Male in a tub with offspring that arent his own?

Just got a replacement rat off one of the great guys around here (Pghball) and the rat is already pregnant.

Now I was already planning on keeping the male and 2 females together, with the babies, thats just how I want to do it and it seems a lot of people have luck around here with that setup, I understand the risks and everything else. However this is a special case as they are not his offspring (she hasnt given birth yet, another week or so before she gives birth). The females grew up together and most likely havent been apart very long, and the male is fairly young and rather gentle (he's not a MALE and is more of a male), so I put her in with the other two and they are all getting along well (I watched their initial interaction to be sure everything was fine).

Now, I am concerned about her giving birth to babies that arent this male's in the tub with him. Will a male kill offspring that arent his own and should I pull her and let her nurse separately? I want them to get used to one another instead of pulling her now and would pull her before she pops, so, what do you guys thing? Leave her in or pull her before she gives birth?

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Originally Posted by Oxylepy

Just got a replacement rat off one of the great guys around here (Pghball) and the rat is already pregnant.

Now I was already planning on keeping the male and 2 females together, with the babies, thats just how I want to do it and it seems a lot of people have luck around here with that setup, I understand the risks and everything else. However this is a special case as they are not his offspring (she hasnt given birth yet, another week or so before she gives birth). The females grew up together and most likely havent been apart very long, and the male is fairly young and rather gentle (he's not a MALE and is more of a male), so I put her in with the other two and they are all getting along well (I watched their initial interaction to be sure everything was fine).

Now, I am concerned about her giving birth to babies that arent this male's in the tub with him. Will a male kill offspring that arent his own and should I pull her and let her nurse separately? I want them to get used to one another instead of pulling her now and would pull her before she pops, so, what do you guys thing? Leave her in or pull her before she gives birth?

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If you just got this rat for breeding then you could of already compromised your collection from not QT. Rats can transfer many things that your rats arent immune to and wipe them out. Any new rats introduced need a month minimum alone to be sure their healthy.

And you can keep males with other males babies, they dont care as all they want is to mate.

The rats all came from the same source, and the females grew up together. Most likely any issues the new female would have the other female already had. I would normally have waited but considering that they are all from the same source, the other male was a sibling of this male, the females grew up together, I just felt that in almost any likelihood it would be fine.

For a lot of rodents, if the females feel threatened, like if a male or other rats are kept in the same confined cage together, the females sometimes will eat their own young to protect them from danger...

There are 3 rats in a 35 gallon tub. And I know that a lot of people keep the colony together when females give birth, there are mixed results, but the guy I got my rats off never had any issues (doesnt mean I wont, it really depends)

I personally suggest letting her have her own nursing container when it looks like she's about to pop. Give the momma her space :)

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Originally Posted by Oxylepy

Just got a replacement rat off one of the great guys around here (Pghball) and the rat is already pregnant.

Now I was already planning on keeping the male and 2 females together, with the babies, thats just how I want to do it and it seems a lot of people have luck around here with that setup, I understand the risks and everything else. However this is a special case as they are not his offspring (she hasnt given birth yet, another week or so before she gives birth). The females grew up together and most likely havent been apart very long, and the male is fairly young and rather gentle (he's not a MALE and is more of a male), so I put her in with the other two and they are all getting along well (I watched their initial interaction to be sure everything was fine).

Now, I am concerned about her giving birth to babies that arent this male's in the tub with him. Will a male kill offspring that arent his own and should I pull her and let her nurse separately? I want them to get used to one another instead of pulling her now and would pull her before she pops, so, what do you guys thing? Leave her in or pull her before she gives birth?

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I found this on ratbehavior.org:

4.5 Why do rats sometimes eat their babies?

Mothers, strange females, and strange males may commit infanticide, all for different reasons. Most infanticide is directed at newborn infants.

A mother may kill deformed or wounded infants, possibly so she can allocate resources to the healthy pups who are more likely to survive. A mother may kill her entire litter if she is stressed, thus recovering some of her energetic investment. Malnourished mothers may cannibalize their litters, possibly to balance their diets. A mother who has an abnormal birth experience, such as a c-section, may also kill her litter. Normal full-term labor and delivery through the birth canal may be important for triggering the hormonal profile that accompanies maternal behavior, and these may be disrupted with a c-section, leading to abnormal maternal behavior and infanticide. Mothers who are very young or very old may also commit infanticide.

Unrelated adult males may kill a litter to bring the mother back into heat faster so he can sire a litter of his own. Unrelated adult females may kill a litter to gain food and to take over the nest. In general, living with the mother reduces infanticide in other rats. Unrelated females tend not to kill the litters of females they've lived with, and may even participate in cooperative rearing. Unrelated males tend not to kill the litter if they've lived with the female during her pregnancy.

I would leave her in until she gets close to popping and then move her to a smaller tub to wean the young to be safe. That said, I have put pups from other tubs in with nursing females in the past without issue (my males stay in the tubs all the time). I usually do it when cleaning the tub and just take the litter of the mother that I want to become the surrogate and mix in the new pups. I take some of the litter from the surrogate's tub and let all of the pups roll around in it to sent them so to speak. Maybe I have been just lucky, but seems to work. Glad the black hooded girl is taking to the others and vice versa. I liked her (had a good disposition) and wanted you to have her after the fiasco with the gray hooded female I originally gave you.

Yeah she's absolutely awesome. Although the male has taken the addition to mean "hump everything in sight!" which is quite comical since he isnt actually having sex with them, just humping.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

If you just got this rat for breeding then you could of already compromised your collection from not QT. Rats can transfer many things that your rats arent immune to and wipe them out. Any new rats introduced need a month minimum alone to be sure their healthy.

And you can keep males with other males babies, they dont care as all they want is to mate.

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All of Oxylepy's rats came from my own colony. No need to quarantine as they were all in the same weaning tub (before it is asked, yes males and female weanlings are separated) up until I gave Oxylepy his group.

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Originally Posted by Oxylepy

Yeah she's absolutely awesome. Although the male has taken the addition to mean "hump everything in sight!" which is quite comical since he isnt actually having sex with them, just humping.

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Haha, maybe he'll think the pups are his lol. She should be ready to go in about 2 weeks as your males brother sealed the deal the same weekend I gave you the others. The gestation period is usually 21-23 days. Is your siamese female showing signs of being pregnant?