First African soft-furred litter!

[SnakeySnakeSnake]

leaving the male in with the female... isn't there a good chance she's going to get pregnant right away? wouldn't it be as detrimental to these rats as to our 'normal' rats to get pregnant right away?

Define "detrimental"?

I have had many females be pregnant and give birth right before her first litter is weaned. I've had none die, and they get enough food that they don't thin out too much.

I would definitely say it is not ideal, but I wouldn't go far as to say it is detrimental. With the odds of the female letting the male do that to her, it would be very rare to see the female get pregnant many times in a row like this, unless she is just easy


That being said, I do seperate my rats ASAP, and often before they give birth to prevent this, but sometimes you have ninja poppers

[recycling goddess]

detrimental - shortens their life span from breeding too frequently - doesn't give them time to regain any weight loss - doesn't give the time required for their body to recover.

just to name a few.

and saying

"the odds of the female letting the male do that to her, it would be very rare to see the female get pregnant many times in a row like this, unless she is just easy"

no comment!

[TekWarren]

African rats *can* become pregnant and give birth as soon as 25 days after having their last litter. That's only she accepts the male that soon.

That said I don't know of anyone off hand that is breeding rodents for reptile food that removes their males after their females start giving birth...I sure as heck don't. I need a constant supply and have never personally seen a decrease in the lifespan of my breeding colonies or in their health. There are plenty of other females in the breeding groups that I would say that this would be a rare issue...at least in my practices.

[Emilio]

In my short breeding time only once has one of my female's gotten pregnant a week or so after dropping a litter. Remember when their in the wild or whatever there's no way to limit the nookie , I wonder how it work's when we are not controling the process.

[recycling goddess]

i know they can hold the sperm and not gestate the babies until a little later when they are bred immediately after birthing...

but i just can't imagine this is in the best interest of the females. just because it can be done, doesn't make it ethical in my opinion.

i look at my breeders as living beings which deserve the same respect, care, love and attention as any other critter in my home. they may not get held as much... but i'm in there with silkworms, chicken bones and kind words daily. (actually in our home they are held daily as my daughter's care and attention to them is excellent)

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

I don't really consider rats as pets at all. They are kept for feeders and breeders only. I still give them everything to be happy, healthy, and live a long healthy life(or until fed off). You see it alot, feeders being treated bad. Skinny, dirty cages, and cheap if any food. Its really down to how you want to keep your rodents. You can let them breed over and over and live shorter lives possibly or you can try and make them live for a long time. Either way its up to you. What ever you do, make sure your feeders are being cared for to the best of your abbility

[frankykeno]

In my short breeding time only once has one of my female's gotten pregnant a week or so after dropping a litter. Remember when their in the wild or whatever there's no way to limit the nookie , I wonder how it work's when we are not controling the process.

Well to be honest in the wild the adult females aren't confined in a small area with a breeding male either so comparing wild reproduction to captive breeding just doesn't work.

For me leaving an adult male rat in with a female with a litter doesn't work. I don't need or want that kind of rat production going on or want my females breeding back to back or being harrassed to breed while nursing young. I believe it helps my females be healthier if they are bred less often and their offspring to be better nutured by her body both in utero and during nursing. For me, it makes sense that a stronger female rat produces stronger pinks that grow into stronger feeders. It's also part of my philosophy on to not allow breeding if I think it compromises any creatures wellbeing and yes guys, that includes rats. These aren't purely pets to me, they have a job in our home to produce feeders for the snakes but they aren't living in a production environment either. Works for me, doesn't have to work for anybody else.

Now back to the original thread LOL. These rats sound really interesting Heath. Thanks for talking the time to answer my questions and provide that link.

[Emilio]

I agree with you Joanna I don't wanna look as if I don't care about the females I'm learning as I go. My female's look good none of them are skinny and I've only had one still born out of 72 babie's . The one still born was from my fattest female who not by coincidence has the smallest litter's. To tekwarren this thread is awesome I'm interested more and more with these african rat's like most have said keep us posted as your endeavor roll's on.

[TekWarren]

I have a close up pic of day 3, although not all that much difference. I think I'll wait a few more days for the next shot untill there is more visible development so I can document better the growth/maturity rate. All are still doing great and fuzzy as ever:

small pic

larger pic


Edit/Add: as I stated above generally we don't handle the rodents but the adults look to soft not to want to touch but we don't know their temperments while being held. The babies will probably get some handling time and we'll see how the temperment goes by starting young.

[recycling goddess]

it's so odd seeing pinks with fur!