>>Is that what your saying? My other female is almost a year and she is still very fertile.
>>Im just guessing at the age but they havent reached adult size yet, in fact the one blue one I was wondering if she might be too young yet to get prego.
>>I do have the cages covered and have cracker and cereal boxes in them as well as stripped up newspaper for warmth.I can always add a under cage heat pad if necessary.
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Yes, that is what I am saying. If she isn't adult size she isn't 5 months would be my guess. At 12 weeks a rat is a large medium or a small large by most pet store definitions. Again, depending on your genetics. Mine are larges easily by 4 months and jumbos if they are males.

Have you been breeding that one year old all along? How many litters has she had? or at least a few times previous to her hitting 6 months? If so then she may remain fertile longer. But if you take a 5 month old that has never bred and try to breed her your success will be less than if you start with a 3 month old. If you think she is too young to breed she is probably not. Honestly, a small rat....one that is maybe 100 grams may be too young but any bigger and she is fine. If left with a breeding male you can get an 8 wk old to conceive. She may stunt her growth and be less than stellar at lactating (using energy for other things...like growth) but she can have a litter.

Add to all this that you are gonna take a couple of rats out of heated housing and put them under stress of breeding and cold.......I am a negativist but would not count on much from them. AGAIN, depending on the housing, the food and all those other factors. I picture an attic in upstate NY and you would just have ratcicles.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

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