Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,

New to the rat breeding scene, but I have too many animals at this point not to give it a shot.

Basically the first litter went great, 9 offspring 5 male, 4 female.

First question:

Is there a minimum age when the female young can be introduced in with a male? Basically at this point the females are about 6 weeks old. Last night I attempted to put a male in with the 4 females and their mother. This DID NOT GO WELL. In about 15 minutes tops, the male had killed 2 of the 6 week old females.
I am curious to know why this happened and try and prevent it in the future.

Here is the best background I can give:

1) The male came from a 30gallon aquarium setup and was placed with the 5 females in a rack setup.

2) The bins for the rack setup are not very large, measuring something like 15L X 13W X 6H. But I figured this would be o.k. because the females are not fully grown.

3) The bin was fully stocked with food and water.

4) The bin recently also held the male young offspring, BUT I did not change the substrate after separating the offspring out.

I am curious to know if the problem was because the females were too young to be introduced in with a male?

OR

If it was because the substrate had not been changed?

OR

Because the male came from a much larger enclosure and felt threatened by lack of space and therefore killed of some of the smaller females?

OR

Some other reason I haven't thought of yet.

I believe 99% that the animals were sexed properly as well.

thanks,
Rob

you should wait to try and breed them when they are three months old and try and use a male their size. It sounded a little too crowded in there as well. The younger the female is the smaller the litters will be as well.
Just food for thought.
JMILLR2101

The scent of the other male could have caused the problem.

>>First question:
>>
>>Is there a minimum age when the female young can be introduced in with a male? Basically at this point the females are about 6 weeks old. Last night I attempted to put a male in with the 4 females and their mother. This DID NOT GO WELL. In about 15 minutes tops, the male had killed 2 of the 6 week old females.
>>I am curious to know why this happened and try and prevent it in the future.
>>

I don't breed my girls till they are probably 10wks or more. Though that shouldn't have caused the murdering unless he veiwed the girls as pups still and if he didn't father them. He might have seen them as a litter in the way of impregnating the adult female. Even with that taken into account I would give him one more chance in a larger setting (why so many in such a tight tub?) and then if he acted hostile he would be snake food.

>>Here is the best background I can give:
>>
>>1) The male came from a 30gallon aquarium setup and was placed with the 5 females in a rack setup.
>>
>>2) The bins for the rack setup are not very large, measuring something like 15L X 13W X 6H. But I figured this would be o.k. because the females are not fully grown.
>>
>>3) The bin was fully stocked with food and water.
>>
>>4) The bin recently also held the male young offspring, BUT I did not change the substrate after separating the offspring out.
>>
>>I am curious to know if the problem was because the females were too young to be introduced in with a male?
>>
>>OR
>>
>>If it was because the substrate had not been changed?
>>
>>OR
>>
>>Because the male came from a much larger enclosure and felt threatened by lack of space and therefore killed of some of the smaller females?
>>
>>OR
>>
>>Some other reason I haven't thought of yet.

I personally rarely have trouble with males being well behaved. I move my males to time my litters and rarely have them react badly. 99% of the time the male is the one running for his life if there is an issue. Even if the pups were male that, to me, isn't grounds for violence in rats. I have had groups (in a monster cage)of three males and four females and not had trouble. And, as I said, I move the males in and out of the tubs and back in with each other and have not had a problem in years.
If it were me he would get another chance, less crowded, with older females and he WOULD behave himself or he would be in the freezer.
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Sonya