Rats can be sexed just as mice, by the distance between the anus and urethra nub. For pinkies to fuzzies, you can compare the distance between these two points, the bigger the distance, the more 'male' the rat will be. When rats reach the fuzzy stage you can also see the nipples on the female. Once they are past 3-4 weeks of age, the male testies drop forming very obvious bulges, but again look for that greater space between the anus and urethra. (males can pull their testicles back into their bodies when nervous, though I don't see this happening in rats as much as I do with mice)



Rats can be kept in anything between 1:3 to 1:5 groups, depending on how large you want the containers to be. The more adult rats, you need a larger container to give room for the adults and all the babies. Overcrowding can result in litters being canabolized or no breeding at all.



Since you have only the once snake, I would recommend just a 1:2 or 1:3 group. The extra babies you can sell for a bit of momey to cover the cost of feeding and maintaining your colony or freeze them for later.

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• Sexing rats - uiucguy88, Tue Mar 23 10:13:52 2004
• RE: Sexing rats - LdyPayne, Tue Mar 23 12:50:26 2004