I personally love to raise rats as appose to mice but currently doing both for clients in my area. The smell is better if kept outside. I have dryer sheet(fragrance your preference) over each screen top. I use vanilla in the water to help cut down the smell as well. I have heard nothing but positive for raising rats as being the healthier to raise and they are easier to tame down from birth so easier to handle and have hand in tank as often as needed without biting worries. But burning incense, dryer sheets, glade plug ins and the like all help enormously with the odor except when your nose is right over the tank. This is also helpful for those who raise inside. I love experimenting with the types of foods I give different sets to see the different effects(birth size,growth rate etc) my own mini know how.

LOL Awesome Diggy, and thanks for the scent reduction info. The glade plugin is already in our herp room, and it seems to do the trick. I can't wait to get the rats, I'm a bit of a rodent nut -- there's a Mini Rex rabbit in my future too (pet, not feeder!) A friend of ours has pedigreed breeders, and they just had a new litter!

__________________
I give up! I've officially lost count of the critters...

I sucessfully bred gerbils but now I can't bear to feed them to our Kingsnake. They just opened their eyes yesterday. They are so cute. I don't believe I could feed any rodent to my snakes after raising them. I wish their was someone local that bred rats and mice. The ones that I get from the pet store aren't healthy. I know this because several times I bought rodents from the store and put them in a nice little plastic house with bedding and food and water to fatten them up a bit. Every time I tried this, the animals were dead the next morning. Sick rodents can't be good for my snakes.

i love breeding rats I have 2 my female just had a litter they r just about the sizei need I am hoping to get my mom and dad to get me 2-3 more females cause its nicer to have a buch popin babies i am going to keep a male from this litter so maby I can get 3 more rats one for my cerent male and 2 for him but he would have to wate till hes biger so they would stay with daddy

i almost cant bear feding the babies I have raised mice or rats but I know more will come

__________________
"wow and your mom lets you have all these animals?" -my grama

0.0.1 Ball Python, Akua 27"
0.0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake, Seismo 22"
0.0.1 Snow Corn snake, Sleet 27"
0.0.1 grey rat snake, Issa 31"
0.1 German Shepherd, Zanny 90 LBS
Click for Snake name plates
Wish list.... atleast some of it ;)
MORE CORNS!!!.......

And this is why I stick to non-"cute furry, little critter" eating types. I have rescued too many poor rodents that were sitting for days in a snakes tank with no food and water. Bad snake owner! - Not you guys, the one who left them in there. The rat actually turned out to be one of the smartest critters I have ever owned (and that is saying a lot!) He'd walk on a leash, ride on my shoulder, fetch.... No, I'll stick to watching the demise of creepy crawlies like crickets, roaches, mealworms....