We cycle breed, and I find I get the largest litters and feeders this way. We have everyone on a schedule of 3 weeks with the male, 4 weeks with pups, then 4 weeks resting.

It can be cut down to 3 weeks of rest, but I like to keep my girls plump. I find I get some very healthy 3-4 week rats to feed off (consistently 65 grams at 3 weeks, 85 at 4 weeks) . I don't like to do continuous breeding. I weigh my animals, and they lose quite a bit of weight when nursing. Female rats in the wild rarely have multiple litters a year, their bodies aren't meant to handle that, but they will try to if in with a male. www.ratbehaivor.com

Also, every female gets her own tub. I find that when they are by themselves, they aren't as stressed, and can devote more time to the care of the pups instead of stressing over another female being in her space.

For African Soft Furs, I have only heard of harem breeding because the males are so involved in the raising of the pups, and everyone seems to benefit from a very close social group. From what I have heard it is okay to keep ASF together all the time, and if you pull the male out, there could be problems with the reintroduction.

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