Small litter

One of my rats just had a litter last night but it only had 4 of them in there. 3 were in a pile like normal and one was in the corner, it looked neglected and it was kinda cold. I put that one back in the pile but I haven't been home yet.

This is like the 7th or 8th litter from this one rat and they have always been around 9. Just seems weird to have only 4. Is this normal?

It is funny. I have one girl who I bred 3 times before. She was having normal litters of 8-10, and then threw a tiny litter of 2. I gave her one mroe chance, and now she has 9 babies. It is just odd..

She's likely just coming to the end of her productive breeding life. You'll generally see a sharp decrease in litter size once they hit this age usually around 14-16 months or so (depends on the rat and how well she was cared for - some slow down earlier, some a bit later).

Yes. This is actually the last litter I am getting out of the girl I mentioned; Jo is right. (as usual ;)

Kinda gross. I got home and I had 1 and a half dead pinks. Now I only have 2 survivors. So this litter is basically a total bust.

Do you think I should retire this rat from breeding or just a fluke?

Well, how old is she, and who did you pair her with? If she is young still, there may be an underlying problem in the pairing, or with the mother.

Connie he said she's had 7 or 8 litters. She's likely just ready to retire from active breeding (depending on the frequency of those litters, etc.)

yup, me just not reading again...

I wonder if there were "naturally" more babies, and she ate them for some reason? Or if they died of defects/natural causes, she would have eaten them to keep the nest area clean..
I would retire her; sounds like she has had a lot of litters.

I don't raise rats, so I was wondering when you say retire...do you mean she just lives out the rest of her natural life being fed and pampered, or she is turned into a feeder herself?

I think it's a personal choice. My breeders are all my pets, so they will live out their days fat and happy with a lofty bed, and some younger girls to keep her company when they aren't breeding. I dont think I could bring myself to feed them off live, but perhaps put them to sleep if I my sumatran girl was in need of a biggie rat. Some of mine I just know won't ever be food. Just how I feel about my rats.

I figured that it was up to the individual, I'm with you though. If I raised rats I just don't see myself being able to feed the ones that I'm attached to, actually I think I'd have a hard time feeding the babies if I'd seen them from birth and everything. How do you get big rats for your sumatran? Do you just set aside a few as babies to let grow big?

Yeah i'll just turn her into a happy fat rat pet. She's the nicest rat i've ever seen. Never tried to bite, always comes up to me and is happy. Licks my hand up and down like a rabbit.

I guess if one of these 2 survives and is female i'll raise her to be a breeder

:rat:

The nice thing with these older adult females is they can still have a useful life in your rat colony even if not as active, producing breeders. My older females aka granny rats keep the breeder females company when they are resting between litters, they sometimes go in the female feeder/grower bins to settle down an overly active group of feeders and they help me raise up my next generation of female feeders by helping me socialize the new girls. Rats like to stay busy, like to be in their social groups, etc. so I find that these roles for my older females help them stay active and healthy.

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Originally Posted by PigsnPythons

How do you get big rats for your sumatran? Do you just set aside a few as babies to let grow big?

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Sumatrans dont get as big as bloods, but they still put on a good size. Really though, she wont need a jumbo size rat (aka adult). She is still young and feeds on weaners, but I have a feeling that a bi-weekly feed will be the way to go with her when she is older. So the rats will never be a full grown adult.
But yes, to answer your question, her food will be put aside to grow up for some weeks with no real interaction from us. They will still be skiddish around people, and not really trust us.
I'm also pretty sure I want her on F/t when she is large.