Been having babies the last few days

[BigLu]

So I started a breeding program to lower costs on my herp addiction and I have been having babies the last 4 days. Anyways I was separating the big girls as Id see them getting larger but now that theyve had there babies and its been a week I want to change them into a larger tub where all xpregos and there babies can be...will this be safe? can i touch the babies or use a scoop of some sort to take them out? and will all 4 moms start fighting over the babies? I got other girls that need to be separated so i wanted to move them asap. any help would be much apreciated

[suzuki4life]

no clue why you want to separate them, but yes you can touch them and handle them...no big deal...

rats nurse pretty much any baby you put with them.

[littleindiangirl]

Separating nursing mothers is very beneficial.

Reasons to separate:
http://www.ratbehavior.org/CommunalNesting.htm

1. Studies show females in the wild prefer separate nesting chambers.

2.If one female eats her young/doesn't nurse/etc, you know who is cannibalizing/lazy without too much investigation.

3.If the litters are not sync'd within days, the older pups decrease the survival of the younger pups. "...in mixed-age nests the younger animals must compete with older, larger animals for milk, which puts them at a disadvantage. In rats in particular, the younger animals may be unable to nurse from their own mother because the older litter has rendered her teats unusable (Sachs and Rosenblatt 1974)."

4.One mother can monopolize both litters, which decreases survival of the litters because each animal gets less milk and of poorer quality.

5. (4. Cont) Females produce more milk, but not on a linear scale. "...The more young a female has to nurse, the more milk she produces. However, this increase is not linear, so in large litters each infant gets less milk per head, and the quality of the milk decreases as well. König et al. (1988)"

6. Studies show that litters raised separately are more likely to survive to weaning. "In general, captive females who raise their litters alone rear almost all of their young to weaning age (89%). Communal nesting does not enhance litter survival in captivity, and in some cases communal nesting leads to higher litter mortality (infanticide of the first litter, high mortality of the second litter)."

7. Unrelated females are less likely to share a nest. "Pairs of sisters who have grown up together are more likely to pool their offspring and to share parenting than females who have only known each other for a few weeks. Unfamiliar females tend not to pool their offspring, and when they do, one female tends to monopolize the litter. Familiar pairs of sisters are more successful than unfamiliar pairs: overall they produce more weaned offspring and are less likely to commit infanticide than unfamiliar pairs."

8. Stress plays a large role in health, stressed females are more susceptible to illness.


Obviously, people will tell you to do it. If you feel comfortable with the reasons stated above, no one is going to stop you.

I prefer to have complete control and insight into every female in my colony. This way I know when one female isn't producing large litters, what females are poor mothers, what her age is vs. Production output, if I should hold females back from her line etc...

[Muskrat24]

For the most part the rats I have allow me to handle their babies. There is one though that I have to use leather gloves because se will bite and hold on if I try to get near her offspring.

[PghBall]

My oldest daughter handles our rat pups all of the time and I have not had one abandoned by the mother or canibalized. Although, I do have to remind her that they are snake food.

[wilomn]

For the most part the rats I have allow me to handle their babies. There is one though that I have to use leather gloves because se will bite and hold on if I try to get near her offspring.

That one and all her babies need to be food if you want mellow rats.

I have no desire to have adult rats chomping on me when I'm cleaning or moving babies. One bite, and they're boa bait with the kids going as treats to my favourites of the day.

[Jay_Bunny]

Unless you are very attached to that aggressive rat, I would cull her. I do not tolerate aggressive rodents. One bite and you are snake food (unless you are a pet of course )

As others have said, seperating and handling babies should not be an issue. I've done it with my momma rats when I bred rats and I never had an issue of not being able to handle the babies.

[SlitherSister]

It's not so much as aggression as it is defense.

If you put your hand straight into a Mother's nesting area, expect to be bit. If you get bit & decide to feed the whole lot off then that's all it is. You aren't culling aggression out of a line, you are killing off an animal for doing just what it is hard wired to do -- defend it's young.

Not saying don't. Their your rats & as you said, they're just food. Just letting you know you aren't going to mellow out the line for following that course of action.

Best policy--If you don't want to be bit, change the procedure on how & where you put your bare hand.

[littleindiangirl]

They do indeed pass on aggressiveness and nervous traits. It does make sense to cull biters. You may be thinking its a little defensive bite, but some females are out for blood and VERY aggressive/confrontational.

Yes, that can be bred out. Fancy breeders breed out nervousness and aggressive traits all the time. We do the same.