Breeding RaTs

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Originally Posted by Tefoe

I start putting females in with males at 2 months,and rarely if never do I lose young females to breeding complications..

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Good luck with that. Even though they CAN breed, it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. What would be your reaction if you had a sister of 12 get pregnant? She can, but is it in her best interest? I would advise you to let them grow to their full potential and learn how to be a rat before they have to raise babies of their own. 4-6 months is the best and most accepted age for females to breed for the first time. Breeding that early is just not in their best interest, it will dramatically shorten their life span, and they will have small litters resulting from their small size. Not to mention they will probably be stunted from being bred that early because the babies growing inside take away all that the young mother needs to finish her own growing.

I prefer my females robust and big, with good weight, so they can carry those babies to term, know what she is doing the first time around, and successfully raise healthy, big babies instead of stunted, small litters.

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Originally Posted by JLC

If I understand right, rats can also be too OLD to breed. Females, at least. If they haven't been bred by a certain age, their pelvic bones fuse into place and will not be able to adjust for a pregnancy and delivery.

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I've read that this is a myth. Although who knows!

Like Becky I don't allow breeding until my females are 4 to 5 months of age and also about 250 grams in weight. I don't actually weigh them anymore, I just know when they look big and sturdy enough to carry the nice litters I expect from our females. Breeding them so early can be done, should it be...not in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by jglass38

I've read that this is a myth. Although who knows!

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I don't know if it's a myth Jamie but it's just sensible. Whether you are talking dogs, horses, human females, rats, whatever....there's a window of peek fertility there in all female mammals. Too young for first delivery, you have issues....too old for first delivery, you have other issues. So whether it's a myth or not I still go with the schedule of making sure our females go in for first breeding between 4 and 6 months of age (as long as they meet my size requirement), then regularily thereafter with proper resting between litters to rebuild the female.

My oldest female breeder rat, HoneyChild is well over a year old but is able to still produce beautiful healthy offspring without any problems. She's in for breeding right now for her last litter with us as she's of an age where retiring her is in her best interest. She's done a spectacular job producing some of our best feeders and deserves to spend the remainder of her life being a lazy pet rat just hanging out with other females.

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If I understand right, rats can also be too OLD to breed. Females, at least. If they haven't been bred by a certain age, their pelvic bones fuse into place and will not be able to adjust for a pregnancy and delivery.

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Originally Posted by jglass38

I've read that this is a myth. Although who knows!

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It is definately true in my experience. Same with guinea pigs, hamsters, and gerbils. Not sure about mice though.

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Originally Posted by _BoidFinatic_

It is definately true in my experience. Same with guinea pigs, hamsters, and gerbils. Not sure about mice though.

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How have you determined that their pelvis bones were fused?

Just because my rats get eaten doesn’t mean they get any less care or attention.
I have no problems breeding my females at 2-3 months,and if in any way it did hurt their breeding,it wouldn’t be done by me.Though of course I would never breed my pets rats at that age!
Breeding at that age doesn’t seem to have any ill affects at all.Litters are still averaging around 5-9,And the females being around medium size when bred Don’t seem to be affected by it growth wise.And as females aren’t good breeders after a year,Its a bit ridiculous to wait for them to reach 6,and only get 2-3 litter’s and then retire a female.

Iv been breeding rats long before I got my first snake some 12 years ago,and do own a few as pets.I have one bloodline Iv had going for over seven years now!
The thing is as I mostly breed feeders,productivity and quality are key,and I wouldn’t hurt my bill payer by breeding Young females,if it didn’t work.:grabbed: