prego

Hey everyone ok so i started up my colony, there doing well but my question is i have 1 male 4 females, would it be ok to put lets say 2 females together that are about to give birth? and let them raise the puts up in the same tub :confused:

I keep up to tree females in the same tub with there pinks and I never had any babies die.

some people do...I don't.

I keep mine seperated.

It is easier to identify problems.

:)

i keep 3 females in 1 tub. saw one this morning eating a pink.

Eating it ???????? wow what causes this ?

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Originally Posted by Drew87

Eating it ???????? wow what causes this ?

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The most likely reasons are: birth defects, pup was DOA, severely stressed mother, mother regaining nutrition after birth (meaning she is not physically fit to raise a litter), other rats culling litter.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

The most likely reasons are: birth defects, pup was DOA, severely stressed mother, mother regaining nutrition after birth (meaning she is not physically fit to raise a litter), other rats culling litter.

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yep. connie and frankykeno were the one who told me this. so i just leave them alone. but if they eat the whole litter,then i feed them off. to a burmese.

well im pretty sure mine are healthy so they better not eat there litters other wise they will have a date with my BLOOD PYTHON haha, but my TOT should be popping here soon soo ill keep everyone posted!:gj:

I don't keep mine together because I've had a tug-o-war with a baby and it wasn't pretty. The baby actually survived with a huge tear on his back and it made me sick. I felt horrible and now I try pull the mama's out the week they are scheduled to deliver.

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Originally Posted by Drew87

well im pretty sure mine are healthy so they better not eat there litters other wise they will have a date with my BLOOD PYTHON haha, but my TOT should be popping here soon soo ill keep everyone posted!:gj:

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If you do decide to put them together to nurse, know that communal nesting appears to not be their first choice and some mothers just don't do well with it. It is a huge stress to not only be nursing, but to have to deal with the other females in the tub. Other females may steal the babies from other mothers, resulting in a tug of war or back and forth carrying of babies. This can be quite detrimental to the health of all animals involved.

Also, some mothers may not nurse, leaving the duties to the rest of the females in the tub, adding more strain on their bodies.

It's harder to identify the source of problems when there are multiple adults involved. Most notedly, genetic defects.

Some females may feel the need to cannibalize the litters. First time mothers aren't used to what they are doing, and are being completely motivated by a bunch of hormones running through their body.

If a female has a first litter and destroys it, best to give her a second chance in a tub on her own. If she continues to destroy the litter, best that she not breed anymore.

I don't condone communal nesting, but rather have mothers raise the pups by themselves. I know some people put litters and mothers together once the pups are 2 weeks old, running around, this seems safer to me.

wow Connie...

most excellent post!

:cool:

Well what im going to do is give the mothers there own tub i dont want to see any babies get eatin, but one of the moms is a first time mother, so if she doesnt feed the babies do you think i could move them to the other mother ? and im going to do my best to keep the stress and everything down becuase i would like to keep the mothers they have grown on me so i want to keep them haha i know it sounds wrong but i kinda like them now haha i even named them :D

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Originally Posted by Drew87

Well what im going to do is give the mothers there own tub i dont want to see any babies get eatin, but one of the moms is a first time mother, so if she doesnt feed the babies do you think i could move them to the other mother ? and im going to do my best to keep the stress and everything down becuase i would like to keep the mothers they have grown on me so i want to keep them haha i know it sounds wrong but i kinda like them now haha i even named them :D

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Hey, I have 30 something rats, all named.

If the mother doesn't nurse, you can try adopting them out to another mother that has pups close to the same age. If they are bigger than the fosters, they'll likely push them out of the way so they can't nurse.

I've experimented fostering out rat pinks (day olds), hasn't worked for me yet, but that doesn't mean it won't either.

Just best to put mom in a tub, and not mess too much with her. It's okay to check on them, but you'll learn how certain mothers handle interruptions. Some reaaaally dont like it. lol

haha yea its a learning process, but thankx for all the help once again ill post some pics here soon

What if you only have 1 male and 1 female? Can you leave them together or will dad hurt the babies???

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Originally Posted by PhillyBoyInTN

What if you only have 1 male and 1 female? Can you leave them together or will dad hurt the babies???

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Depends. Although, you'll see another litter after 3 weeks. Then after 3 more weeks you have another litter, and another 3 weeks another litter....

Just remove the male. Get him a buddy because they are incredibly social.

I dont see the point of having just 1 female and 1 male unless they are neutered and pets. Rats grow fast and will literally be too big for a snake after only a week.

Males should not be alone, and females should not be alone. So, might as well pick up another male and female. (Gosh, I sure am repeating myself a lot nowadays)


Just read this. :)
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showp...3&postcount=11

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=69076

I've accidently had back to back babies and it is so hard on the mother. She looked horrible and only had a few babies on the second litter. I've also had issues with the dad killing the babies.

I try to keep the mamma alone right before she delivers or I put a young weaned female with her to keep her company.

Good luck Drew. I went down the same road only to go back to breeding mice, and buying rats again. I got way too attached to the babies. What ever you do don't name the babies. And please don't ever leave a rat alone, so sad.

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Originally Posted by Jenn

What ever you do don't name the babies. And please don't ever leave a rat alone, so sad.

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what happens if you leave a rat alone? (dont worry, i have two rats together!)