I have done only communal litters so far and other than one instance where a female ate the other moms babies I have had no issues. Everyone does their fair share of mothering from what I see and I have not lost any babies or see any marks from being moved around alot. We have a couple tubs where the moms share one big pile o babies and one tub where there are two seperate nests. Glad to see you are finding what works best for you and your ratties Jo and giving us feedback on it.