Pulling rat babies

[Jay_Bunny]

I'm on a rat forum and someone was asking about when to pull babies and I said 4 weeks is when I usually pulled babies, and I have pulled them as early as 3.5 weeks. Someone responded saying 4 weeks was way too early and that even 4.5 weeks was too early and babies should not be weaned until they are at least 5 weeks old. Now, this is a pet rat forum and NOT meant for feeder breeders like me, but I go there because I like learning how to better my rats' lives through diet, environment, and interaction.

So lets say you are pulling a rat for use as a future breeder, and not a feeder. You want this rat to be as healthy as possible so you don't want to pull it too early, so when do you pull a holdback rat from mom?

[sassy-pants]

Same time. I usually pull at 3.5 - 4 weeks and have never had issues holding rats back for breeders. I choose my holdbacks usually a week or two after weaning, and I've never had issues. Tons of people wean at that age, and it has been done for many generations.

5 weeks is the absolute maximum age you should pull the male pups from mom's tub, since they can impregnate her at that age. 6 weeks is when you need to separate young males from young females. They are usually ready to wean as early as 3 weeks though, so weaning at 4 is not too early.

[m00kfu]

I wean all our rats at 3-4 weeks, both breeders and feeders. They're already eating solid food at that point and I haven't noticed any difference between now and in the past when I would wean at 4-5 weeks.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I pull mine at 3-4 weeks, they are eating solid food and can perfectly be weaned off at that age.

[littleindiangirl]

Yea.... they are eating solid food full time, which is the definition of being weaned. Pull those babies .

[tomfromtheshade]

Four weeks is probably the best time if you are using separate birthing tubs. If you are breeding in a colony setting with your male and all your females together it is best to pull them as early as possible.

[suzuki4life]

Four weeks is probably the best time if you are using separate birthing tubs. If you are breeding in a colony setting with your male and all your females together it is best to pull them as early as possible.

not necessarily true....

and never seen a 5 week old rat breed in 16 years of my experience breeding rats.

My offspring are removed once their eyes open and either are sold or they go to a community trough where they last maybe a week until the next orders come in....

In the past I have sat on a trough with a mix of rats from 5-10 weeks old over 2 months and no litters. At 8-10 weeks I normally start freezing....prices between medium and large is not big enough to keep feeding them but the difference in food consumption is obvious.