New mommy

[Debbienflorida]

My adult female rat (dark gray hooded), I haven't came up with a good name yet, and my black Dumbo Self Jeffrey had 4 babies Saturday night. I have had lots of pet rats years ago before the snakes but this is my first attempt at breeding. Four seemed like a good start for a first time mom and the babies are big and eating well. I have the mom alone with the babies and Jeffrey is in another enclosure with a 2 mos old male rat pup right now. Since the pup is unrelated he will be the father for any of the babies that turn out to be female. Hopefully I will be able to convert all 4 snakes to rats since I will have access to different sizes. I can't wait to see what colors these are and if any will be Dumbos like daddy. The mom isn't quite as loving but Jeffrey is a real snuggler!

[littleindiangirl]

4 is a bit on the small side for a litter, and honestly, the only time I have had four babies was to an unknown aged female and she destroyed the litter. (My best guess at four was the remnants from her culling them). So just keep an eye on that.

Congrats on the first litter!

[Debbienflorida]

I think it was her first litter and We were only away an hour so I really didn't consider he culling. The are nice healthy big babies and she wasn't all that big anyway. Is four really that small for a first litter? I was pretty pleased. I really didn't need a dozen anyway! I will keep that in mind next time around! Thanks

[frankykeno]

4 is small for a first litter. How much does the female rat weigh and any idea how old she is?

[Debbienflorida]

To clarify, when I said she wasn't all that big I meant her belly. She seems full grown but anyway, right now she weighs 296 grams and at 5 days old the babies are 16-17 grams each. Her age I really have no clue.

[Debbienflorida]

Does anyone know if the sizes I posted above are normal for their ages? Mom and babies?