keeping dad from being lonely

[photoman100169]

so here is my problem...I have three rats, 1 male 2 females and I just noticed yesterday that one of my females is prego, I plan on putting the moms in a tub by themselves to raise their little ones, but my question is what do I do so that my male doesn't get sad from being alone....thank you guys in advance

[Drew87]

are both the females prego? If only one is showing signs i would leave the other female in with him. but if they both are there is not really much you can do give him toys, chew toys try and give him stuff to keep himself busy haha. A treat or something like that

[MonitorLove]

I usually leave my preggo girls in with the dad until they're REALLY ready to pop (the sides of the belly will bulge out kinda funny) before removing them and putting them into there birthing bins. The male is usually okay with a little alone time. If your really worried about him being lonely then just keep a male pup from one of the litters to keep him entertained, or, get him a sterile girlfriend to keep him company

Just remember to put your girls in separate containers otherwise you might end up with a lot of dead pups

[photoman100169]

QUOTE=Drew87;904683]are both the females prego? If only one is showing signs i would leave the other female in with him. but if they both are there is not really much you can do give him toys, chew toys try and give him stuff to keep himself busy haha. A treat or something like that[/QUOTE]


yeah so far only one of them is showing signs, I guess he will just have to make due for now being by himself for awhile...what I'm thinking about doing in the future is keeping one of the females from this litter and keeping two girls in a seperate tub and leave one female in with the male untill she is ready to pop then put her in a birthing tub and put in a new girl with him...I don't know I guess I am just being anal and over thinking it to much....lmao

[Rapture]

Get a couple more females and introduce them some weeks apart to try to stagger your litters and you should be able to have at least one female in with the male at all times.

[marmie]

him...I don't know I guess I am just being anal and over thinking it to much....lmao

I know exactly how you are feeling.

You can try to let him be with one of the moms when she delivers but that creates the problem of knocking her again without a rest. I've had dads that were wonderful and dads that were horrible so there is a risk.

Once you have a retired female breeder your problem will be solved but until then you might just have to give the guy some playtime with you each day until his girlfriend returns.

Good luck!

[rocko]

I would just leave them together he wont hurt the babies.I leave my groups together all the time and the babies never get ate.

[photoman100169]

yeah I would just leave them in with him but I don't want them to get pregnant again right away, for one I don't want the added stress on the girls and two, I don't want to have TOO many babys. I'm just trying to get a good supply of feeders so I don't have to run to the pet store so much...maybe I can sell off the extras

[Drew87]

yea i would get one more female and keep the male with one female, then when she is ready to pop take her out, put her with the other females, and take one of the non prego girls and put her with the male, best of luck

[photoman100169]

do you think that the non prego and non nursing girls will mess with the babys?