Thought I had this figgured out, but seems like I need LOTS of help

[billye1982]

Ok, here is a short story of my setup, built a 12 tub rat rack.



Set up (2) tubs with 1.2 adult rats, and another one with .4 females for replacements in a few months, I dont know how old my current females are.

Here is my problem, I THOUGHT I read somewhere that I can leave the 1.2 rats in the tub, they breed, birth, raise their litter, then wean the ones that dont get fed off into their own adolescent male and female tubs. Well, I came home today and saw some blood in one of the tubs, and saw 2 pinkies, the male was eating one and one of the females was eatin the other. I start doing more research and find conflicting advice, take the male out, ...

One of my females in the other tub is about to pop so I took the male out of there and put them in the same tub, because rats need to be kept together from what I have read, keeping one in a tub is bad for them. Well, the two males were fighting for 20 minutes. I thought they might settle it and see who the dominate one was, but I seperated them because I dont want TWO dead males. So do I need a seperate tub for EVERY breeding male I have??? Please help, I know there are lots of things here, but I dont want to lose another litter or any other rats!!! Thanks

[coldbloodaddict]

I put all my pregnant females in tubs by themselves…When you keep them together they can fight over the babies and end up killing them.

Two breeder males by themselves will usually end up fighting…Best not to house them together.

You can run 1.5 breeders in the tubs you have and make a rack with smaller tubs to put single preggo females in.

[Ladybugzcrunch]

Buy your rats as weanlings (they grow fast). Females should be sisters. Put 1.2 - 1.4 in each tub depending on tub size. Put your hands in the tubs ALOT. Give them treats. This will earn their trust. I prefer dumbo rats, they are cuter and seem more docile than regular rats. You should not have to worry about separating anyone this way. Also never let them run out of food or water and keep the bedding clean. You will get more babies if you and the rats are all friends.

[azmodane]

I'm looking for a little more info? Was this their first litter? Did they have food/water? Temps too high or too low? All of these things are factors when it comes to moms or dads eating babies. My first 6 females had a litter each that had gotten killed before they started to produce and take care of their babies. Now each of them are producing 12-18 pinks for me with only 2 deaths at most per litter. Also you can leave a female alone in a tub with her pinks. I know a few breeders that will do that. Pull a preggo female out of the community tub and put her in a smaller more confined birthing/nursing tub. She will have her pinks and take care of them.( Also a great way to find out which mothers are terrible at taking care of their babies.)

[snakesRkewl]

I love my momma rack and the moms really enjoy having their own space during this time.
You need to breed a few more moms than you would if you kept them together due to a slow down in production but to me it's worth having larger healthier food.
And because the moms aren't pregnant while nursing their babies they tend to feed them better and are more attentive in my experience.

Just built this 9 space condo