Well I personally have 7 balls to feed on a weekly basis, so I have to produce enough rats to keep them all fed. With that said, I DO NOT utilize that 72 hours post-birth to re-impregnate the females. Females will go into heat approx. every 5 days. What I do is leave the new mommy to care for her young ALONE. When the babies are weaned, I re-introduce her into the colony. She is usually pregnant within the week. At this rate, one mother will have a litter every month almost on the nose. Another thing, if you do decide to re-breed a brand new Mom, then the breeding length of that female will be greatly diminished. For example, a Mom that has been bred immediately after giving birth, will only breed for approx. 6 months or so, but if you hold off on the breeding until the babies are weaned, they can give you up to a year of breeding. It all depends on personal opinion. Like I said, I have enough rats that I don't have to re-breed my females immediately.

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