Rats dying from miscarriages

[SlitherinSisters]

Are you feeding Mazuri? Could you possibly be feeding some of the recalled food?

I'm feeding Kent Rodent Diet. It's definitely not the best food, but I that is what I have been feeding for the past several years.

I have read that first time mothers over a year are more susceptible to problems during labor. Massaging on the belly between the legs can sometimes dislodge a pup if it is stuck or manipulate one back so the other can get threw (rats uterus is a Y shape two babies can get stuck in the middle), I have saved two females using massage. I have lost a few where massage doesn't work. The best luck I have had is only breeding females from 4 months to about 18 months, and giving them 2 weeks from when I pull babies till I put them back in with male, to just relax.

Most of these girls have had several litters. I've wondered about messaging them because I can tell which ones are about to die from labor complications. I might try that the next time I see that happening.

Where are you keeping them and what are the temps? Normally they stop breeding when its hot like this but if you do get a pregnant female and as hot as its been the last few weeks they will usually die when they are almost full term...heat index here is like 109

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They are in the basement so the temps aren't a problem. The highest it gets in the room they are in is 75 thanks to all the heat tape I have running in the snake racks.

Your breeding them too old.

I thought people that breed rats for pets typically will retire females after they reach 1 or 2 years old.

A quick google search actually confirmed this. As they age, labor really becomes dangerous for them.

IMO 1 year old is a young mother, 2 is definitely older, but I don't think too old. I just had a female who is 5 months shy of 3 years old give me a healthy litter of 6. Breeding them past 2 years does come with complications, but my older females rarely have problems. It's the females between 1 and 2 that are having problems and that doesn't make sense to me. I do know what people say you should and shouldn't do when you care/breed for rats, but I do what I find works. People say you shouldn't keep them on pine, that's all I use and my rats live to be 3+ years old with no tumors, so I'm going to keep using it. The birthing complications are the only problem I've run into thus far.