Just bought my first pregnant Rat!

[MoshBalls]

We now have 6 snakes and have been talking about starting to breed our own rats. 5 of the snakes are on F/T but our newest female Mojave is refusing to eat F/T. So since she is our largest we broke down and bought a small rat today. While I was the pet store I noticed one of the large rats looked like she was pregnant. I asked and he verified it. He even said she was laying on her back earlier in the day. Which I have read is a good sign that they are pregnant.

I am so excited to get started. Right now she is in a 10 gallon tank with the mesh lid and locks, I have a small water bottle and a small dish of rat food. I also gave her a little of my dog's kibble, and a dried banana slice.

Question: The small rat I also got as a feeder unfortunately was not eaten either. It's sex is unknown because I didn't check. Right now I have it in a small wire mouse cage. Is is alright to put in with the expectant mom? Any other advise you can give a newbie? Thanks.

[Anatopism]

I would not put another rat in with the pregnant female because while rats are usually pretty good moms and are unlikely to eat their babies like mice or hamsters when stressed, a 10 gallon is a very tiny area for mom + babies, and you might end up with mom trying to chase off the youngster.

If the younger rat is male (it is very easy to tell... look for testicles... they are massive, but young boys can be good about trying to pull them up insie their bodies) you might end up with him harming the babies, and if it is female, you might end up with her attempting to steal and raise the babies herself -- which is unlikely to go very well.

SO long story short, no don't keep them together. Let mom raise them by herself. If you plan on breeding more, males are capable of getting mom (and sisters) pregnant at 6 weeks, though this is less likely to happenin a 10 gallon tank due to size restraints, and age.

A large female rat can have up to 18 babies, though litters of 6-9 are much more common. Gestation is approximately 21-26 days, and many times female rats will not 'show' a pregnancy until just days before they give birth.

Good luck with it all.

[MoshBalls]

I would not put another rat in with the pregnant female because while rats are usually pretty good moms and are unlikely to eat their babies like mice or hamsters when stressed, a 10 gallon is a very tiny area for mom + babies, and you might end up with mom trying to chase off the youngster.

If the younger rat is male (it is very easy to tell... look for testicles... they are massive, but young boys can be good about trying to pull them up insie their bodies) you might end up with him harming the babies, and if it is female, you might end up with her attempting to steal and raise the babies herself -- which is unlikely to go very well.

SO long story short, no don't keep them together. Let mom raise them by herself. If you plan on breeding more, males are capable of getting mom (and sisters) pregnant at 6 weeks, though this is less likely to happenin a 10 gallon tank due to size restraints, and age.

A large female rat can have up to 18 babies, though litters of 6-9 are much more common. Gestation is approximately 21-26 days, and many times female rats will not 'show' a pregnancy until just days before they give birth.

Good luck with it all.

Thanks! What size tank do you recommend for a mom and babies?

[Egapal]

Thanks! What size tank do you recommend for a mom and babies?

I would recommend against using tanks. The best thing you could do is go out and buy the materials to build a 4 or more tub rat rack. Let me explain why. Once your babies start moving around nothing shy of a 40 gallon breeder is going to be even close to enough floor space (for me anyway). You can raise them with less space but I find the more space my rodents have the happier I am. If you plan on raising your feeders past the 5 to 6 week old mark you will have to separate your males from your females. You can leave your females with mom if you aren't going to breed again but if you are planning on breeding her again you will need to keep mom and dad separate. So with just a single breeding female you might want 1 tub for your breeding pair, 1 tub for your female weanlings and 1 tub for your male weanlings. Tubs are easy to clean, give tons of floor space compared to tanks and are cheap. Because they are cheap I say build 1 or 2 more than you think you will need. There are tons of great posts about how to build a rack.

[MoshBalls]

Well she had the babies on morning of day three. 11 babies in all. She is already taking the treats I give her by hand. I believe I will be keeping her a while. I also went back and found two more pregnant rats, one of which gave birth the night I bought her. 12 babies in all. rat #2 rejected one of the babies and I tried to get rat rat #1 to take it but it was too much smaller and the other 11 always won out. After a day of trying to get one of them to take it I ended up feeding it off to my smallest snake.

Rat#2 doesn't have as good of a personality, and will take the treats but is definitely not trusting. Rat #3 hides all the time and hasn't given birth yet. I have been giving treats of fresh veggies, and fruits, pasta, and almonds. I try to give them something every time I check on them to get them used to me.

I have been able to hold all the babies so far to get them used to my smell. Some of them I will be keeping back for future breeding and I want them to be used to me. I will probably keep most from Rat#1 since she is much more docile and fun. I have even let her out in the rat safe room to run mazes I set up and play everyday when I clean the cages and check the babies.

Right now #1 is in a 20 gallon, and the other two are in 10 gallons. I don't plan on keeping more than the 12 total for breeding recommended for the size of my snake collection. I plan on euthenizing, and freezing the others when they get about 4 weeks old. I figured if I get enough stocked up I can always separate the males from the females, or sell some of the extra frozen.