Rat breeding question

[xbikez]

Hi everyone!

Here is the deal: I bought a 1.2 rat group a few days ago and I was wondering how long is it gonna take to get some baby rats?

Hope you guys can tell me from your experience!

thanks.

[MisterKyte]

In my experience, it takes about a month or two for a male to breed a harem and the females to become noticeably pregnant. I think in about a month a female can go through two heat cycles and should be pregnant by that point but I only bother remove the girls to nursery tubs once I certain that they're expecting pups so I tend to keep breeding groups together longer.
But yeah, 1-2 months would be my word.

[xbikez]

In my experience, it takes about a month or two for a male to breed a harem and the females to become noticeably pregnant. I think in about a month a female can go through two heat cycles and should be pregnant by that point but I only bother remove the girls to nursery tubs once I certain that they're expecting pups so I tend to keep breeding groups together longer.
But yeah, 1-2 months would be my word.

thanks man, I really apreciate the help.
cheers.

[sorraia]

If they get pregnant immediately, you'll have babies in 3 weeks. If they don't get pregnant immediately... who knows. Female rats tend to go into heat approximately once a week (about every 4-5 days), but there are factors that can affect their heat cycles as well as their receptiveness to the male, and likelihood of conceiving even if they are mated. Stress is one such factor. Count on at least a week after a move for the rats to settle in.

[xbikez]

If they get pregnant immediately, you'll have babies in 3 weeks. If they don't get pregnant immediately... who knows. Female rats tend to go into heat approximately once a week (about every 4-5 days), but there are factors that can affect their heat cycles as well as their receptiveness to the male, and likelihood of conceiving even if they are mated. Stress is one such factor. Count on at least a week after a move for the rats to settle in.

thanks, Hope i will be getting pups in a month then.

[xbikez]

I got another question!:
should I keep the male with the females together all the time until the pups are born?
or I keep them separated until certain time?

[sorraia]

I got another question!:
should I keep the male with the females together all the time until the pups are born?
or I keep them separated until certain time?

That's really up to you. Different people do it different ways.

For me personally (and part of this may harken back to my pet breeding days), I keep males and females separate until I want to breed the females, then I'll leave them together for 1-2 weeks before separating again. I don't leave the males and females together all the time, and I don't leave multiple females and litters together. I currently have 9 breeding or potential breeding females, and 4 males. With these numbers, what I've been doing is simply rotating different males (which ever one I feel like pairing for whatever reason...) with 2 females at a time. By the time I have one or two litters born, I already have the male with another female. I start breeding the girls at 250 grams (or so). I wait to rebreed each girl until every other female has been bred first, giving each girl a couple months in between litters. Since I only have 8 snakes who eat f/t, this provides me with plenty of babies without being completely overrun. I have pretty much had a litter at all times, but at different ages or stages (gives me good variety in size for the different snakes I have... and technically I have 10 snakes to feed if I include my two rosy boas and knock off a couple babies while they are still small enough for them). This has worked very well for me. Other breeders will do things differently though, so see what others have to say, think about and consider the different methods, your situation, and your needs, and pick one to try out. If it doesn't work, experiment and try something different. You'll quickly figure out what works best for you and your animals.

[xbikez]

That's really up to you. Different people do it different ways.

For me personally (and part of this may harken back to my pet breeding days), I keep males and females separate until I want to breed the females, then I'll leave them together for 1-2 weeks before separating again. I don't leave the males and females together all the time, and I don't leave multiple females and litters together. I currently have 9 breeding or potential breeding females, and 4 males. With these numbers, what I've been doing is simply rotating different males (which ever one I feel like pairing for whatever reason...) with 2 females at a time. By the time I have one or two litters born, I already have the male with another female. I start breeding the girls at 250 grams (or so). I wait to rebreed each girl until every other female has been bred first, giving each girl a couple months in between litters. Since I only have 8 snakes who eat f/t, this provides me with plenty of babies without being completely overrun. I have pretty much had a litter at all times, but at different ages or stages (gives me good variety in size for the different snakes I have... and technically I have 10 snakes to feed if I include my two rosy boas and knock off a couple babies while they are still small enough for them). This has worked very well for me. Other breeders will do things differently though, so see what others have to say, think about and consider the different methods, your situation, and your needs, and pick one to try out. If it doesn't work, experiment and try something different. You'll quickly figure out what works best for you and your animals.

thank you so much!!! Im going to try the method that works for you and see how it works.
Really apreciate your help.

[sorraia]

Just to add more to what I said:
The reason I don't leave multiple females and litters together is because I've seen more dominant females take all the babies for herself. Sometimes they can handle that, but if there's too many babies, they won't all be fed, and some will die. Other breeders have had success letting multiple females raise litters together, so it can work. I personally prefer not to. (Also... I do like to keep records on my rats. They aren't nearly as extensive as the records I was able to keep on the pets I bred, but it is still something. In order to keep these records accurate, I need to keep litters separate so I know who they came from.) Sometimes I do leave females together long enough that one starts having her litter. At that point I'll separate the other female. If I can tell one girl is ready to pop or I actually observed mating and know a due date, I'll separate the other girls.

[xbikez]

thank you! I will try that and see if it works for me, if it worked for you theres a big chance its going to work for me !