at what age do you remove young rats...

[PyramidPythons]

so you saw a 10 week rat give birth then?

10 to 11 weeks, yes. And it was not good on her. She had a small litter of five kits and all five died within a few days of birth. On top of that, the female never gained much weight and remained small through the entirety of her life. Can I ask you something...why are you being such a jack@$$ about this? I run a rattery, I've been raising rats since I was 15 years old. I am now 37. Throughout all of this, I have learned a lot of things. One of them....was NOT to leave boys in with girls after having reached sexual maturity. Pulling them sooner than the 4 or 5 weeks is fine if they can make it on their own, but unless you want to chance a possible bad pregnancy with one of your young females, that is what I suggest. You're entitled to your own opinions, but stop bashing mine.

[suzuki4life]

10 to 11 weeks, yes. And it was not good on her. She had a small litter of five kits and all five died within a few days of birth. On top of that, the female never gained much weight and remained small through the entirety of her life. Can I ask you something...why are you being such a jack@$$ about this? I run a rattery, I've been raising rats since I was 15 years old. I am now 37. Throughout all of this, I have learned a lot of things. One of them....was NOT to leave boys in with girls after having reached sexual maturity. Pulling them sooner than the 4 or 5 weeks is fine if they can make it on their own, but unless you want to chance a possible bad pregnancy with one of your young females, that is what I suggest. You're entitled to your own opinions, but stop bashing mine.

I am a small breeder producing mainly rats but I also produce pygmy mice and have experience with mice, jirds, gerbils, and asf stock. I have been in the "game" maybe 18 years. If asking very valid questions about your experiences and narrowing down your statements to get exact answers makes me deserving of such derogatory statements, then that is truly sad. If doubting your statements puts you on edge and your ego at risk. Oh well.

and for the record, you were never "bashed" by me



bash·ing
   /ˈbæʃɪŋ/ Show Spelled[bash-ing] Show IPA
–noun
1.
the act of beating, whipping, or thrashing: a series of unsolved bashings and robberies.
2.
a decisive defeat: We gave the visiting team a good bashing.
3.
(used in combination)
a.
unprovoked physical assaults against members of a specified group: gay-bashing.
b.
verbal abuse, as of a group or a nation:

[PyramidPythons]

Suzuki, sorry if I was b**chy, I haven't had a very good week. When I got on here, it looked to me like you were trying to make me out to look like an idiot. I know you were just trying to help too, so please forgive me for being so snappy. I do still stand by what I've said, though, and suggest separating the babies no later than the 5 weeks. That is IF someone didn't want their females to run the risk of too early a pregnancy. I know if I sent a little girl home with someone and they came back to me a month later complaining that their girl had babies, I'd look pretty stupid as a rattery owner, so for me...there is no compromise.