Do they eat their babies?

[rhsm]

The thin rat had 12 babies earlier today and tonight when we went to check on them and make sure one hadn't died she only had 6. We didn't see any signs of blood or any body parts or little bodies.
Is this a normal thing?
The babies that are left all have nice white bellies so we know they are eating well.
The time before I checked on them I don't think they all had the white bellies and hubby said maybe they were sick, not eating or what have you so she ate them.

Is this possible?

I just can't believe they have just disappeared!
Not a hint of them ever being there.

Could this have something to do with her being so thin or is it just something they do?

She is eating food as I put her lots of different foods to chose from in hopes of helping her gain weight back and she was eating while we were checking.
She came around us checking it all out too but then I guess when she decided we weren't going to hurt them she went and got something to eat.
Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
mel

[BigLu]

its best to seperate them from the rest of the colony if u didnt. they will def. eat their babies and each other, especially if they are hungry and thirsty.

[Anarchy]

rats wont eat their baby mice , ill tell you what tho .. put the newborn baby mice in with the rat mom and shell take care of them. Mice will eat each other im not saying rats wont ,but its more likely that mice will, rats are more able process things in their head .....

[rhsm]

I had them in another room but hubby talked me into putting them back in the bottom of the rat rack.
She seems more comfy and relaxed now. Although she did I guess eat 6 of the babies.
I'll have to move her out again tomorrow.
She was actually in a bin with another rat up until last night and the other ratty is fine so far.
She has had food and water along with the other . The other one she was in with is totally HUGE and pg and looks really good. Nice and filled out can't feel her bones like this one.
I would take the babies from her but I fear if they would have something the others would get it.
She is acting normal and eating just very skinny.

I have to wondering if her pg did this to her.

Could the other one of kept her from eating do you think?

The other one she was with is HUGE looks like a pg hippo no joke.

Just trying to figure it out.

I'll get her out tomorrow again need hubbys help.
thanks mel

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Yes rats can eat their babies too.

Couple of options here

• Bad inexperienced mom killing her babies.
  
• Not enough food of water.
  
• Cleaning up (Rats are scavengers if the babies die they will clean up and eat their body)

Make sure you are feeding quality food to your breeders (no pet store junk) feed breeder rats lab block, ,ake sure there is plenty of water as well.

Obviously if your female is very thin there is an issue right here and she might not be in the best shape to breed.

[rhsm]

I feed them mazuri lab blocks.

She looked fine when we breed them. I am not sure what the problem is with her.
She has had plenty of food and water. They have it 24/7 and then they get the extra stuff too.
The female that she was in with is fine weight and is really big .
I keep wondering if the other rat kept her from eating or something.
But shes not eating now like she is straving or anything. Even before the babies disappeared. But she is eating and acting fine , shes just skinny.
After these I won't be breeding her again since there has been issues with her.
I would just really like to know what has happened with her.

I will diffinately be do a hands on check of EVERYONE EVERYDAY from now on.
I didn't want to bother them during the breeding time and after wards as I didn't want to stress them but they will just have to get used to it.
It seems that its an important thing to do a hands on check everyday.

Thanks for your thoughts
rhsm

[Anarchy]

wow thats crazy ! ive never really heard of a rat eating its babys guess i know now ..!

[PghBall]

I've experienced it twice with the same female. Going to breed her one more time to a different male to see if it is just her or if it was the breeding pair that caused it.

[wilomn]

I've experienced it twice with the same female. Going to breed her one more time to a different male to see if it is just her or if it was the breeding pair that caused it.

Replace her.

[PghBall]

Replace her.

If she does it again, I will. Someone suggested it could have been the pairing in another thread as I paired her with the same male each time and did see still borns as well. I'm going to give her one more shot with another male and if I get the same results, she'll be retired. She doesn't seem to have issues with babies in general as I have had her in the same bin with her sister's last two litters with no losses.