Pulling rat babies

I'm on a rat forum and someone was asking about when to pull babies and I said 4 weeks is when I usually pulled babies, and I have pulled them as early as 3.5 weeks. Someone responded saying 4 weeks was way too early and that even 4.5 weeks was too early and babies should not be weaned until they are at least 5 weeks old. Now, this is a pet rat forum and NOT meant for feeder breeders like me, but I go there because I like learning how to better my rats' lives through diet, environment, and interaction.

So lets say you are pulling a rat for use as a future breeder, and not a feeder. You want this rat to be as healthy as possible so you don't want to pull it too early, so when do you pull a holdback rat from mom?

Same time. I usually pull at 3.5 - 4 weeks and have never had issues holding rats back for breeders. I choose my holdbacks usually a week or two after weaning, and I've never had issues. Tons of people wean at that age, and it has been done for many generations.

5 weeks is the absolute maximum age you should pull the male pups from mom's tub, since they can impregnate her at that age. 6 weeks is when you need to separate young males from young females. They are usually ready to wean as early as 3 weeks though, so weaning at 4 is not too early.

I wean all our rats at 3-4 weeks, both breeders and feeders. They're already eating solid food at that point and I haven't noticed any difference between now and in the past when I would wean at 4-5 weeks.

I pull mine at 3-4 weeks, they are eating solid food and can perfectly be weaned off at that age.

Yea.... they are eating solid food full time, which is the definition of being weaned. Pull those babies :gj:.

Four weeks is probably the best time if you are using separate birthing tubs. If you are breeding in a colony setting with your male and all your females together it is best to pull them as early as possible.

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Originally Posted by tomfromtheshade

Four weeks is probably the best time if you are using separate birthing tubs. If you are breeding in a colony setting with your male and all your females together it is best to pull them as early as possible.

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not necessarily true....

and never seen a 5 week old rat breed in 16 years of my experience breeding rats.

My offspring are removed once their eyes open and either are sold or they go to a community trough where they last maybe a week until the next orders come in....

In the past I have sat on a trough with a mix of rats from 5-10 weeks old over 2 months and no litters. At 8-10 weeks I normally start freezing....prices between medium and large is not big enough to keep feeding them but the difference in food consumption is obvious.