First litter, all dead in one day

[Doggtyred]

Since my collection has grown to a dozen snakes and will probably double by the end of the year (new rack) I decided to try breeding rats.

A couple of months ago I went to the store and bought 4 medium rats (3 female and one male) and a rabbit cage (80x60x30 cm). I decided to start small and simple to learn the basis with a low initial investment and to test the feasibility (I live in an apartment).

Long story short, nothing happened for 2 months until yesterday I finally found pinkies in the cage. The mother didn't seem to have prepared a nest and they were in two groups with a couple scattered around. She also wasn't staying close to them. Unfortunately I was late for work and left in a hurry. By the time I came back wanting to move them to another cage they were all dead, half buried under the substrate, without any sign of injuries. I'm guessing either they weren't fed by the mother or were trampled.

I'm not sure what I've done wrong, I thought litters could coexist with the colony and females would help each other.

Also the other 2 females aren't showing any pregnancy sign.

Cull the mother. She isn't cut out for mothering. You might be better off going to the pet store and buying a nursing mother with her pups, and as they wean, breed the mom and the girls with the adult male (or get another male altogether). Cull the juvenile males (or use them for food first)... and between the mother and her daughters figure out which ones give the best/biggest litters and take care of them best. Keep those females, and use their pups for snake food... every once in a while, keep a female or two and see how they do with litters before culling the older generations...