Rats Not Breeding

[munding]

i have a 3.13 rats and the 2 females have pups. but the other 8 arent breeding with the males. ive had them for about 2 months already. the 2 nursing moms werent bred by my males. i bought them and i thought they were just fat but less than 2 weeks they dropped pups. how can i get my females to breed with the males? i put them in tubs that are 1.2 or 1.3. help please.

thank you

raymond

[littleindiangirl]

Well first off, how old are the females, and how large are they compared to the males?

One thing that usually gets things moving is to switch the males from each tub each week. Keeps the girls fresh and interesting to the boys.

Females should weigh 250 grams or be 5 months old. Did you raise them from pups or maybe buy adults? Females are really only going to push out some nice litters for 15 months average.

[munding]

the females are around 4 months more or less. some one told me that i just put the males in their own tubs for 3 days then introduce some females after the 3rd day. would that work. females are a bit smaller than the males.

i bought the females at around 6-8 weeks old.

should i just wait for them to hit 250g?

thanks connie.

raymond

[a1apassion]

Those females are too young

minimum age for a healthy litter & breeder would be 4 months for a first litter & for her to be at the very least 250 g (bare minimum).

Less than this & you stand the risk of complications & small litters.

Also, for the health of your breeding females... don't allow back to back breedings. This stresses their system too much & will result in less than healthy babies or eventual death of your breeder because of the constant strain.

[littleindiangirl]

the females are around 4 months more or less. some one told me that i just put the males in their own tubs for 3 days then introduce some females after the 3rd day. would that work. females are a bit smaller than the males.

i bought the females at around 6-8 weeks old.

should i just wait for them to hit 250g?

thanks connie.

raymond

I imagine the reason they say to leave the males in is to let them scent that cage. I have never had the boys scent the cage, I just throw them all together and let them go, or have the boy chill in it for a few minutes by himself. I have never worried about it. (Of course I do have some big boys)

If the girls haven't hit 250 grams, I wouldn't breed. 250 is pretty small, and I like to have them heavier just to be on the safe side to reduce any complications.

BUT if they are really 4 months old, they may just be small rats. I have some girls that really only topped out at 280-300 grams, and they look tiny compared to some of my other girls.

I ask if the females are the same size as the males, because some girls just will not let a male breed if they can stop him. Sometimes they get too excited and run all around the tub and really never get the hang of what they are supposed to be doing, even though they are in heat and want to breed.

I would do like I said before and just switch the boys from either tub once every week or 5 days. It forces them to be reintroduced and smell each other, and some of the girls may have gone into heat that weren't when he was with them before.

I also leave the females in with the males until they are clearly pregnant, or 3 weeks. Some big girls can hide pregnancy well.

[munding]

ok. i will put the females back in the cage.thank you. and i will weigh them. im not sure if they are 250grams. but they've been with me for 8 weeks already. and the store said they were around 6-8 weeks.

thank you for your time.

raymond

[littleindiangirl]

If you can't weigh in grams, it's about 8.8-9 ounces.

[munding]

thanks connie

raymond