I never complain about my rats... but what to do about Pepper?

[Bruce Whitehead]

I have this rat Pepper, sorry no pics, and she is the SWEETEST rat in the world and the BEST mom ever.

She was a hold out from one of my retiring females Adelle who was also a wicked breeder. Pepper is great. Super attentive mom, large litter sizes, but the problem is that she is MEGA mom through and through.

She commandeers every litter in the tub and will hoarde 2-3 litters at a time of babes of various ages. And she does this even when she is between litters and not producing milk.

I had a litter last month that just were not growing and I could not figure out why. I just tend to let the rats do their thing and they are good at it. But have had to move Pepper out of the main tub as she was hoarding these babes, and by the time I noticed it the birth mom didn't have milk and would not take them back, and at the time Pepper was not producing milk.

I fed them off early but it really sucked. They were skinny and just not thriving. My production isn't high right now so I had no moms to foster them to.

I keep my females in groups of 3 with a male that rotates. But poor Pepper has been moved as their are pups in the tubs and the other females are ready to drop soon. I cannot risk her "loving another litter to death".



Not even sure I am looking for advice, I just really feel for this sweet and socialable girl. She hates being by herself...

Bruce

[blackcrystal22]

Has she given you a very good amount of litters?

If she's still breeding, retire her with one male, and remove the male with a retired female when you want her to stop breeding. :]

Best solution I could think of.

[ThyTempest]

Do you have the resources or space to just keep her with another non-breeding female during her rest period? That way, she cant commandeer other babies and she still has a rat buddy.

[Bruce Whitehead]

Actually those are both great suggestions.

I just moved and am setting up the rat room. Once it is up and going I will find an option for her. At the moment unfortunately space is at a real minimum so she is in my room by herself.

Just bad timing I guess as there isn't any of her buds to go with her ajd I do not trust her not to be in there pulling babes as they drop and running off with them... seriously, I have seen her do it before.

My own little Beatrix Dahl.

Bruce

PS: Yes, she is still breeding so I will keep her going as long as she can have healthy litters. I mean this rat was born to have babes.

[truthsdeceit]

Breed her again and keep a female back from her next litter to be her tank buddy.

When you want a litter from her introduce just her to the male for a few days and let him do his job then put her back with the non-prego girl.

It will be a bit more work to make sure she's never with a another prego female again but it is doable.

[littleindiangirl]

Sounds like you have it figured out. I always keep the girls separate so I can't be much help than to just keep her with a non preggo girl while she is nursing so she only has to attend to her own litter.

[Drew87]

I have a female that does the same thing. So now when she is prego she gets her own tub with a younger female. Works well for me

[Bruce Whitehead]

I used to break my girls up, but then I started leaving them alone to buddy breed and they were doing a kicker job of it. So by the time I noticed how crazy about babies this girl was it was a bit late.

I liked leaving them with their buds when they were raising pups, so I hated to pull her out, but I guess I just have to keep an eye on her moreso than the others.

I put her in with one of my younger holdback females and she is driving this poor girl crazy... the female is close to 4 weeks old and there is Pepper trying her best to ensure that she is environmentally delayed by treating her like a much younger pup... crazy rat.

Bruce

[cassandra]

I had (as in past tense) a girl who did.

She went down the hatch.

[Bruce Whitehead]

I had (as in past tense) a girl who did.

She went down the hatch.

Did... as in mothered the babes to death?