Cannibal Massacre?

[ShamelessAardvark]

Alright, mystery time. I recently moved two female (double and triple checked, the new rat-mate was female) rats together, not knowing that one was pregnant. She had just given birth, and I was separating her from the male for a break, but i guess he got to her before I moved him. Anyway, fast forward a few weeks. Pregger female gave birth to ten healthy rat babies, and neither female was visibly stressed. There were never any fights between the two, and momma never stressed about having her babies with another female in the pen.

Well, I went to check on everyone today because I hadn't had the time to say hello for a day or two (I give everyone enough food and water to last about 3 days.) I opened the tub with the two females to find momma-rat dead, with her innards hanging out. The weird part is that all of her babies were still alive and perfectly fine. My guess is that the kill took place only a few hours before I went to check, because the blood was fresh and wet, and the body had not gone into the rigor mortis state. I removed all ten pups, whose eyes have begun to open (some completely open, some slits) and took out the other female and placed her in a separate cage from the babies. After I cleaned that cage, I moved to the grow-out tub, where I had five small rats. I looked inside to find that two had been recently torn to shreds, and I watched one die. Upon removing the one that had just died, I found nothing wrong with him, no wounds or any internals hanging out. There was a bit of dried blood on his face, which leads me to believe that perhaps the other two carcasses were ill.

I checked my males, and both are fine. I'm currently gassing the three rats who were in cages with bodies, and my mom is nursing the ten babies.

My questions are,
1) What the hell prompted this? It's not a case of starvation, no one was lethargic or sick, and no one was stressed.
2) Why didn't the female who killed the momma leave her babies alive? I doubt it's a territorial issue, because she would have killed the babies sooner.
3) Are the cases related somehow? Can violence between rats spread from cage to cage?
and lastly, 4) The three rats left alive who were in with bodies, will they be safe for my snakes to eat? This is my main concern. Should I cull and dispose of them, or would nothing come of feeding them off?

Thanks for any advice/help in advance.

[RichsBallPythons]

Ive had females die days or week after giving birth.

Doesnt sound like she was beat up on and killed as you would hear it as its LOUD. But when rats die same with mice, They take advantage of it and eat them to gain the nutrition.

[ShamelessAardvark]

But what about the younger ones? They were all male litter mates, and never had any problems with aggression.

[jason79]

Check your water source. Make sure it isnt plugged up. They will kill each other when there is no access to water sometimes.

[ShamelessAardvark]

Both water bottles were/are dripping water perfectly fine.

[RichsBallPythons]

Could be a fluke if its first time for an established group.

Also what food you feeding

[RichsBallPythons]

Also does any of the adults have scabs on the face or body from fighting. If not then its not aggression rather old age or complications

[ShamelessAardvark]

This wasn't the deceased momma's first time birthing with other rats in the same cage, she'd done it before. No bodies, living or dead, had any sort of wounds on them. Well, from what I could tell from the juvi's, at least. Two were completely mangled, but aside from their guts hanging out, nothing seemed abnormal.

Except for the young rat that died in front of me. I checked over his body, nothing was wrong with him. He was laying on top of another dead rat, along with the two lives ones.

All rats who were in with the bodies are now dead and in the freezer. But is it safe for me to feed them off?

I was using FortiDiet.

[RichsBallPythons]

Kaytee FortiDiet is garbage for breeding purposes. Its okay for pet use but not enough nutrition for breeding females and nursing babies...

If no signs of aggression on them, it just sounds like it was their time. GIve them one more go as a group if it happens again after you switch to a quality food, Gas them and replace em.

[satomi325]

Sometimes if there's not enough protein in a diet, they'll kill to get that protein.

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