Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I'm not very sophisticated at this...yet. I have had rats my whole life but never bred them. I decided to breed our two pet rats to raise the babies and start a breeder colony. Our girl's pregnant now and I have some questions.

Can we hold her while she's preggers or should we wait until after the babies are born?

Once the babies are born, how long before we can clean the cage and how do we move everyone out and then back in?

She's in my kids room and there is some traffic in there at night. Should I move her somewhere quieter or will she be used to the noise she's grown up with?

What do I give her to make a nest with? I gave her part of an old shirt but she's not using it.

Anything else I might need to know? I am so nervous for her. I don't think I was this nervous about having my own kids. I am going to be a wreck the first time my snakes lay eggs!

Also, as far as starting the first colony, should I just raise up two females and buy an unrelated male? I was going to just put dad back in with them but I don't want the imbreeding to affect my litter size.

Thanks!
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Anna

The Zoo
Corns
1.0 Snow - Cornelius
1.1 Ghost(pastel) - Eek & Boo
1.1 Amel - Parker & Scarlet
0.1 Hypo - Nikko
0.1 Anery - Missy
0.1 Hypo Motley - Cordelia aka Cordy
Boas
0.1 Columbian (BCC) - Bella
Lizards
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko - Leo
Rats
0.1 Dumbo - Moon
1.0 Rex - Pluto
Cats
1.1 Siamese - Blue & Fiona
0.1 Gray DMS - Druscilla aka Dru
Horses
1.0 Thourghbred (Hunter/Jumper) - Morgan's Majesty aka Cody

Anna,
You have got to be a great mom. Do the same with your rat that the doctor told you to do when you were "preggers". What has been normal for the rat will be fine. If you handle her be gentle and for hevens sake don't drop her. What ever traffic she has been used to will probably still be fine. When the babies first arrive, it would be good to not bother her too much for a day or two.

She probably won't start nesting until she is closer to term. I don't put anything special in with mine but paper towel or cloth will be fine, she may not use them at all.

If she is accustome to having you clean the cage you can proceed like you always do, just try to make it quick. Move some of the old nest litter with the babies so the nest will still smell the same.

Keeping a couple of female babies and buying a new male is probably the best idea. Try to buy one that is about the same size and age as you girls and put them together a little before they reach sexual maturity so they can get to know each other before they have to get serious.

Good luck
Wade
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Wade's Weptiles & Wodents

The kids were complaining that the rats kept them up all night so last night I laid down in their room to see what was going on. The male is all over the female all night wrestling with her (possibly a little rat rape) and making her squeak and squeal. Is this pretty normal? I was just worried about him wearing her down before she has her babies. Should I move him now? I wanted to leave him in with her until she had the babies. If I do leave him, how soon after the babies should I move him so he doesn't get her pregnant again right away?

Thanks again!
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Anna

The Zoo
Corns
1.0 Snow - Cornelius
1.1 Ghost(pastel) - Eek & Boo
1.1 Amel - Parker & Scarlet
0.1 Hypo - Nikko
0.1 Anery - Missy
0.1 Hypo Motley - Cordelia aka Cordy
Boas
0.1 Columbian (BCC) - Bella
Lizards
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko - Leo
Rats
0.1 Dumbo - Moon
1.0 Rex - Pluto
Cats
1.1 Siamese - Blue & Fiona
0.1 Gray DMS - Druscilla aka Dru
Horses
1.0 Thourghbred (Hunter/Jumper) - Morgan's Majesty aka Cody

Rats do this rough and tumble thing to establish dominance. Basically the object is to pin your opponent to the floor on her back and hold her there for a minute. It doesn't really have anything to do with reproduction or rape, it's just letting her know who is boss. If there were other males in there the dominant male would do it to them as well.

You don't need to take the male out at all if you don't want to. He will help in the rearing of the babies and in general be a good dad. As you mentioned, the down side of this is that the female will become pregnant. The female goes through eustris about 3 or 4 hours after giving birth. If there is a male present, she will almost certainly be impregnated.
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Wade's Weptiles & Wodents