Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Where to begin....

First, I didn't do enough homework and had 2 males in with 2 females (bad idea). So I lost a litter there.

Then last night another female began giving birth at about 11pm. She gave birth to 3 still borns. I then left the area. This morning she still appears to be of enormous size. Not sure what to make of her at this point (it is now 13 hours later), is she done?

I would take her to the vet...she may have a breach birth stuck in the birth canal and since 13 hours have gone by, her life could be in jeapordy if medical assistance isn't sought.

kill her off and get a new female for your colony..

"takin her to a vet" isnt a issue in a feeder colony.. the price to take her to a vet would far outweigh the returns you might get from a STERILE rat..

find someone with a boa.. and feed it off and get a new female..

Yes, bad rat. It should not take more than a couple hours tops.
Some times if a rat has not had a litter by the time she is 4 months old, they have trouble giving birth. Also, if you really want to maximize, you can get by with 1 male if he does his job right. you can have several colonies of 2 or three females and cycle the male through the colonies every three days. A female goes into estros about every 3 days so you can just move him around and he'll be as happy as he could be.

Estrus cycle every 5 days, and one male could not do all that work. Get one male PER colony (1.2 or 1.3).