breeding ratties

[recycling goddess]

okay, so when i introduce my females (one at a time) to their new boyfriend (yes they are going to share one man!) is it best that i do it in a neutral rubbermaid? should the female be in there first or the male?

any suggestions as i have never bred ratties before and i want to do this right.

right now my girls have the sniffles, so i'm waiting for them to get over them before breeding so it'll probably be a month before i breed... but i want to be informed when i do! rosie will be approx 4 months old by then... becky is younger though so i'll wait a bit longer to breed her.

they are currently on newspaper with yesterday's news as substrate... we normally use aspen but i want to make sure their sniffles are cleared up and i don't know if the aspen is causing it or simply the stress of moving here. i'm also putting electrolytes and vitamins in their water.

i really want to get this right... dexter is depending on me!

also, how long is gestation for rats?

thanks!
aleesha

[SatanicIntention]

There's no need to put anything in their water if they are getting a balanced diet.

As for breeding, it would be better to put the female into the male's cage. Leave them together for about a week to a week and a half so as to cover at least 2 heat cycles. Pregnancy lasts from 19-21 days. Give the mother rat ALOT of stuff to make a next with such as fleece, paper towels, kleenex, toilet paper, etc. Nothing hard like paper that can stick to the babies' wet skin, get dried on and then ripped off, possibly causing damage to their skin. Owie!

As for them having the "sniffles", is there alot of porphyrin(rust-colored) discharge around their eyes and nose? Are they wheezing or gasping for air? Mouth-breathing? If they just sneeze every so often, and have a small amount of porph around their eyes after they've been sleeping, that is normal. But if it is a constant thing(eyes matted, build up on nose) and their fur is pink-tinged, then you may have something else brewing that needs to go to the vet to get treated. I keep everyone here on aspen and haven't had any allergy problems. They do sneeze every now and then, but then again, who doesn't, LoL.

Anywho, hope that explained some things for you and if you have any other questions, just ask.

[recycling goddess]

As for them having the "sniffles", is there alot of porphyrin(rust-colored) discharge around their eyes and nose? Are they wheezing or gasping for air? Mouth-breathing? If they just sneeze every so often, and have a small amount of porph around their eyes after they've been sleeping, that is normal. But if it is a constant thing(eyes matted, build up on nose) and their fur is pink-tinged, then you may have something else brewing that needs to go to the vet to get treated. I keep everyone here on aspen and haven't had any allergy problems. They do sneeze every now and then, but then again, who doesn't, LoL.

Anywho, hope that explained some things for you and if you have any other questions, just ask.

no, they are just sneezing. they sound a little raspy in their lungs but there's no discharge at all (nose or eyes) - that's why i have the elec and vit in their water as, in my experience, whenever any of our critters (birds included) seem to be feeling at all ill... it really helps them bounce back