Here's a little insight into wild rat colonies.
Rats live in a series of under ground tunnels. In one colony when the population is very steady, no over crowding, and no empty chambers. Just enough rats for the tunnels and chambers.
The female rats are all breeding with one male. I don't remember the number of females per male, but this is very true. The females when pregnant will go to their OWN chamber and nurse their own litter. They only share nursing duties when the rat population is severly over crowded in that area.
Proof enough for me if wild rats prefer to nurse singly that they should always nurse singly. Female rats that have given birth go into heat about an hour after birth, and afterwards do not go into heat until after the pups are weaned.
Rats that were not raised from the same litter are more likely to commit infanticide, stealing pups from each other and higher stress.
If you would like to read a little more on communal nesting in wild rats, please visit this site. If your considering doing communal harem breeding, you should read the page thoroughly to understand exactly what the rats and their young are going through during this phase.
Also, if you've ever raised rats, you know how much weight the females lose after nursing... I don't see the need to put that stress on a female rat and shorten her life span to 1 year when in captivity they can live for up to 4 years. Hardly seems fair or humane.
ratbehavior.org
Reply With Quote