How to Raise Bamboo Rats That Are Giving Birth? Scientific Feeding and Management Methods

The bamboo rat, also known as the winter thatch rat, the burrow rat and so on, is an animal with relatively high economic and medicinal value. At present, many farmers have begun to raise bamboo rats artificially, so do you know how to raise bamboo rats that are giving birth?

1. Build breeding pools

Generally speaking, breeding pools are divided into two types, and using them together will give better breeding results. One is the birthing nest pool, which is divided into an inner pool and an outer pool. The inner pool is the bamboo rat's nest, and the outer pool is the place where the mother rat feeds and moves around. At the bottom of the cement slab separating the inner and outer pools, there is a round hole with a diameter of 12cm connecting them, so that after the mother rat becomes pregnant she can be moved into the birthing nest pool for raising. The other is the large mating pool. On one side inside the pool, a 30cm-wide insulation trough is built, and under the partition board of the insulation trough two holes with a diameter of 12cm are opened to connect with the large pool. In addition, a cover board is placed on the insulation trough for the bamboo rats to rest inside. Each pool can house 3 males and 12 females.

2. Secondary selection of breeding stock

When purchasing breeding stock, try to choose excellent individuals, then through self-breeding and self-raising, select and keep offspring that produce 4 litters or more per year and 4 or more young per litter, and keep excellent individuals weaned at 30-35 days of age and weighing more than 250g as breeding stock.

3. Repeated mating

After the mother rat gives birth and after the young rats are weaned, there is one optimal mating time each. The first is called "blood mating," and only when the rats are fully adapted to domestic raising is blood mating easy to succeed. Immediately after weaning, the mother rat is put back into the large pool for group raising, and the 3 male rats are allowed to mate with her in turn, achieving the purpose of repeated mating.

4. Ratio of males to females

For beginners, 1 male to 1 female can guarantee 4-5 litters per year, while 1 male to 2-3 females can mostly only yield 2-3 litters per year. But if multiple males are matched with multiple females in group raising, they will quickly adapt, and the breeding rate and number of young per litter can be greatly increased.

5. Careful protection of the pregnancy

After the bamboo rat has been pregnant for 1 month, supplement the feeding with succulent, tender green feed. From 10 days before giving birth until the young rats are weaned, feed 20-30g of jicama, sweet potato or water chestnut every day. At the same time, add bone meal and multiple vitamins to the concentrated feed.

6. Careful feed formulation

Every day, supply 200-250g of concentrated feed and 2-3 kinds of roughage. Mix the concentrated feed with rice porridge and add a little salt and mineral feed additive. The roughage should be 80% fresh.

7. Environmental conditions

1. Quiet

Moving them, loud noise, strong light, noise stimulation, human disturbance and so on will all cause bamboo rats to stop mating for a period of time. Even if they can mate, the conception rate is very low.

2. Temperature

The suitable temperature for bamboo rat breeding is 8-28°C. In high-temperature weather, appropriate cooling measures can be taken to allow them to breed normally. When the temperature is below 5°C, the bedding straw in the birthing room and insulation trough should be added to a thickness of 10-15cm, so that the young born in winter can be ensured to survive.

The above are the breeding methods for bamboo rats that are giving birth. Have you learned them?