Sexing rats what age

Ok so i have some pups that are over 3 weeks have not opened there eyes but have full coats, and are running around the cage, but when will i be able to tell the boys from the girls???? so i can get them seperated in about a week and a half????

The males parts will be visible at weanling time. Just flip them over, and give there belly a little push, and bam ther either male or female.:D

You can tell male/female at day 3. I judge by the genital distance.

Yup, before you really learn what your looking for, the best way to learn is to hold 2 rat butts side by side in the palm of your hand, lift their tails and judge the distance between the anus and genitalia.

Once you figure you have a male (longest distance from anus to genitalia), it's easy to just compare side by side until you can tell at just a glance.

My males are usually very prominent by 3 weeks of age. :)

ok so im guessing females have a smaller distance between anus and gen, and males are farther???

Oh yup, sure are. If I didn't think it was dirty to post pictures of, I would. There are a few websites with side by side pictures. Just google "sexing rats" and you should get a lot of hits.

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Originally Posted by Drew87

ok so im guessing females have a smaller distance between anus and gen, and males are farther???

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Yes.

This is informative: http://www.ratz.co.uk/sexingrats.html

Thankx everyone, that helps alot but its not much of a difference haha i hope i get it right haha, i mean like the distance is very close but there is a difference so ill be able to tell here is to alot of females haha, :gj:

Before their hair is fully in you can tell your females by their obvious little nipple marks. Once they are ready to wean at about 3.5 to 4.5 weeks of age just dangle them head up (sort of under their armpits). Those with dangly bits are your boys, those without dangly bits, those are your girls. :)

I check for nipples.. you should be able to see them now.

so the males dont have nipples?

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Originally Posted by Drew87

so the males dont have nipples?

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Yes!

ok so i tried last night and its not very easy haha

Wait another week or so...boy rat bits are hard to miss...

Try sexing mice, it's tougher (boy mouse bits don't hang out as far). =)

OK so let me get this straight here so couldnt i tell just by the nipples because the male rats dont have them?

Pllllleeeease look at this website and learn grasshopper. :) It's by far one of the best tutorials.

http://www.ratz.co.uk/sexingrats.html

And right, males dont have nipples, but I sex them by distance and the appearance of the sac. The sac is always between the anus and penis on a male, separating them by a farther distance than on females.

I also have to point this out, if they are 3 weeks old, they better have their eyes open. I can wean them at 3 1/2 weeks. I think your dates may be messed up.

well when i got home it was crazy all there eyes were open and they were running around like crazy it was pretty funny but then i took 2 out to feed my pastel who didnt eat due to shed i felt kinda bad

Don't feel bad, that's why you're breeding them. Our rodents live a good life, are cared for well and die quickly to be nutritious meals for our snakes. Win-win-win. =)

And you'll get the hang of sexing. Stare at those pictures and keep looking at your rodents and you'll be sorting easily in no time. =)

cassandra thankx for the words, im sure ill get the hang out it

wow i cant type sorry working at the same time, tried to say will get the hang of it