Holy Moly Guacamole!

[rabernet]

So - Foxy just had her second litter - of 19!!!!!! I THINK she's done, but she might not be.

Quick question - I have two nursing mothers right now. Twix has 8 two week old babies, Scarlett is still nursing 10 3.5 week old babies.

Can either of them foster some of these babies, even with older babies of their own?

[JLC]

:eek: NO WAY!!! :eek:


That's just NUTS!!!

Wish I could answer your question on fostering, but I've no experience in such matters. I do hope you can get that poor girl some help though! :eek:

[Laooda]

:eek: Congrats! As far as fostering .... I THINK?



If I'm not mistaken, I think Rap had a litter of 17 that did fine...
*wheres Becky* ?????????? I have no clue.

But Congrats!!!!!

[Nate]

geez what kind of mutant genetics have you come across? When I start breeding my own, i'm getting my breeders from you sistah!

[rabernet]

:eek: NO WAY!!! :eek:


That's just NUTS!!!

Wish I could answer your question on fostering, but I've no experience in such matters. I do hope you can get that poor girl some help though! :eek:

Biggest litter to date for me, I think 17 was the largest before. I had to stay home today because my fridge broke (but working remotely). So, I had to go "hide" the ratties in the bedroom. She started to have the babies shortly after the move and I sat there long enough to watch #6 be born - my first litter I've been home or awake to witness the birth.

Want to know what's really scarey and off topic? Joanna and I joke often about sharing a brain - I IM'd her this morning to tell her I was working from home because of my fridge and was waiting for the office to open - SHE was waiting for an appropriate time to call her landlord because THEIR refridgerator was broken! (insert Twilight Zone theme music here!)

[rabernet]

geez what kind of mutant genetics have you come across? When I start breeding my own, i'm getting my breeders from you sistah!

And this is a girl that I was advised once before looked to be an older rat (she takes much longer to get pregnant than others - but when she does - she doesn't mess around)!

Judging by the size of her litters, I think she's still rather fertile and I think I may have to consider promoting one of her babies. She used to be a bit of a bully with the other rats until after she had her first litter, then her maternal instincts kicked in and she's much sweeter to the other ratties!

[Evan Jamison]

Wow, way to go Foxy!! I try to foster babies onto mom's that have litters that are about the same age. Sometimes pinkies just can't compete with the larger pups for milk, but some moms are better at raising different size babies. If you try, I would recommend fostering them over to Scarlett, as her litter is probably starting to wean now. If you have need of pinkies, you could just cull a few.

-Evan

[rabernet]

Thanks Evan - no pinkie eaters here. What's the absolutely earliest age to pull babies from their mom. The 3.5 week olds are drinking water and eating dry food. But poor Scarlett had two litters back to back this last go-round because she had babies while I was in NC and was still in with Caesar.

[Evan Jamison]

I've weaned litters at about 3.5 weeks before, and they do fine. I give them moist bread for a couple days just to make sure they get something if they aren't eating the rodent block very well yet. I would be hesitant to drop another litter on Scarlette if she just went back to back though. Hmm, you could just leave all the pinks with Foxy and see how she does with them over the next couple days before making any decisions.

-Evan

[TekWarren]

Just wanted so say congrats! Awesome number...save some of the females maybe you have a genetic trait for large litters that will be passed on