Reptile & Amphibian Forums

was just wondering how common it is for 2 girl rats to have a litter only like a day apart but one of the mom take care of all the babies and the other mom just not care and pay no attention to any of the babies? i have heard of rat females helping out and stealing some of the babies back and forth type thing but never heard of one abondoning all her babies to let the otehr take care of both litters.

Hey Tim, Usually rat moms are really good at taking care of their babies. But, as with all species, some individuals just don't have the maternal instincts. Remember the "rules"

1) Don't produce - fed off
2) Kill babies - fed off
3) Sick - fed off
4) Jumpy - fed off
5) Bite me - whacked on cement then fed off

Sounds like rule 2, if she doesn't take care of them they die!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

your not supposed to be in here lol i was gonna ask in the norm forum but didnt wanna croud it more with rat crud lol

LOL, I do get around!!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

It happens. I don't breed the rats often but when they do breed I usually try to put the pregnant female in a separate smaller enclosure so it's just her and the litter and she can't escape or ignore them.

I've had one female rat that just ignored her first litter. I had no others at the time to foster them so they were fed off or died.

She got one more chance and the 2nd time I had a foster mom lined up. Well she ignored them again so she got culled and I made sure none of her offspring were kept.

I had a few from one litter that took coaxing to be good mothers.
First litter-ignored/ate babies.
Second litter- had 2-4 pups, took care of them
the rest- 12 babies, immaculate care, and over-and-above call of duty.
The reason I can tell they all came from the same litter was that they were all himalayans. My only himalayans.

setup a small tank for when preggo and see if her second one goes better when she has her own cage and no one to try stealing her babies lol still got one more girl to try and get preggo i hope she takes cause i dont wanna feed this one off like meen ol dave says lol

Seriously, nothing mean about it, just practical. I'm breeding to feed my collection. None and I mean NONE of my rats are pets. So, any that I keep are kept for only two reasons, to be breeders and make me more, or to go into the grow-up racks to make bigger feeders. If thay aint being productive in the breeder category, I need to get them out and replaced with one that could be. It's a constant battle, I'm always retiring older breeders to be replaced by younger ones. I figure I get about 6 - 10 litters out of a breeder female and a year-ish out of a male. Depending on my stock of replacement breeders, I'll replace before burnout or let them go until fail to produce or produce small litter. At FIRST sign of non-productivity, GONE!! Got no time or space to waste on finding out if any given animal still has more in them.
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

i mean i would be same way if i had that many anyw as breeding for same reason as you or many others the one rat i cant kill off promised a friend i wouldnt she is the biggest girl and a good mommy lol but the one i want to breed i like the way it looks lol he goes perfect with the male i got lol bt yeha i got the room and time to see who does what again if the second litter the one is a good mom etc oh dave another quick question what kind of bedding do you use and how often replace? and how many girls to a tub? oh and do the girls stink more durring breeding lol ok so i lied not a quick question a few more lol

Hey Tim. got tied up on another forum

For my rats I sue Eagle Valley Advanced Bedding Material (ABM) is a compressed wood pellet product. I add in a handfull of pine shavings for bedding. I only change one a week.

My main racks are cat litter pan sized, really a mouse rack but is working quite well for the rats. The breeding tubs are maxed out at 1.3 rats. On each cleaning day I pull the females that have been in with a male for 21 days (23 - 24 day gestation) and put them in individual birthing tubs. If I need space, I will join two litters and moms into onw tub after they give birht.

It's the mice that stink, gonna work towards feeding them all off!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

you get cought up in other forums never lol and i see you having a bad spelling day huh lol thanks for the info im thinking about a few diff ideas on how to set things up and what to do just wanted some ideas on bedding and cage size how often cleaned for that type bedding etc etc between my ideas and what you just gave me for info i think i got hings figured out now thanks

>>was just wondering how common it is for 2 girl rats to have a litter only like a day apart but one of the mom take care of all the babies and the other mom just not care and pay no attention to any of the babies? i have heard of rat females helping out and stealing some of the babies back and forth type thing but never heard of one abondoning all her babies to let the otehr take care of both litters.

How long has it been? I have had rats that did this for the first few days to a week and then started sharing the work and eventually both did equal time or split the litter. I think I might have had two that actually abandoned their pups entirely to another mom to keep. Or, I should say, one mom that stole all the pups and kept them all.
-----
Sonya

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

i went to check on every1 and the one rat is still all depressed almost looking so im gonna set her up alone see how she does and try to breed her one last time by herself ans see what happens if nothing she will be food also i found 2 dead from her litter i kne they were hers cause the size of them since she laid about a day after the other one and i think she may have ate some of the other ones i didnt get a exact count but i think a few are missing so we will see what happens when she is alone with her next litter otherwise food time however the other rat is a superb mom lol