yay!! New babys! first time!

[takagari]

my pair just had a litter. I was unsure. she got chubby but didnt know.. I suspected. Last night she seemed to be "nesting" more so than usual. was cleaning an area really well. building up a wall with bedding. So I figured if she was going to pop it would be soon.

So I pulled my male. and sure enough. this afternoon she popped out the baby's

Im afraid to handle them. or even get in there to count as I do not know how she will take this??
Whens a good age to be allowed to touch them?
I know to pull the males at about 4 weeks and the females cans tay as long as I would like.

also. Does anyone know of a free program to use for tracking geneolgy of the rats? names parents kids etc?

so excited

Shawn

[catawhat75]

Congrats, I remember that feeling all too well. I start handling mine within a couple of days. Just be careful, some moms are prone to nipping when messing with their babies.

[littleindiangirl]

I check out mom and the litter after she births, but I wait a day to handle them. Sometimes I just dont get in there for a few days. As far as programs to track, I'm using degai for them. It's not suited for rats, but it works well enough. Congratulations on the first birth!!!

[frankykeno]

I use a program that's really meant for show rat breeders so it was incredibly fiddly to cull out all the stuff I didn't really need just to track my feeder/breeder colony but it works well enough now.

I usually physically check every rat born here within it's first 24 hours of life just to check for genetic faults and make sure they have visible milk bands (indicating a good nursing mama rat). Most female rats don't fuss at me about that but I do keep a container handy nearby where I place the mama while I check out her litter.

[takagari]

yeah first time in the 3 months ov owning her. she nipped at me tonight but nothing hard. just like "hey! get out of here" lol

What im wondering. is. if i should keep dad out. who has been with her for 2 months. or are they okay togethor?

[Argentra]

Ah, congrats on the litter! My two female mice just had their first litters for me two days apart, so I am flooded with pinkys...now let's see if they all survive to reach adult size, which is what I feed.

I, too, have been really nervous about messing with their tub and such...

[takagari]

wow.. last night she was out with the male and the babys were under in the nest all lined up perfectly. I counted 13. thats not including ones that may have been under the t-shirt

[BPGirl]

The males are usually fine if you leave them in with the females, even while they give birth, but I think now that you've taken him out while she had the babies I wouldnt put him back in until she's weaned them. Congrats. Rats are so much fun.

[rabernet]

If this is a mouse, then dad should be fine with her. If it's a rat, you really don't want dad in with her, because he'll get her pregnant right away, and it's not good for her to have back to back litters so close together. In fact, she should be allowed about 2 to 3 weeks of rest and allow her body to recover after her litter is weaned or fed off before she is re-introduced to the male.