22 babies

[Jahbeard]

You could have knocked me over with a french fry. Today was cage cleaning day, and my son and I counted 22 from a pretty small hooded named Rose. Her first litter, too. We currently have 58 babies all together, with two more preggos ready to pop. I tried to foster some of them out to her sister who only has 10 right now, but she didn't seem interested. Any suggestions on get the other to take a few off her paws?

[joepythons]

You could have knocked me over with a french fry. Today was cage cleaning day, and my son and I counted 22 from a pretty small hooded named Rose. Her first litter, too. We currently have 58 babies all together, with two more preggos ready to pop. I tried to foster some of them out to her sister who only has 10 right now, but she didn't seem interested. Any suggestions on get the other to take a few off her paws?

Wow that is a large litter :eek: .I would just take a few and place them amongst the other females babies and they never noticed the additions .

[Jahbeard]

Wow that is a large litter :eek: .I would just take a few and place them amongst the other females babies and they never noticed the additions .

Just plop them in the pile? I'd like to pull at least five.

[joepythons]

Just plop them in the pile? I'd like to pull at least five.

Yea i would mix them amongst her other babies for the scent.I never had one refuse them as she will think they are her babies anyway .

[MarkS]

22 is pretty big. Did she give birth in a cage by herself? Are you sure that another female didn't have a smaller litter at the same time and she's just hogging all the babies to herself? It happens that way a lot in my colonies. Two moms will give birth on the same day and one of them will steal all the babies.

Mark

[Jahbeard]

22 is pretty big. Did she give birth in a cage by herself? Are you sure that another female didn't have a smaller litter at the same time and she's just hogging all the babies to herself? It happens that way a lot in my colonies. Two moms will give birth on the same day and one of them will steal all the babies.

Mark

We seperate them out when they start getting round, so I'm sure they are all hers. I will get them in with her sister and see how it works out.

[MarkS]

Well then thats a VERY nice sized litter. But you're right that you might want to remove some of them so she's not so overwhelmed. I've never had problems moving babies in with other moms, the only thing you want to watch is that all the babies are close to the same size, otherwise the bigger ones will push the little ones out of the way and the little ones won't feed as well. I also like to give a handful of oil sunflower seeds to nursing mom tubs. I think they appreciate the extra fat and protien.

[frankykeno]

I've never had problems fostering off from large litters. We had a female here birth her first litter last week of 18 and another female deliver 2 hours later of only 7, so we fostered off 5 to even up the numbers. Just try to foster between like size (age) litters if possible and mix the fosters right in with her own babies. Most female rats won't care and will immediately take over the care of the newcomers.

[Jahbeard]

I moved five of the bigger ones to Miss Houdini. Some of the others are patheticly small, so I hope I did it in time. She had them split into two groups, I guess so she could get them fed in shifts. If all goes well I should be able to lighten the load on her more this weekend, as I have three that are eating pups, and they would eat every three days if I let them. I need to let some of the others grow out to feed the bigger ones, but I have a couple of other litters for that. Thanks for the input.

[joepythons]

I moved five of the bigger ones to Miss Houdini. Some of the others are patheticly small, so I hope I did it in time. She had them split into two groups, I guess so she could get them fed in shifts. If all goes well I should be able to lighten the load on her more this weekend, as I have three that are eating pups, and they would eat every three days if I let them. I need to let some of the others grow out to feed the bigger ones, but I have a couple of other litters for that. Thanks for the input.

Yea i have had females seperate the babies and feed them in shifts.You cant blame them