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  1. #1
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    34 babies gone...

    I must have the worst moms in the world. About 1 of every 4 litters gets killed/eaten/smothered/neglected by momma. any reason why? I fed two of the bad moms already, I cant have that goin on. The others are absolutely wonderful, but some are just bad.

    Any words of wisdom? I imagine the consensus will be, "keep the good ones, feed the bad ones" but I just wanna double check...

    Dane
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    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    Mice or rats?
    Deborah Stewart


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    Steel Magnolia rabernet's Avatar
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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    And how are you keeping them? Ratio and size of enclosure.

  4. #4
    BPnet Veteran littleindiangirl's Avatar
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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    I believe he keeps rats.
    I know you built a rack not too long ago... how big are the tubs, how do you keep them in the tubs? Rather, how many to a tub?

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    BPnet Senior Member Mike Cavanaugh's Avatar
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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    probably over crouded.

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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    I keep 1 mom to her babies, thats all. Rats, that is. I have a 5:1 female:male adult ratio for breeding, then when theyre preggo, I put them in their own single tub by their lonesome. So, it's just the mom and her 8-12 babies. I just found 10 4-week olds dead in their mom's today today...this is getting silly now. They have food and water galore...it's not like they just die, they always have brains and stomachs missing from the mom, too.
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  7. #7
    BPnet Veteran lord jackel's Avatar
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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    Quote Originally Posted by Danegerous View Post
    ...it's not like they just die, they always have brains and stomachs missing from the mom, too.
    How often are you re-breeding them once the babies are gone? It sounds like it is a diet issue where the Mom's are killing off the weaker offspring to get the nutrients...which happens more often when you have back-to-back breeding or feed a poor mix of foods as the mom's can't recoop fast enough.

    Just a thought...hope it helps.
    Sean

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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    Once they are preggo, I put them in the seperate tub, then I let them stay with the babies for about 6 weeks until the babies are well weened, then the mom goes back into the breeding tub. So, it will have been about 10 weeks since she was bred. The thing is, this is really my first go round in the cycle, no moms have been rebred yet...
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  9. #9
    BPnet Veteran littleindiangirl's Avatar
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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    I think 6 weeks is a long time to leave her in with her offspring. Her boys are fertile at 5 weeks.

    They are really ready to go at 3 1/2 to 4 weeks. I also give my mothers a very long break. 4 weeks recoup time in a social setting with only females.

    Besides that, how are they (pups or weanlings) killed? Rat mothers kill in two different ways. One is where they dispose of weak or dead individuals by just eating and nibbling on them. As if they were eating food or a snack.

    The other method is a bite to the spine/ neck with intention of actually culling them. Most often seen being used in older pups.

    Have you examined the bodies to see how they were killed? It's common for animals to eat the best parts to get extra nutrition. Not surprised that she would have eaten the brains and stomachs.

    See If it was her doing or they died themselves? Another idea could be something pathological in your colony.

    If I were you, I would do some investigating into this problem. If it were just aggressive mothers, I would dispose of them. But since this seems to be such a widespread problem makes me think there is something else going on with this colony.

  10. #10
    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    Re: 34 babies gone...

    I would give them a last chance, make sure you provide a good diet (Mazuri or Harlan feed), once the babies are 4 weeks old remove them from mom (do not wait until they are 6 weeks) and give mom 1 or 2 weeks rest by herself

    Here is a schedule I did for my rats (I generally wean them at 3 weeks except for runts)



    If nothing change than the only conclusion is that they are just poor breeders, this happen!
    Deborah Stewart


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