Is she or isn't she pregnant????

[BAD Morphs]

Hi I just started to breed rats and have no clue what to look for. I have read up alot on them and what to look for but still am unsure so maybe you could help.





Let me know what you think!! I know they aren't the best pics but she wouldn't co operate! LOL

[myrott95]

The easiest way to find out if she is pregnant is to wait. I tried the breeding thing for a while, thinking it would be so much cheaper to feed my snakes. I had to give most babies away to pet store. Rats are notorious for continual breeding, and can get pregnant every 3-4 weeks. The best thing is to just put your male and female together and leave them. You will have more rats than yuou know what to deal with in a maatter of a few months. Also, I worked at a pet store for a while, and whenever we wanted our mice and rats to breed, we would feed them(as a snack)small dog biscuits broken into 2-5 pieces. Not sure why, but it would cause them to begin breeding faster.
Good Luck!

[matt71915]

cant really tell from the pictures
the best way to tell is by looking at the belly while holding by the tail or under the arm pits

[rabernet]

She'll look like a pear when she's pregnant, and her belly will be swollen. She doesn't look pregnant in the pictures, but she could be very early in at this point.

[SatanicIntention]

How old is that rat? 2-3 months max?? She looks way too young to even be thinking about being bred.

[Turbo Serpent]

How old is that rat? 2-3 months max?? She looks way too young to even be thinking about being bred.

x2

She looks to be too small. Someone said at least 250g in order to breed a female.

[BAD Morphs]

I wasn't sure if she was too small or not. I am jus starting off and will wait till she gets bigger! I just heard that if they hadn't had a litter by the age of one they would be too old to have litters so I tried to go for younger ones but I guess I went a little too young. Sorry if I look like an idiot! But thanks for the helpfull info That is the first time I have seen a gram weight that they should be! Most ppl's videos and columns I have read just say 4-5 months so that is helpfull! Thanks, Bryan

[SlitherinSisters]

She looks really young. It's hard to tell from your pictures. They start looking fat about 2 weeks before they give birth and extrememly swollen a few days before they give birth. It only takes 4 weeks so you don't have to wait long to find out. She looks a bit young IMO though.

[Turbo Serpent]

They can be solid breeders for 6 months and sometimes up to a year (1.5 years old).

They are pregnant for 3 - 4 weeks then with the babies for another 3 - 4 weeks, then back to pregnant. That's why you do colonies. 1.2 or 1.3 or 1.4

Just remember the larger the colony the more you may need to separate the mothers out, some people will leave the females in with the males after they give birth. I separate mine out, but just recently found out not to put two nursing females together. They fought and one litter ended up getting killed.

[BAD Morphs]

yeah I was gonna seperate my females when pregnant from the male and other females. I have 2 seperate colonies right now with 1.2 and am soon gonna go and get 2 more females bigger ones! LOL to make it 1.3 in 2 tubs. I have like 4 tubs on stand by for pregnant ones and will get a few more as needed to seperate the babies as they get weaned and grow. Thanks for the help and advice!! I appreciate the help!