Separating Babies

This has already probably been asked and I'm just too NEW to find it but can someone tell me at what age a male is able to get a female pregnant?

They're fertile at 5 weeks of age. :D Although, some larger females wont let inexperienced small males mate them.

Ive heard that as well but wouldnt those females have very small litters due to there size????

Thanks! I had a very shy male in the female bin and I didn't notice him until yesterday when it was hot and he was letting his "Boys" hang down to cool off. I sure hope he was younger than 5 weeks :(.

I suppose I should have asked this in the original post. . . how young can a female get pregnant and if they are too young will they die?

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Originally Posted by Drew87

Ive heard that as well but wouldnt those females have very small litters due to there size????

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The males are fertile, but females that small generally won't be bred by their brothers, but they CAN be, and seeing as how some females at 5 months of age have difficulties with their first litter, I can't imagine any of the litters at this age will do any better.

Just wait till they reach 5 months of age or over 250 grams.

In the wild, as male rats reach the reproductive age, they move off away from the nest to find other colonies. The females stay behind.

Marmie, I copied and pasted this from Ratguide for you. :)

http://ratguide.com/breeding/breeding/breeding_age.php

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Although it is not advisable, some female rats can be capable of breeding at 6 weeks. In rare circumstances breeding has occurred as early as 5 weeks. This is why it is best to separate the sexes when a litter reaches 5 weeks of age.

When bred at a very young age, 5 or 6 weeks, it has been noted that the litters are usually smaller but that the birth weight of the individual babies tends to be normal. It has also been noted that as the young mothers reached maturity their size was comparable to their female siblings.

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Although female rats do not experience actual menopause, their reproductive ability begins to subside between 15 and 18 months of age.
As the female ages fertility may decrease and the litters may tend to be smaller. An aging reproductive system in mammals can also increase the percentage of birth defects, problematic pregnancies, and labor difficulties.

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Male rats can impregnate a female as young as 5 weeks, although that is not common. They are able to breed for most of their lives.

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(This is a horrible way to word this sentence, but they are talking about males being fertile at 5 weeks of age.)

thank you littleindiangirl you always have the answer haha

Thank you! I will bookmark the site.