Its best to keep rat groups together, instead of having all the females alone. Pregnant rats can be beating up your male because they are territorial and defensive against the 'strange' male that gets dropped in with them then taken away.

Rats cycle every 5 days, so always good to leave the male in with a group for at least ten days, to ensure two cycles. However I have noticed with rats, they are far more productive if you just leave the group together. Moving them around can delay pregnancies in the long run.

I keep a colony of one male with two females and after a couple months for them to establish themselves, I have had consistent large litters from both females and rarely any sounds of squabbling (usually its the babies who are wrestling and making noises, not the adults).
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PHLdyPayne

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