Separate females or don't?

Hi everyone,

I'm just about to start breeding my own feeder rats, and am finding a lot of varied opinions on what works best! I've seen many people suggest keeping 2-3 females with a male, separate the females to their own enclosure when they give birth, leave them alone until the babies are weaned. I've also, though, seen people who keep their females and male together through it all with no issue.

Which is considered the best? Any other ideas? I'll have 6 females and three males here soon, with a four tub rack. I also have a few extra small glass enclosures as well as a large rubbermaid bin. Just trying to figure out what I should do before I get there!

Thanks!

It really comes down to the Rats.

Some rat colonies are wonderful about raising piles of bubs together, while others are rife with trouble. Some males develop aggression towards youngsters, some females will squabble over pinkies and be constantly tugging, stealing, and rearranging babies.

If your source for breeding rats has been successful keeping theirs in a colony, then you'll probably do fine too since the work has been done to get a good group going. If however you notice females getting very round, yet no babies 23 days after being bred (and deflated momma bellies) then plan on housing mums separately. All is not lost however; keep selecting laid back paternal males & maternal females and weed out any aggressors. It wont take long to have your own friendly, happy, baby-loving line.

Good luck! Can't wait to see photos of your new arrivals :)

Thanks! Unfortunately, it appears my first female died while giving birth, so I'm not sure when my next female will be ready (just got the rats recently). I currently have one male and two females per drawer of my rat rack, with only two drawers set up. I'm talking with someone about getting 8 females, and definitely will inquire about whether they leave them together or separate! This is all new waters for me, I'm hoping to be able to get it figured out and at least start producing SOME of my own food!

Awww, so sorry about the loss of your pregnant girl :(

May your others be safe & successful births with many babies!
And it is new waters for every keeper at some point, so don't feel bad asking questions.

I keep mine harem style. Sometimes I have to move a certain female to other bins to find one that she fits in with well. But normally any female tends to fit in well with other females.

This could be because I've rather ruthlessly culled my stock over generations(rat generations) and gotten rid of ANY male that harms babies, all females that harm babies, all females that fight, etc. Now I have females that group raise young, so no one female gets drained from nursing babies. The males play with babies and let them climb on them and will even babysit pinkies.

One thing I have found helpful is when I set up a new tub of young females, I always add in one old experienced mom. She shows the young ones how to care for babies and will even discipline bad moms if they don't act right. Just use the best moms for this.

Also, I don't tolerate any biting of me. Ever. Even moms on babies don't bite me. I do allow for new moms and just don't go sticking my fingers in baby piles, but I can clean bins or put food in and such without worry that a rat will rush up and bite me. Ruthless culling on that.

Don't be afraid to shift rats around if they don't seem to get along well. Sometimes a rat just plain don't like another certain rat. Sometimes a young female will freak over being put in with a bunch of strange rats. I try to add in two at a time then, so the nervous youngsters have a buddy along in the new bin. Sometimes a male will be pushy with a older female and she'll beat his butt. I just swap him with a mellow male that is easy going and then no problems.

Rats aren't machines. You'll be able to manage your little rat ranch herd.

I separate my females just before they give birth. I seem to get better results that way, as the mother is not bothered by other rats .They seem to focus on there babies more.

I prefer to keep my females separate. I like knowing what babies belong to who, so I can keep track of some sort of records, and know where to cull if a problem comes about. I also keep my males and females separate unless breeding, and rotate males through with one or two females at a time, giving the other females a break in between litters.

Great! Thanks for all your help everyone!

I recently just got another group of rats from someone (like, 20 rats) who group raises; some of these are youngsters, some are adults. I fed off a few of the males I didn't need already, but I have one obviously pregnant female.

I have other questions, but I'll post those in another thread ;) thanks for the tips, I think based on my space, I'm going to try to focus on "group" raising.