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Small litter

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  • 12-10-2007, 05:35 PM
    Snikt228
    Small litter
    One of my rats just had a litter last night but it only had 4 of them in there. 3 were in a pile like normal and one was in the corner, it looked neglected and it was kinda cold. I put that one back in the pile but I haven't been home yet.

    This is like the 7th or 8th litter from this one rat and they have always been around 9. Just seems weird to have only 4. Is this normal?
  • 12-10-2007, 05:49 PM
    Ginevive
    Re: Small litter
    It is funny. I have one girl who I bred 3 times before. She was having normal litters of 8-10, and then threw a tiny litter of 2. I gave her one mroe chance, and now she has 9 babies. It is just odd..
  • 12-10-2007, 05:50 PM
    frankykeno
    Re: Small litter
    She's likely just coming to the end of her productive breeding life. You'll generally see a sharp decrease in litter size once they hit this age usually around 14-16 months or so (depends on the rat and how well she was cared for - some slow down earlier, some a bit later).
  • 12-10-2007, 06:08 PM
    Ginevive
    Re: Small litter
    Yes. This is actually the last litter I am getting out of the girl I mentioned; Jo is right. (as usual ;)
  • 12-10-2007, 07:00 PM
    Snikt228
    Re: Small litter
    Kinda gross. I got home and I had 1 and a half dead pinks. Now I only have 2 survivors. So this litter is basically a total bust.

    Do you think I should retire this rat from breeding or just a fluke?
  • 12-10-2007, 07:10 PM
    littleindiangirl
    Re: Small litter
    Well, how old is she, and who did you pair her with? If she is young still, there may be an underlying problem in the pairing, or with the mother.
  • 12-10-2007, 08:23 PM
    frankykeno
    Re: Small litter
    Connie he said she's had 7 or 8 litters. She's likely just ready to retire from active breeding (depending on the frequency of those litters, etc.)
  • 12-10-2007, 09:08 PM
    littleindiangirl
    Re: Small litter
    yup, me just not reading again...
  • 12-10-2007, 09:08 PM
    Ginevive
    Re: Small litter
    I wonder if there were "naturally" more babies, and she ate them for some reason? Or if they died of defects/natural causes, she would have eaten them to keep the nest area clean..
    I would retire her; sounds like she has had a lot of litters.
  • 12-10-2007, 09:15 PM
    PigsnPythons
    Re: Small litter
    I don't raise rats, so I was wondering when you say retire...do you mean she just lives out the rest of her natural life being fed and pampered, or she is turned into a feeder herself?
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