Question about male.

[ryanisgothic]

In total i have 5 rats. 4 females 1 male. My plan was to keep two females per bin and rotate the male. I put him in with females #1 and #2 and pulled him after being in there for maybe a little more than two weeks and he has been in the tub with females #3 and #4 for about two weeks. Females 1&2 dont have any signs of being pregnant and neither do females 3&4. Is it time to get a new male? All females are big enough to breed and so is the male.

Thanks for the help in advanced.

[tomfromtheshade]

Rats come into heat every few days and have a gestation period of about 21 days. It is possible that he missed them the first time or two that they came into heat and that they are pregnant now. If you are not experienced at breeding rats you may not notice them being pregnant until the final week of pregnancy. I would give him another few weeks to see what happens. If they are not pregnant then I would get a new male. A STUD male is a great find and when you find him you will know it immediately. Good breeders are worth their weight in gold.

[bokuza]

If the male is old enough to breed and this his first time, leave him in the same tub a good 3 weeks or longer. Get another male for the other two. Sometimes it takes a while for them to get to it, once they do however they won't stop. Once my males and females reach about size for breeding I get them used to switching tubs frequently. I watch them closely to ensure mating is going on. Those who aren't used to being switched around or moved won't mate when change happens.