She popped!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Yea I know what you mean, I keep track of all my litters on a large calender in the rat room. I've been debating getting a grease pencil to hang by the tubs so I can scribble on the tub when I see a litter, then write the date of weaning 3 weeks later.

As far as I can tell, they are ready to wean when their eyes have been open fully for a week. That is generally around 21-25 days, and the mothers will have their new pinks already. LOL, thats probably no more help!

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That is actually helpful. I check them a couple times daily so I can keep a mental note. Hopefully I can stop the carnage! :)

It is safe to seperate the babies from mom the day that their eyes are all the way open. The number of days it takes to get to this point varies depending on the size of the litter, the size of the mom, the number of litters in the tank, and how many moms are sharing in the nursing duties.

I keep track of the breeding groups age by writing the date of their first litter in the corner of the 10 gallon tank. I write it on the glass using a red permanent marker. The ink from the marker stays on well enough where it won't come off just by touching it, but it is easy to remove with a paper towel and windex when your are ready to set up a new group.

Ive had around 8 litters so far and the other night was my first almost weanling death. Looked in the tub and founf a 3 week old dead and the head had started to be chewed on.

Ive had a couple pinks die, but thats about it as far as deaths go

I think Jamie cursed me with his orginal statement, found 1 dead yesterday and another one this morning. All from the same litter, not overcrowded so could just be natural as the the last 2 were just dead and no signs of trauma.

Jamie, I have trouble keeping track of exactly how old some of my ASF litters are so I really just eyeball the right age to pull them. Eyes open, running around eating and drinking, somewhere around 3 weeks old. I just pulled some last night and just now ran and weighed one for you. They tend to be about 15 to 18 grams in weight if that's any help to you.