TJ, yes, you will need to separate the mother from the father, or else every 3 1/2 weeks you will get 10-16 more rats.

With rats, they are only a good size for a very small window of time (about a week from weaning), requiring you to gas with CO2 and freeze.

If you don't have the ability to gas and freeze, you will soon be spending a TON of money, time and energy on raising crazy numbers of rodents.