sad rat?

[m0esgirl]

i was wondering if it was possible for a rat to be depressed? my main breeder male died recently, and his 'girl' seemed to be depressed. she is now super skinny, she doesnt have any parasites and she's not ill (so the vet says) but i was wondering if its possible for her to be depressed because he's gone? she eats, but she picks at her food, she is also nursing a litter of fourteen. i was tempted to just cull all the pinks and let her rest, but is that a good idea? and what foods do you recommend that would put some weight back on her, without making her unhealthy? i fed her some turkey breast (sandwich meat), walnuts, cooked sweet potatoes, some green beans and carrots and a few crackers. she is also in a tank with two other females. i had them in a tank, then i got an actual cage, flat bottom, no levels, but she started to have breathing problems so i figured it was from the change in air ( from tank to cage) so i put her back in the tank. she got rid of her respiratory problems, but she's still just really skinny and scraggly looking and i dont like it. do you guys have any tips for foods to get her weight back to normal, and any thing i can do with her to make her seem less...sad? i know it sounds sappy haha but that's how it looks like she feels. any help is greatly appreciated!!!




she is in a 20 gallon tank right now, with water bottle that i refill every day and sterilize once a week, her bedding is aspen which is changed every four to five days(or as necessary to get rid of feces) and i feed her once a day, usually the rat food mixes, but she picks through that. its usually around 70-71 degrees where they are located, and i havent added any new rats. ever. her daughters from her first litter are in with her so she doesnt get lonely. should i move them all to the cage?

[McAdry]

well I don't know if she is sad but she may be lonely. Rats are extremly social creatures and we keep all of our rats in groups of at least 2 or three. We keep a male with two or three females till the females show up pregnant then take him out and put him with another male that is done breeding or waiting to breed. We keep the females togather untill they are about do then seperate them to have their pups in some cases to keep moms from stealing new born pups back and forth after about a week it seems we can put the litters back togather and they share the work of raising them just fine. If she is healthy I would get her a friend and see how that helps.

[littleindiangirl]

If she is with her daughters, I don't believe she would be lonely with the loss of the male. Rats aren't particularly monogamous and wouldnt dwell on that.

How much time was there between litters? Nursing is a stress on a females body, with one litter taking quite a bit out of them physically. If I found one of my females not doing well with her litter (like you described, skinny, not eating, sick) I would cull the litter and give her a long time to recover. Keep her with her daughters, feed her soft foods like you have (minus walnuts, I'm not sure if they can eat nuts like that). Keep her out of drafts and on dustless substrate. I'm sure she will recover.

[m0esgirl]

well before i even started breeding rats, i looked up info on this site ( seriously this site is basically my bible) and wrote down the schedule to breed, and the rotations so you get good litters and noone gets sick, but im gonna say after she had one litter, i fed those off, gave her three weeks to rest, and then put the male back in with her. i will cut out the walnuts, and i did cull this litter, fed them off, and she's resting, and she already seems fatter! i think she was just stressed out, but i will continue to give her soft foods. thank you soo much!!!! i really love this site.