in a pool 100% of the time. They are completely cage free. This is their 2nd year in the pool. The females, babies, dwarfs & Manx are limited in their pool time because of their energy and tenancy to fall off the edge.

 Each cage of rats gets to come out for one hour minimum every day, sometimes I leave them in there for 5 hours or so. My play pool is set where all my family members can reach in and grab a rat and socialize with them and love them up. This keeps them sweet and makes them so happy to see us every day! All you have to do is walk by the pool and they come running to see you! I also rotate the toys and tunnels to keep it fun and interactive. I find that the pool is great for their fine motor skills and coordination because of all the jumping, and running they do in the outer edge of the pool as well as the wrestling they do inside and playing in the tunnels.

The play place is a great place to feed thos treats and try new things. They spend so much time in the pool that it also keeps their cages cleaner, plus the pool is simple to clean. It takes like 2 minutes to tear down, wash and set back up.

My ratties get lots of exercise!