My Breeding Rats

Hey everyone, I got 3 rats to start off a small breeding colony so I can feed the snakes I own. I have 1 male to 2 females, I got the male before the 2 females so he's about a month older. The male is 4 months, the females just over 3 months now. I have witnessed several breedings between him and both females over the last 1-2 weeks or so. I wasn't sure the females even bred properly with him because none have been showing much signs of a possible pregnancy. The one female is starting to show some signs that I think is a pregnancy, I took pictures to show and see what you guys think.

I also noticed there hasn't been a thread made all for determining if females are pregnant or not, I think one should be made so there aren't a million threads about it. Just a thought!

Here's a pic of the female in question, an overview shot and belly shot.

Above shot:
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps08c1a697.jpg

Belly Shot (her nipples are starting to become more prominent through her fur):
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps5d520496.jpg

Thanks for looking!

Looks like she might have a bump starting. Or she's a chunky monkey :) Either way, you should know for sure in under 3 weeks

I'm leaning towards probably prego. The best view to determine it is if she's in a tank, wait till she stands on her hind legs and take a pic from the outside of the tank. Or lift by the tail slightly so her front feet are still on the ground and take the pic from behind towards the head.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sita

I'm leaning towards probably prego. The best view to determine it is if she's in a tank, wait till she stands on her hind legs and take a pic from the outside of the tank. Or lift by the tail slightly so her front feet are still on the ground and take the pic from behind towards the head.

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That's a great idea, I'll do that (I'm now though almost 100% sure she's pregnant). I'll update this post with the pic.

Ok I can't edit a post unfortunately (sorry for the double post & bump) here's the pic I took of the female from behind, she has a nice round belly.

http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps85ee904a.jpg

Dang, yeah, definitely has some buns in the oven! I'd say at that stage, she'll be having babies within the week. :)

Hey guys, the babies have arrived! They were born some time between 2am and 6am last night. I woke up hearing soft squeaks so I got up to look and sure enough, 8 healthy plump babies were there. I'm so happy this is my first try breeding rats. :D

Pics as promised:

Taken at 6am when I woke up -
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps0db8152c.jpg

Took this while the female was eating -
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps8ba686d3.jpg

Thanks for looking! :)

That didn't take long! Congrats on the babies :)


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Got a bit of a question following the birth. My other female rat has been mating with the male for over a week, but I haven't noticed much physical improvement or size difference, however...I did get into researching about weight gain-loss from pregnancy in rats and I weighed the 2nd female. She has gained 42 grams since the last time I checked her, and a rat can gain as much as 90 grams from a pregnancy. She was a lot slimmer before also, I examined her and just noticed her belly region has gained some size. I'm not sure what to call it yet since I can't confirm if she's pregnant or not until I see more signs. Is it possible she is well on her way into a pregnancy? If she is it must be the beginning stages due to lack of any hints. I'm still learning and would like to know how to catch a rat in the early stages of pregnancy.

They start to get "lobes" on their sides when they really are pregnant; they don't really fill out like humans do...pics could help us figure it out :gj:

She's probably got a bun in the oven. If you have to ask if they're pregnant, they usually are :)

Well I was judging by weight, I'm still new to this so I don't know how to figure it out in the early stages.

Here's pics of her:
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...psf4f46458.jpg

http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...psda09abf0.jpg

More baby shots:
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/q...psabd6fff8.jpg

The female in question has mated with the male nearly every night, I keep them together to ensure pregnancy, the last couple days he hasn't tried to mate with her as often as he usually does, so could be a sign, I'm not going to call her pregnant right now based on size lol I really don't know if she is or not, I can't tell until things start getting really noticeable. :P

Why is it an issue?
They are in heat when they drop their litter so if a male is in the same tub sometimes the female will end up pregnant the same day they drop babies.
usually by 10 days pregnant you can visually see belly swell.
I grab them behind the front legs and hold them upright so the belly sticks out.
Or you can give them a treat and make them show you the belly ...

http://i915.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4d056b60.jpg

what are you feeding the rat?