Pregnant Rat or Fat Rat

Background: I am starting to breed ball pythons :snake:when i had to move to Oklahoma (military move) the price for rats out here is crazy like $5 for 1 med. so i decided to start breeding rats. I kept my extra feeders (the ones my snakes did not eat) two females were in a glass aquarium with one male (if i sexed them right) until I could get the rack built when I took the male out to feed my snakes I noticed my female had gained a lot of weight after a couple of day she has gained more. and now she is very aggressive.:taz:

Questions: is my Rat pregnant? how do I tell if she is Pregnant?
Thank you for all your help!!!

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Looks pregnant to me.

I think she's pregnant as well.
Fat rats have more flubber and rolls.

She looks PREGO!

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Originally Posted by babyknees

Looks pregnant to me.

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Originally Posted by Johnny84

She looks PREGO!

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Originally Posted by satomi325

I think she's pregnant as well.
Fat rats have more flubber and rolls.

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Thank you all!!!!! how long until I should expect babies? And any articles you would suggest about rat baby care would be helpful... I was not planing on have babies for another couple months and i want to make sure i am ready for their care thank you again

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Originally Posted by Steven Raymer

Thank you all!!!!! how long until I should expect babies? And any articles you would suggest about rat baby care would be helpful... I was not planing on have babies for another couple months and i want to make sure i am ready for their care thank you again

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At her tummy size I would say expect babies in the next week or so, depends how many shes carrying.
You dont have to do anything for baby rat care until they wean at 23-26 days old. The mother takes care of it all, just make sure shes fed a good diet while nursing! Lots of grains and some fresh veggies will do her good. I like to also give my females yogurt as a treat, its high in fat and they LOVE yogurt!

But anyways yeah after 20 days the mother will start to wean them. and once you observe them eating and drinking on their own then you can take mom away and repeat the process! :D

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Originally Posted by mues155

At her tummy size I would say expect babies in the next week or so, depends how many shes carrying.
You dont have to do anything for baby rat care until they wean at 23-26 days old. The mother takes care of it all, just make sure shes fed a good diet while nursing! Lots of grains and some fresh veggies will do her good. I like to also give my females yogurt as a treat, its high in fat and they LOVE yogurt!

But anyways yeah after 20 days the mother will start to wean them. and once you observe them eating and drinking on their own then you can take mom away and repeat the process! :D

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Thank you!!!!!! all of you have been lots of help!!

your very welcome!

Well she had 3 babies last night is kind of looks like she might have more not sure tho

What is the average size liter?

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8-12 is the average. The number of babies are usually a result of age, food, or living conditions .



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thank you. then its most likely because when i was keeping them as just feeders waiting to be feed i was feeding them dog food until i decided to breed them now they eat kaytee forti-diet pro health.... but she was eating dog food during time of conception (i know this because the male was feed to the snakes the day b4 the switch in food) hope fully next female and her will produce me more next time

I was going to ask if she had them yet, but I was too late. Usually if you can tell they are pregnant they will have their babies in 5 days or less. If she had a small litter this time, she may keep having small litters. That's why I only hold back females that were from litters large litters. That way they have a better chance of having larger litters themselves.

Hi.

My Female rat at the first litter had only 1 baby but at the 2th litter she had 11 babies..

Give her another chance..

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Originally Posted by willy72

Hi.

My Female rat at the first litter had only 1 baby but at the 2th litter she had 11 babies..

Give her another chance..

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I am going to I only have her and one other female (and she is not ready) and she is going to start my breeding collection.

Which brings me to another questions; how long (if any) of a rest should i give my female rat before puting her back with the male...

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Originally Posted by Steven Raymer

I am going to I only have her and one other female (and she is not ready) and she is going to start my breeding collection.

Which brings me to another questions; how long (if any) of a rest should i give my female rat before puting her back with the male...

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I put back the female with the male after the babies are 30 gg old.

2nd litter = 12 babies (guess the small litter was because of it being her first time and being on dog food)


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Originally Posted by Steven Raymer

2nd litter = 12 babies (guess the small litter was because of it being her first time and being on dog food)


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Congrats! That's more like it. haha.
I just had a litter of 12 as well.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Congrats! That's more like it. haha.
I just had a litter of 12 as well.

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Congrats to you as well!

if its her first litter thats about the normal litter size there first litter is always small you lucky you even got three i would have been acceptable for just one but if its not her first litter stress could of caused her to have stillborns and they will eat those to keep the nest clean if you moved her away from the other female and when you took out the male those are all stress issues for rats they stress easily esspecially when they pregnant and they carry the babies for 20-22 days and wean around 4-5 weeks seperate the males from the mom and the sisters before five weeks because the males will start trying to breed the mom or the sisters they dont know about inbreading and that risks more health issues and problems for the next babies such as breathing problems and diformaties
:)

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Originally Posted by ratlover887806

if its her first litter thats about the normal litter size there first litter is always small you lucky you even got three i would have been acceptable for just one but if its not her first litter stress could of caused her to have stillborns and they will eat those to keep the nest clean if you moved her away from the other female and when you took out the male those are all stress issues for rats they stress easily esspecially when they pregnant and they carry the babies for 20-22 days and wean around 4-5 weeks seperate the males from the mom and the sisters before five weeks because the males will start trying to breed the mom or the sisters they dont know about inbreading and that risks more health issues and problems for the next babies such as breathing problems and diformaties
:)

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I disagree. 3 pups for any kind of rat litter is not normal. I have never had a first time mother have less than 10 pups. I think most people who breed their own rats here will agree. Like many of us who have said previously, I believe that the small litter was due to the dog food being fed. The mother had insufficient nutrients to produce a normal sized litter. Her body could only process enough to produce 3 pups. Stress has nothing to do with it. Wild rats will throw huge first time litters and they go through a lot more mental and physical stress than any pet/breeder rat. I have moved pregnant first timers back and forth between different locations, with or without cage mates. I haven't had any negative results. Again, I believe it was the food. To prove it, there are certain rat blocks that help reproduction. Many members here can vouch that their litters double in size due to good food. One guy had a litter of 30+ because he fed his rats a good diet.

And inbreeding in 1 generation will not effect the health of the pups. Even 2 generations won't show anything. Many professional breeders of any kind of animal will line breed to ensure certain wanted traits. Inbreeding deformities and birth defects are a result of multiple generations of inbreeding.

I can assure you that every single petco/petsmart rat is inbred. They're usually pretty healthy considering they're a petco/petsmart animal