Male not Breeding Females?

Hi,

So I just recently setup 2 colonies of 1.4 rats in a rat rack and I think I'm having issues with getting them to breed. The guy I bought them from is reputable in the rat business and he told me all of the females he sold me are ready to go and have had litters in the past. All of the females are about 200-250 grams and the male is also about 250 grams. Whenever it seems like he's trying to breed the females just stand up on their legs and basically push him away. The breeder I bought them from said most of the time when they breed you don't even see it happening so I'm wondering if that's the case or if for some reason they just don't want to breed. I feed mazuri 6f and clean once a week to ensure everythings as clean as possible and they always have access to fresh water. Just want to see what an experts input would be because both of my colonies seem to be acting like this. The male chases them down and then they just push him away and don't seem interested lol

TLDR; do you ever see the males breed?

How large are your rat racks and how long ago did you put them together?

They actually need enough room to be comfortable to breed. If they feel the area is too small, they won't breed or they will breed and end up reabsorbing their babies...

If you just put them together a few days ago, I'd give them a few more days to become friends first. They don't breed instantly like snakes, they're social animals and need to get to know one another.

The other alternative is the females aren't in heat yet, so they're rejecting the male for now. Once theyre in heat, then they will breed.

But it's true that you often don't see them breeding actively- they do it in short spurts that just last a few seconds and then they're done lol. So unless you're watching them constantly, it's easy to miss.

I have them in the home depot concrete mixing tubs in 1 male 3 female colonies. I'm guessing it's just because I miss them breeding because I didn't realize the breeding process was so short. I'm so used to some of my snakes being locked for up to 2 days so I didn't even realize how quick the process was. Thanks for the reply

Rats are sneaky, gestation is 19-22 days. Pull your males 14 days after being introduced into the females tub. The girls are bred by then an in a week or so you'll have pups. You may want to give each females her own tub. Sometimes the first rat will drop days before the others, this can cause problems.

Good luck!