When to change bedding...

Momma rat had some babies last night @ 9pm. About 19 total, her cage Looks like a bomb went off in it. Bloody news paper, aspen bedding the whole 9 yards. She is still housed with the male. I do have a spare tank to put her and babies in but I guess my question is how soon can I change her bedding? Should I do a partial change to get most of the soiled stuff out? I checked the babies today she had 2 dead ones looked like the had been trampled on that I removed and I fed one live to my beardie. But question in point is when should I change the bedding...:confused:
Thanks in advance,
Jeff

I usually change the bedding the week before she gives birth that way I wont have to change again til babies are atleast a week old. I would remove the male. He will try to breed with her and end up trampling the babies. I usually remove my males once i can tell females are pregnant. Dont touch her babies though, she will likely eat them if you do.

Ok so remove the male. Yeah I was off by about 2 days went to change the bedding last night and (poof) she was giving birth. I will remove my male, Do you think I could do a partial change of the bedding.She is in a 20 gallon critter tank.
Thanks again.

you don't need to remove the male. I change the bedding weekly but your nose should tell you when. Since my stuff is in an outdoor building I could get away with biweekly and I do in the winter. But summer humidity drives the ammonia smell through the roof.

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Originally Posted by suzuki4life

you don't need to remove the male. I change the bedding weekly but your nose should tell you when. Since my stuff is in an outdoor building I could get away with biweekly and I do in the winter. But summer humidity drives the ammonia smell through the roof.

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I'm changing mines twice a week right now.

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Originally Posted by Delco Baller

Momma rat had some babies last night @ 9pm. About 19 total, her cage Looks like a bomb went off in it. Bloody news paper, aspen bedding the whole 9 yards. She is still housed with the male. I do have a spare tank to put her and babies in but I guess my question is how soon can I change her bedding? Should I do a partial change to get most of the soiled stuff out? I checked the babies today she had 2 dead ones looked like the had been trampled on that I removed and I fed one live to my beardie. But question in point is when should I change the bedding...:confused:
Thanks in advance,
Jeff

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I do nothing special for mothers giving birth. i just clean on normal 5 day schedule. My females dont mind me messing with them day of giving birth. If i notice birthing during cleaning i come back to that tub later.

I clean rats every Friday so whether the babies are a week old or just a few hours old, the enclosures get cleaned up, which of course involves removing babies placing them in a clean tub along with mom.

Never had a mother eating her babies because of it either.

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Originally Posted by ImBooBy

I usually change the bedding the week before she gives birth that way I wont have to change again til babies are atleast a week old. I would remove the male. He will try to breed with her and end up trampling the babies. I usually remove my males once i can tell females are pregnant. Dont touch her babies though, she will likely eat them if you do.

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You must have some very poor momma rats if they'll eat the babies.
I've never had a mom rat eat babies and I've even helped deliver babies, saying that she might eat them is just not true :confused:
If they did ever eat their babies they would then become snake food.

Thank you all for the help, I will attempt to clean tomorrow night. That will give mama one more day to settle in.
Thanks again,
Jeff
:gj:

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

You must have some very poor momma rats if they'll eat the babies.
I've never had a mom rat eat babies and I've even helped deliver babies, saying that she might eat them is just not true :confused:
If they did ever eat their babies they would then become snake food.

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It is not uncommon for rodents to eat their young, consider yourself fortunate that it has not happened to you...yet

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Originally Posted by llovelace

It is not uncommon for rodents to eat their young, consider yourself fortunate that it has not happened to you...yet

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I didn't say it hadn't happened to me, it just hasn't happened because of handling babies.
I felt it was a fairly dramatic claim that handling babies causes moms to eat their young.

didnt read the thread, but i seperate my momma's to their own bin and give them fresh bedding, usually dont change the bedding for 10-14 days, and it doesnt smell

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Originally Posted by ImBooBy

I usually change the bedding the week before she gives birth that way I wont have to change again til babies are atleast a week old. I would remove the male. He will try to breed with her and end up trampling the babies. I usually remove my males once i can tell females are pregnant. Dont touch her babies though, she will likely eat them if you do.

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not even close, iv never had males trample babies, and never had momma rats eat babies from me touching them. sounds like youre thinking of birds, as some of them will kill/neglect babies if humans touch them.

Just an update:
I did change the bedding a day later, and I did touch all the babies just to debunk the "Mother killing her babies if touched by humans".......the results were (drum roll)...........She didnt kill them she just cleaned them and went about making her nest again. Although there were 2 more dead babies looked squished to me, prob just the runts. Not too worried about it she had plenty of pups. Removed papa put him in with the other female to get her ready to go.
Thanks to everyone who helped me with this post.
:gj: BP.net rules because of all you!! :gj:
- Jeff :snake:

My two cents...
I had instances where I would throw a pup in to feed a young snake. If that snake didnn't eat that night then the next morning I would take that pup back out and put it back with the momma and she just nursed it back to feed another day.

I just had a rat give birth about 7 days ago, 17 pinks. I have had some bad luck recently with litters so Im a little hesitant to change the bedding. It does look pretty horrible, but it doesnt smell at all. I usually change my beddings on a 5 day rotation. Im going to give her at least 7 more days until I change it. I dont want to risk her eating these babies. They are a hairless/dumbo line, and I want these to replace some of my older breeders. I will let you know how it turns out when I do change the bedding.