Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am currently breeding 2.2 rats in a 40 gallon aquarium. I have several questions....

1) Can male(s) be left in with the females AFTER they give birth, OR should the pregnant female be separated?

2) Is it bad practice to have more than 1 male together?

The reason I ask is one of the females recently had a litter, and I do have several males in the tank with the females. The babies were there on Sunday, and Monday night it appears they were devoured. I would like to prevent this from happening in the future since it defeats my purpose of feeding my 12 snakes.

I am considering building a rack system that would house 1.3 or 1.4 per tub.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob

>>I am currently breeding 2.2 rats in a 40 gallon aquarium. I have several questions....
>>
>>1) Can male(s) be left in with the females AFTER they give birth, OR should the pregnant female be separated?
>>
>>2) Is it bad practice to have more than 1 male together?
>>
>>The reason I ask is one of the females recently had a litter, and I do have several males in the tank with the females. The babies were there on Sunday, and Monday night it appears they were devoured. I would like to prevent this from happening in the future since it defeats my purpose of feeding my 12 snakes.
>>

I personally don't see a reason in the world to have two males unless you had more than four or five females. I move one male from group to group in order to better regulate when I will have litters and to allow breaks for the girls if necessary, and so I don't have to feed a bunch of boys. But many people leave males in with their groups all the time without troubles.
I wouldn't think it is 'bad' to have more than one boy but I suppose it is possible that one fathered the litter, the other didn't like it and that is why they got eaten. It is also possible that the pups weren't making it and got 'cleaned up'. I rarely have trouble with cannabalism with my rats. If it was a first time litter I would let it go and see if she breeds back and does better. If it was a later litter I would wonder about health issues and if it happened twice the mom would be gone.
-----
Sonya

get rid of one of those males. They will kill the offspring of other males and their own offspring if they aren't sure that he is the one who fathered them.