New to this!

[the_knot]

hey guy's I wanna start m yy own breeding very small just enough to keep my to snakes going and a coupe of my friends. I bought a female she was biggg when I got her but I guess she was not pregnant because I have had her for about month. So I bought a male the next day and they have been together ever since. The first couple days he would not leave her alone so I thought that was a good sign, and he left her alone until now today he will not leave her alone, it seemed at first she did not care but now she is pushing him away. I thought she was pregnant but I don't really know ho to tell, If she was pregnant wold he still try and court her? I also have two more females but they are to small to breed they are 140g

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oops, should I remove the male or leave him in there?

[aldebono]

I don't like males that pester the females to the point of a squabble. I would take the male out to give the female a break. It will also help when you have the other females in so he has multiple females to spread his "affection".

I also don't tolerate pushy males. My most laid back males gets his 3 females bred like clockwork without drama, I expect that from the rest of my colony. I will sometimes even put young males in his bin with his girls so they can learn how to treat the ladies. Not sure if it works, but it's worth a shot.

You will learn that most of the "behaviors" in rats, are also genetic. Have high standards and cull readily at the beginning and you will have a very easy going colony in the future.

[the_knot]

Ok thank you! For now I have my big girl put in with the two smaller girls, I would put them ll together but I red the females had to be 200-250g to breed and my male is an adult. also will he still try and mount her if she is pregnant?

[aldebono]

I harem breed and hold back females are raised up in the bin with males. I haven't weighed my females to see what size they get pregnant. IMO if they are getting a high quality rodent block with high calorie "extras" (table food, eggs, Ensure soaked lab block), I would put them all in together and make sure the male is behaving himself. Give the girls places to get away from him if he is being a jerk, some males don't know when to lay off.

He shouldn't be mounting her if she is pregnant as she won't be giving off those "in heat" smells, but if he is excited with the new girls and they are in heat, he may try to jump anything with fur and a tail.

I also like to raise up young males with some big bruiser girls so they teach him some manners.

[Andrew21]

So you can harem breed rats succesfully?

[aldebono]

Andrew- Yes, there are many people on the board who do it successfully. The good/bad thing about rats is, there is no solid guidelines. What may work for one person may not work for another, or someone may just have a personal preference on how they do something.

[the_knot]

Sorry but what is harem breeding?

[aldebono]

Harem breeding is where you have one male to two or three females and you do not remove the male or females at any point of the pupping/nursing process. They live together 24/7.

[the_knot]

Ok thank you for all the information! also I was gonna post couple pic's to see if any one could tell me the kind of rats I have. as I have no clue and they are all different they came from different people.