So since I decided to give the whole rat breeding thing a shot, I've found that I actually enjoy it a lot, especially now that I have some babies to coo over. I did realize that I started out going about this the wrong way, which became apparent shortly after my first pair of litters was born. It was probably more my fault than either of my females, since I had them together in a space that I now know wasn't big enough for the two of them plus their pups (They had 20 between them). One mother was trying to do all the work herself while the other stayed in her little house and munched on food all day. I eventually separated them after I lost two pups, and the lazy mom did eventually try to take care of her babies (had to take away her house to get her to stay interested). I don't know what happened, but it seemed like she just didn't have any milk in her and out of the 7 pups I had left her with, 4 of those died within a day. Very sad, since I'm not sure if it was the mom not producing enough milk, or if it was my fault for not giving the two moms enough space in the first place. Moved the surviving pups in with the other mom and all of them are now doing well (fat and wiggly, which I'm guessing means they're happy?)

My second pair of females had their pups this week as well, and I had the bright idea to separate them BEFORE babies, and into bigger enclosures as well. The first mom in this group had 8 pups, and second mom is just now having hers as I'm writing this (up to 3 now).

I think I decided on using tubs for now, maybe eventually transitioning over to a rack, but I'm going with as much space as I can give these girls at this point. Should I be safe keeping two females together in a 101qt tub (clear, the biggest size I could find) with two large hides in it? My process right now is to cut some holes out of the sides of the tubs and put chicken wire over the holes both for a slot for the water bottle and ventilation. I spot clean whenever possible and I try to do a full clean every five days or so, but doing so with the babies in there makes me nervous. What cleaners does everyone use that won't harm the babies? Also I haven't had an issue with it yet, but will the moms reject the pups if I handle them too much? (I hardly handle them now except when I have to move them for cleaning or when I had to take one of the dead pups out.

I'm trying my best, and I really want to give my rats the best life possible up until feeding day (I have to remember why I have them, after all, and try not to get too attached to them along the way), and feedback/advice is always appreciated.

Lack of pictures because camera phone quality is crap, and because all the moms sit on the babies whenever I come up there with my camera. i'll see what I can do about that.