which male to keep?

[ch312]

right now i have 2 cages setup that are joined together with a tube of hardware cloth so all the rats can interact. i have 2 jumbo females (albino and a white/light beige mixed), and the rest are around 8 weeks old...1 dumbo albino female , 1 light beige male, 1 charcoal male, 1 light beige rex male.

ratio is 3:3 so id like to remove 2 males....but which ones? they are all the same age and from 2 seperate homes. the rex came with the albino dumbo so im not sure if they are siblings or not. he is very friendly and begs to come out of the cage but is he going to be a good breeder?

they have all been together for a week or so. when will i know if they are pregnant or not? im guessing theres no way to tell?


also, i have 1 male and 8 female mice together right now in a 15 gallon long with 2 different hides but they still cram into the same one. when the females are about to pop, should i seperate them? how many mothers could i keep in a 10 gallon tank? 15 gallon long?

[Royal_Rodents]

maybe you should keep all 3 and add 6 more rats but if you don't want to you can keep the 2 males and use them to diversafy(spelling) your blood lines better yet don't buy 6 rats hold them back from your first litter and breed them to your male. but then again i'm speaking for a business back round lol. just my 2 cents

[littleindiangirl]

right now i have 2 cages setup that are joined together with a tube of hardware cloth so all the rats can interact. i have 2 jumbo females (albino and a white/light beige mixed), and the rest are around 8 weeks old...1 dumbo albino female ,

First, I would get the 8 week old young females out of the tank with the males. They can get pregnant extremely young, and being bred young can lead to some bad problems. Females should only be bred when they reach over 250 grams, or 5 months of age.

1 light beige male, 1 charcoal male, 1 light beige rex male.

ratio is 3:3 so id like to remove 2 males....but which ones? they are all the same age and from 2 seperate homes. the rex came with the albino dumbo so im not sure if they are siblings or not. he is very friendly and begs to come out of the cage but is he going to be a good breeder?

When I choose males, I like to keep them in pairs regardless of how often they will be together. Always buddy up your rats, they are extremely social and can go downhill very quickly when they have no other rats to play with.
That said, keep the males you like personality wise. Keep males that have no white head spotting, no blazes, and don't show any illness like excessive sneezing or poryphrin staining around the eyes and nose.

they have all been together for a week or so. when will i know if they are pregnant or not? im guessing theres no way to tell?

You should be able to really tell at about 2-3 weeks of pregnancy. This is where it does get important to mark when females are introduced, because some large females can hide pregnancy well. You dont want the mother to give birth around any males. She will be bred immediately after birth.

I like to remove the mothers after they have been with the male for 3 weeks, and they generally give birth 3-4 days later.

[ch312]

i cant buy anymore critters as the girlfriend has cut me off (just bought a purebred yellow lab pup on the weekend) so i have to use what i have now.

if i had it my way id get rid of the mice and only keep rats but shes been attached to the mice because the original 2 are so friendly. so i figure id let them have their babies and feed off any new males when they are big enough for my snake.

the rats id actually like to breed though so i actually care what happens with them.

would an 8-9 week old male breed 2 full grown females? they are about twice his size.

[littleindiangirl]

i cant buy anymore critters as the girlfriend has cut me off (just bought a purebred yellow lab pup on the weekend) so i have to use what i have now.

if i had it my way id get rid of the mice and only keep rats but shes been attached to the mice because the original 2 are so friendly. so i figure id let them have their babies and feed off any new males when they are big enough for my snake.

the rats id actually like to breed though so i actually care what happens with them.

would an 8-9 week old male breed 2 full grown females? they are about twice his size.

In my experience no. I have tried it before, and the female's completely dominated the male rat. Give him a few more weeks when he as at least the same size as the females.

Please, remove those females that are only 8 weeks though.

[ch312]

what could sneezing mean? the charcoal male has been sneezing alot since i got him but his brother not so much. my jumbo albino has just started sneezing a little bit but nowhere near as much as the dark male. im using horse pellet bedding...

[littleindiangirl]

what could sneezing mean? the charcoal male has been sneezing alot since i got him but his brother not so much. my jumbo albino has just started sneezing a little bit but nowhere near as much as the dark male. im using horse pellet bedding...

Sneezing is most often caused by upper respiratory infections, and sometimes allergies.

All rats carry a bacteria called Mycoplasma. It is passed through contact, before birth, and through short distant aerosol (sneezing).
Mycoplasma usually surfaces when the rats immune system is suppressed or stress. This causes excessive sneezing, hunching over, coughing, poryphrin staining and other problems.

It's always a good idea to breed rats that show high resistance to myco, and are generally in good health. Healthy parents sire healthy offspring.

edit: Also, many rats do not show the effects of myco until they are adults. It's degenerative in many aspects and young rats often do not show any outwards effects.

[ShawnT]

Lots of good info Connie!!!