Is it normal?

Is it normal for mom to leave her babies alone for hours on end when people are around? Momma had left her nest for about 6 hours last night and was finally back with the babies again this morning. Is this normal or am I just stressing her out? I can stay out of the room more if that will help

I find my mothers get a little antsy when I am in the room and they tend to move them around. Of course my experience is limited in rat breeding

It all depends on the personality and mothering traits of the females. Part of my pet line will abandon everything to come up and lick/manicure my hands ... as long as my hands are in there they totally ignore their litters, these girls are extremely social with humans. Another part of that line are hoarders ... they will abandon their litters for food. Another one of my lines wont leave their nests unless you actually remove them ... (it might be the weight of the babies tethered to their teats).

So yes its normal ... but you may want to limit the time around them (6 hrs is a bit too long for a female to be off a nest of young pups).

Bryan

Great info there Bryan! From my own experience I'd agree with him. Some mothers are constantly on their young no matter if they are newborn pinks or almost weaned pups, some mothers aren't nearly as attentive. How old are her young? Is she alone with the litter and what size is the enclosure they are in? When she keeps off of them is she covering them with bedding or leaving them just laying out exposed? Is she an inexperienced female with a large litter? 6 hours is a long time for most female rats to not nurse their litter.