Hi,

Searching this "Breeding Rats" forum for keywords "male female together" did not reveal what I was looking for, hence this new thread. Google images for "rat crawler hopper" contain a photo uploaded nearly 2 years ago:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...and-Mice-in-VA

What caught my eye is that it appears the male has been left in with the nursing female & pinkies. His tail is draped over the female. Am I right? If so, was just wondering why. Intentionally as part of a breeding schedule? To use rodent housing in an efficient manner? or ???

I've read "letting the male live with the female... father would never hurt his babies, all females come back into heat within 24 hours of the birth (called the post partum estrus) so if you leave them together she would immediately become pregnant again... "
http://ratfanclub.org/repro.html

Has anyone been able to get a new litter from the same female every 3 weeks? If so, have you noticed a gradual decrease in litter size? (I'm talking about with breeders <1yr old, I know with breeders >1yr old a decrease in litter size is to be expected regardless of breeding frequency.)

What's your record for litter size?

Thanks for any insight!