is it very common for the moms to eat the babies? should i really worry about it? the food i feed her only has 15% protien. i give her scrambled eggs every once in a while. is there anything i should do to lower the odds of her eating them?
also i would like to take some of the babies for feeders when they are a day old. can i do that? will she still take care of the others?
i dont have a bnch of rats. just 1.1 . and this is my first time breeding them. any help is apprecitated 
Reptile & Amphibian Forums
Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.
babies on the way and i got a few Q's...
the-mikester
Jun 17, 2003 06:14 PM
Replies (2)
Sonya
Jun 17, 2003 09:13 PM
>>is it very common for the moms to eat the babies? should i really worry about it? the food i feed her only has 15% protien. i give her scrambled eggs every once in a while. is there anything i should do to lower the odds of her eating them?
>> also i would like to take some of the babies for feeders when they are a day old. can i do that? will she still take care of the others?
>> i dont have a bnch of rats. just 1.1 . and this is my first time breeding them. any help is apprecitated
Mice cannabalize a fair amount. But I gotta say it is a rotten mom rat if she eats her babies. I can't think of the last time I have had it happen. I have had moms that almost killed themselves raising litters without eating any of them. I would offer some yogurt, tofu, cooked chicken or turkey and the scrambled eggs is good too and up their kibble protein to like 20%.
Yes, you can take some right away. Just mind that she doesn't bite you. I usually figure it is their right to bite while I am bugging newborns. Some of my rats do bite (a couple freebies from a silly lady who let them run loose in her apartment and, gee, they kept reproducing) but most just 'escort' my hand away. I usually do cull down litters the first day. Either picking out the littlest or whatever. I don't need as many now as I did last fall so I let them go to about four weeks when they are 50grms. I can leave 10 or 12 with them but if the litter is huge I cull it down.
-----
Sonya
the-mikester
Jun 17, 2003 10:33 PM
thanks. about 15 minutes after i posted that message she started having her babies. 9 little rat pups. i decided im gonna let them all grow up big enough for my ball python. and is it bad to inter-breed? i read some posts on it and they said it was like a 1 in 100 thing that you have deformities from it. so would you say it would be ok or not? or isd this one of those personal preferance things...
bad pic^ 
