WOW! 16 any genetic?

Hi This morning my female that I received form petco(it was already prego but didnt no until I had it for one week) had 16 babies. do you think any of the babies will be genetic and have large liters like that? also that was her first litter. dont the litters get bigger?

....so she had a reason for being so big ;) A 16 mouse litter is really good...IMO. I usually average around 12 but I have had up to 15 before. I would definately keep back a few of the larger female babies and see if they have litters like their mama :) The litters do tend to get larger, but I doubt they will get any larger than 16.....when there are more babies than that a single mother might have trouble careing for them all. Thats why I always make sure I have two female per enclosure when baby time arrives....they are pretty good at helping each other out :)

Wow that is a nice big litter! I'd do like Daniel says and keep back a couple of the biggest of her daughters. Make sure that momma is getting lots of healthy food and fresh water though, that's a lotta babies for her to nurse.


~~Jo~~

I saw a rat that had 25.

One of mine just had 18.

It does tend to be genetic.. typically white 'lab' mice and rats produce larger litters than fancy varieties.

she is in with another mom that has 7 babies so there is 23 babies in he cage with 2 moms and the 7 will be weaned ina bout 5 days.

Once the 7 are weaned, I would leave the both moms in the enclosure. It will reduce the stress on the mom with the big litter and make for healthier babies :)

I do the same thing with mine. Lactating female rats don't care who's babies they have. :)

the rats that you had wich had 18 babies where they albino?

Yep.. albino bred to hooded rat. The babies are mostly hooded and berkshire marked.

wanna send me some females? lol im for real I am in wisconsin a state above you.

lol.. well at the moment I'm trying to feed 20 snakes.

I'm sure any pet store albino rat will do a fine job for you.

how much did you pay for her?

I got her for free.. my cousin gave her to me.

Pet store rats usually are anywhere from $5-10.

what size would you suggest to get?( i need it to breed right away) small medium large or jumbo?

Large.

I have a male and a female right now but the thing is is I had her for around 3-4 weeks and the day I got them mated and they where in the same cage before. I wonder she didnt have any babies. they are really old as i got them from ym moms friend and she told me they where old but still reproduced. do you think she cant have any more babies or the male isnt viable any more?

I don't know, but older rats sometimes don't have a litter every month, but every couple of months.

I'd get a new male and female. You might want to get the male from a different shop from the female to make sure they aren't littermates.

whats wrong with them being litter mates?

Inbreeding!

You'll likely get deformed, weak babies.. not good.

what about if I trade them in and get them from one petstore and ask if they are litter mates?

They most likely won't know.. they may even tell you they aren't if they think it'll make you buy two.

I'd play it safe and buy from different sources.

okay i am going to buy a female from pet co and then another one from a mom and pop store. is that okay?

That should be good :) It is always good to keep fresh blood coming into any breeding project.

do you think the males is okay and just buy 2 females instead buying another male?

Males slow down too.. do it if you want to, but rats only live 2-3 years.. after they're a year old I usually 'recycle' them anyway.

I bet hes atleast 1 year old. Im going to freeze them both. what is the best way to kill them? I do not have a co2 chamber.

Hm.. C02 really is the best.

You have a strong arm? You really have to slam them hard if you want to use the whack method. (it is a rat right? can't see if you have been talking about your mice or rat pair.. lol) Mice are easy to kill by whack method, though they do twitch like mad for a little while.

Try putting the rat in a pillow case and whack it against something very hard.

I don't know about other methods..

they are rats. I have a strong arm. the rats are pretty huge tho.

Yeah. They are not easy to whack.

Really you should consider setting up a Co2 chamber, especially if you're going to be killing a lot of rats.

how much does it cost?

I use a cooler, a piece of dry ice (99 cents at WalMart) and some pegboard. Put the dry ice and a little water in the bottom of the cooler, put the pegboard over the ice, supported by a couple of little pieces of wood, or whatever you have handy. The pegboard makes a vented floor over the ice and prevents the rat from coming in contact with the ice. Add rat, close lid, and wait 20 - 30 minutes. The rat falls asleep, suffocates.

that sounds like a good idea. also sometimes my male attacks some of the females. do you no why that is?

His 'attacking' is probably him mating. Rats play rough sometimes too.

i was talking about the mice ( sorry if it soounds like im saying it mean but im not) he wasnt mating them because i seen blood on one female

Sometimes their claws make each other bleed.. just keep an eye on them.