One of our female rats gave birth to her first litter of 9 pups last wednesday evening. The mom, her pups, and another pregnant adult female are housed together ( so the other female can 'help' with the kids), in the closet so they don't get a lot of disturbance. Last night after Shannon changed the bedding ( leaving a little bit of the old bedding around the 'nest' area) she noticed that there were only 8 pups, and that the runt of the litter was missing. I know that it is not uncommon for rat mothers to cull the 'sickly' or disabled pups on their own, but after a closer inspection of some of the pups, there are quite a few scratches, and some pretty deep gashes on a few. Is this normal for a mother to clean her pups that harshly, or is this a first time mother issue? At first it was very easy to see the milk bands on the pups, but lately they havn't been as prominant or as full as they should be. Pics will be posted of some of the injuries in a few.