Mother buries babies alive?

So i have a new female and she had 10 new babies a week ago and i keep the mother and babies in a tub alone. There is enough bedding to just cover the bottom of the top and the mom keeps burying her babies under all of it. Should i be worried, maybe they cant breath? Thanks any opinions would be helpful

Sounds like theres not enough bedding for her to make a nest. Shes trying to hide them while she takes a break.

I always go 2 to 3 inches deep worth of bedding.

The pups will be fine. Mouse and Rat pinks have a strong resistance for low oxygen. This helps them survive being trapped under mom when nursing.

Try giving her a nesting material and see if she uses that to build a nest.
Either more bedding, shredded tissue paper, or crinkle cut paper like this https://www.shrinkbagsandmore.com/st...ducts/2412.jpg.

The crinkle paper is something you can buy in a gift bag section of places like target, walmart, etc.

My mama rats go crazy for the stuff.

Rats bury their babies all the time, it's not unusual, so don't worry about it! :)

she's telling to to stop skimping on the bedding :gj:

I give my momma tubs between 2 and 3 inches of bedding, it's only a 20qt sterilite tub so the amount isn't a lot, but enough for her to build a nice nest.
Some of my females bury their kits and some do not, but they all build nest and need enough bedding to do so

Even with more bedding she might bury them, but they'll be okay. I always give my mothers shredded newspaper. They love it! It keeps them busy and they make great, airy, clean nests.

I've got a couple females that gather all the bedding to pile up for the babies... even if it's super thick to begin with. So there's a huge heap of bedding in one corner and hardly any in the rest of the place for everyone else. Burying the babies is no big deal. They're fine. If mom thinks they might be cold or too exposed or she just feels like it, she'll bury them.

Okay thank you for all the replys. You learn something new on this site almost every day!