My first litter just arrived!

Here's a picture from day 1.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ccBP7JY.jpg?1[/IMG]

Here they are on day 2, with colors already starting to show.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/f5yke0s.jpg[/IMG]

I had another question. About how many days old will they be when they reach the size equivalent of an adult mouse? My BP is 178g and I've been feeding her adult mice that are 24-28g. I plan on euthanizing and freezing them when they reach the appropriate size. Would cervical dislocation be appropriate? Any other recommendations for euthanasia method?

Anybody with experience know about how many days old before they reach the size equivalent of an adult mouse?

I had to do CD once... I'd advise looking into a CO2 chamber... CD can be not-so-fun your first time and not very pleasant for the rat either (unless you can get someone locally to demonstrate the proper technique for you). I'd say about 4-5 weeks old... At least that was the age of my rats that I "adopted" recently and they were about the size of adult mice.

Someone posted a size conversion chart at some point here, but I'm not sure where it's at. You might just want to weigh them (if you have a scale) and use that as a guide.

Will you be keeping any back as breeders? If so, you might want to handle them regularly just in case so that any you keep will be socialized. Even if not keeping them, if planning on doing CD, they'll be less stressed if they're used to you handling them.

I'd say they're are about 30 grams at 3 weeks old. My first litter is at the 4 week mark today and 85-90 grams.

Do you have a scale? I suggest weighing them every day because they gain weight so rapidly, you're almost certain to miss your time frame if you miss a day or 2.

CD is hard to do if you've never done it before. I agree that you should look more into CO2.
I thought that I could do CD, but I turned out to be too squeamish and scared to hurt the rat.

Here's a good video on CD if you still want to look into that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opwXJ7MgjPE

Thanks for the replies. I did buy a scale, and at 1 week to the day most are weighing in at 12 grams.

Would you guys recommend dry ice or a setup with CO2 tank/cartridge? Would walmart have everything I would need for that?

I just cleaned the tub for the first time and I tried to reconstruct the nest the way she had it and place the pups in it inside the hide box. A few hours later I came by and noticed that she had moved all of them out to a corner in the tub and was nursing them there. Is this anything to be concerned about? Unfortunately I have to take them in the car for a 4 hour trip tomorrow. Hopefully they don't get too stressed out.

Kat dog this method seems way less horrific the co2. In the co2 method it puts them to sleep but they have time to panic. I may be wrong but watch co2 vids and every time they crack the tank to allow the co2 in the rats panic for a couple of seconds. I guess the co2 is preferred caused you dont have to use your hands.


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If you do CO2 right , you use a little CO2 to put them into a light sleep and them flood the container to kill them. They don't panic at all.

Congrats! :)
About 20 years ago, I kept two hamsters as pets. Well, they both got out and hooked up on my couch, right by the remote control. LOL Needless to say, she got preggers. Sadly, the pups didn't survive. They were still born, and to my horror, mommy hammy was chomping away on one of them. :( I'm glad your little ones are here and are doing well! Keep us posted.

The babies are two weeks now and weigh from 18-22 grams. I'm thinking I'll let them grow to 30 grams, because my snake is ~200g and you're supposed to go with 15% of weight right?

Anybody have personal experience with dry ice, vinegar/baking soda, or a tank? I'd prefer to do one of these over cervical dislocation, but I don't know if I can get dry ice and the tank method seems to have a high initial cost. I'm also concerned because these methods don't allow for control of flow rate, so I worry it might burn their eyes and respiratory tracts.