Heres hoping :D

I don't think so. But you may have another female that is pregnant and you just don't know it yet.

Well I have two or three that are a week or two behind her so if I see that shes having trouble I just put a couple of them on with the other females..

Thanks agian

Just keep an eye on them and if she looks like she is not taking care of them then you may want to move some. But I'm sure she will do fine. It is not too often that I move babies to other females.

Out comes the rat expert.

*hijack*

Hey Monica, glad to see you here. Make sure you and Tim set aside some het albino females for me this year, that little boy I got from ya'll is growing like a weed and needs more than 1 girlfriend.

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the rats they like teenagers.. give them food and water put one guy in a close space with three or four girls turn the lights out and ones bound to get knocked up. :D Mice are like cannibal parents with a chip on their shoulder. :D

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Omg too funny and so true! As far as the nursing question, I've had a few deal with litters up to 18 and they seem fine and will split the litter as Monica mentioned. I do tend to plan to have more than one litter at a time and have fostered off some but mostly from new moms so they aren't as overwhelmed. The experienced breeder females, they do just fine. If they lose a runt or two I don't worry about that as I figure it's nature's way to weed out the less hardy offspring.

As far as I know an unbred female rat does not lactate.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Omg too funny and so true! As far as the nursing question, I've had a few deal with litters up to 18 and they seem fine and will split the litter as Monica mentioned. I do tend to plan to have more than one litter at a time and have fostered off some but mostly from new moms so they aren't as overwhelmed. The experienced breeder females, they do just fine. If they lose a runt or two I don't worry about that as I figure it's nature's way to weed out the less hardy offspring.

As far as I know an unbred female rat does not lactate.

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I don't mind losing one or two when I have 14 more laying around from the same litter:)

With me, no matter how many hundred's I've seen birthed here, I hate to lose even one. :( I know it's expected but dang I hate dead baby rats, seems such a waste really.

Jo, Monica and I usually will feed off a runt or poor looking baby as a second meal or a mid-week meal to some of our snakes, rather than wasting it. Also, if we find dead babies, as long as they haven't been dead too long, I put them on some heat tape to warm them up and feed them off of tongs. We try to waste as little as possible. Just some tips for others if they wanted it.

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Jo, Monica and I usually will feed off a runt or poor looking baby as a second meal or a mid-week meal to some of our snakes, rather than wasting it. Also, if we find dead babies, as long as they haven't been dead too long, I put them on some heat tape to warm them up and feed them off of tongs. We try to waste as little as possible. Just some tips for others if they wanted it.

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Yaeh, I do that too. Waste not, want not, whatever that means. :rockon: