rat weights..

[ADEE]

are they decent? isnt there an ideal weight for breeding females?

they were with male for four days so we will see how it goes

remy: 145g
emmie: 165g (couldnt believe she was heaviest)
mbe: 140g

dolly (aka mean girl) 105g
molly 120

dolly and molly were not bred as they are much younger, they were weaned on 8-5 from momma, thats all i knew about them.

[frankykeno]

Actually they are a bit too small for mating hon. You want your females more around the 200 to 225 range or even a tad heavier for a really top result. That generally equates to about 5 months of age in most female rats. They can breed younger and lighter but you tend to get more birthing difficulties and smaller litters so for me I prefer to give them a bit more time for growing. You also tend to see the smaller females come out quite skinny after nursing their litters, it just takes a lot out of them with little reserves, no matter how well fed they are.

[ADEE]

OK, thats good to know.. hopefully everything comes out alright with them.. (meaning perhaps not enough time with good ole' boy) i knew that the "babys" of the group were far too small/young. emmie is the only one feeling more fat, but obviously its because she is a bit bigger. we will see what happens. if nothing else at least i have something to go by in terms of weight.

[frankykeno]

If they got preggers, they got preggers. Best you can do at this point is monitor them for weight gain and just make sure they are well fed and supported through the pregnancy and delivery and nursing time. I've had a very small female come up pregnant - I picked her up from the pet store and didn't realize she had been in with males. I was worried sick but she did very well with the 8 pinks she delivered and turned into a very nice, consistent breeder for us. I did give her a really long rest after that first, unplanned litter and didn't re-breed her till she was up to a better weight.

To get a visual on this...if you check back on my thread about my new rats....LisaMarie the Fawn Hooded is in for first breeding at 226 grams. Both Priscilla and Gracie are much smaller so are still in the female only tank to grow up a bit more.

Most of my mature female rats, that have had a litter or two, tend to run in the 350-400 gram range and are not fat...just good sized females.

[ADEE]

thanks jo, helpful as always.

if they wind up being bred we will see where that litter takes us and we dont really plan to breed for awhile again anyway.

on a side note im looking into a ferret nation cage for our girls (bday present to me) so if nothing else they will have an even bigger enclosure for them.

[Kagez28]

is there any way to bump up there weights? like just keep feeding them more and more.

[frankykeno]

Kevin, I'm of the mind that whether it's a rat or snake or any living thing, you should feed it appropriately and let it gain weight at the rate it should gain. Overfeeding while possibly attaining a weight goal quickly isn't healthy for any living thing as it tends to pack on more fat than body mass/bone growth. Fat rats are very unhealthy rats. They tend to die younger, show more cancers and that sort of thing.

As with any mammal though, if you suspect the female is carrying, you would of course provide her with extra calories to support the growth of the babies as well as her own needs.

[MarkS]

I breed mine generally when they're over 200 grams, for me this is about 2-1/2 to 3 months. 5 months seems long to me.

[ADEE]

thanks everyone. im going to get a digital scale either tonight or tomorrow afternoon, this way ill have a better idea not only what they weigh but ill be able to tell if they are preggy or not.