Rats dying from miscarriages

Has anyone figured out a way to keep this from happening or why it's happening? I have had several females die in the last month from miscarriages. I'm not sure if they are getting stuck in the birth canal or what, but I see a pregnant female start bleeding and I know I'm going to lose her :( It's really frustrating and I don't know what to do or if I can even do anything. They aren't young moms, they are usually older females, 1-2 years old.

Hmm..
As far as I know, they die from the labor process taking too long. The cause is not well known. If I were you, I'd keep record of who is dying and how old they are, to see if there is a genetic or age correlation.

I never could figure that out either, I've had a number of mom's die over the years from miscarrying

:( I was hoping there was something we could do. That totally sucks.

So far I haven't been able to find a correlation, but I might start taking notes.


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I dont have any news either, I just lost two last week.
They were only about a year old and usually threw some of my biggest litters:mad:

Are you feeding Mazuri? Could you possibly be feeding some of the recalled food?

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Originally Posted by Don

Are you feeding Mazuri? Could you possibly be feeding some of the recalled food?

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This!

I've come across several people, including myself, who had females die out of nowhere. We all feed mazuri with the symptoms Mazuri posted on their facebook page occurring (loss of appetite, sudden weight loss, and possible death from the excess amount of Vita D.) . I'm wondering if you also feed Mazuri?


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I too have had females die in the beginning of labor. This was even before the Mazuri recall. Do you think it's really a miscarriage or just one of those things that could go wrong when breeding any animal?

I have read that first time mothers over a year are more susceptible to problems during labor. Massaging on the belly between the legs can sometimes dislodge a pup if it is stuck or manipulate one back so the other can get threw (rats uterus is a Y shape two babies can get stuck in the middle), I have saved two females using massage. I have lost a few where massage doesn't work. The best luck I have had is only breeding females from 4 months to about 18 months, and giving them 2 weeks from when I pull babies till I put them back in with male, to just relax.

Where are you keeping them and what are the temps? Normally they stop breeding when its hot like this but if you do get a pregnant female and as hot as its been the last few weeks they will usually die when they are almost full term...heat index here is like 109

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Mine are in the shed..................a/c almost never gets over 85 degrees

I've noticed that my rats that die this way are always rats that took a long time to become pregnant. It's like there's just a fertility issue where if they aren't good breeders, they end up dying from giving birth. This has happened to a few young rats on their first litters. I've always fed Native Earth/Harlan.

Your breeding them too old.

I thought people that breed rats for pets typically will retire females after they reach 1 or 2 years old.

A quick google search actually confirmed this. As they age, labor really becomes dangerous for them.

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Originally Posted by Don

Are you feeding Mazuri? Could you possibly be feeding some of the recalled food?

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I'm feeding Kent Rodent Diet. It's definitely not the best food, but I that is what I have been feeding for the past several years.

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Originally Posted by KLMuller

I have read that first time mothers over a year are more susceptible to problems during labor. Massaging on the belly between the legs can sometimes dislodge a pup if it is stuck or manipulate one back so the other can get threw (rats uterus is a Y shape two babies can get stuck in the middle), I have saved two females using massage. I have lost a few where massage doesn't work. The best luck I have had is only breeding females from 4 months to about 18 months, and giving them 2 weeks from when I pull babies till I put them back in with male, to just relax.

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Most of these girls have had several litters. I've wondered about messaging them because I can tell which ones are about to die from labor complications. I might try that the next time I see that happening.

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Originally Posted by Reddog

Where are you keeping them and what are the temps? Normally they stop breeding when its hot like this but if you do get a pregnant female and as hot as its been the last few weeks they will usually die when they are almost full term...heat index here is like 109

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They are in the basement so the temps aren't a problem. The highest it gets in the room they are in is 75 thanks to all the heat tape I have running in the snake racks.

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Originally Posted by Spookitie

Your breeding them too old.

I thought people that breed rats for pets typically will retire females after they reach 1 or 2 years old.

A quick google search actually confirmed this. As they age, labor really becomes dangerous for them.

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IMO 1 year old is a young mother, 2 is definitely older, but I don't think too old. I just had a female who is 5 months shy of 3 years old give me a healthy litter of 6. Breeding them past 2 years does come with complications, but my older females rarely have problems. It's the females between 1 and 2 that are having problems and that doesn't make sense to me. I do know what people say you should and shouldn't do when you care/breed for rats, but I do what I find works. People say you shouldn't keep them on pine, that's all I use and my rats live to be 3+ years old with no tumors, so I'm going to keep using it. The birthing complications are the only problem I've run into thus far.

Correct me if I'm wrong but 6 is more of a smaller litter... I have females that always do double that plus a few give or take. I retire once I start seeing litter take durastic number differences which ends up being about two yrs sometimes a few months older.


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