Reptile & Amphibian Forums

when breeding rat to try and get back to back litters do/can you keep the male and female together or will the male kill the babies inorder to get the female to come back into heat. im looking to get some adult rats (1.1)to get some pinks and help out my mouse colony. that way i always have a steady supply.

thanx
RV
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Corns 0.0.3
0.0.1 03' Amel
0.0.1 03' Normal
0.0.1 04' Ghost

Female rats are fertile right after birth and every 4-5 days after, regardless of pups. If a male is present they should do their thing. As for the male agression it is generally beleived that he will leave the pups alone, but that is no gaurentee. The only way to know is to try.

Good luck.

Jeremy
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Wear Sunscreen

Rats live in colonies in the wild so it would be rather inconvenient if the male was always killing the babies. I won't say it never happens but usually only with a first time litter, and then I can never tell who exactly did it. Once your rats are comfortable with each other and get into the hang of raising babies you will even see the dads kicking in to help. Most of my dads are very protective of their babies and once they are crawling around play and sleep with them too.
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Anna

The Zoo
Corns
1.0 Snow - Cornelius
1.1 Ghost(pastel) - Gray Ghost & Pink
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
1.0 Leopard Gecko - Leo
Rats
I have two pet rats and about 14 breeders
Cats
1.1 Siamese - Blue & Fiona
0.1 Gray DMS - Druscilla aka Dru
Plus 3 kittens
Horses
1.0 Thourghbred (Hunter/Jumper) - Morgan's Majesty aka Cody
Plus whatever animals I am fostering for the local shelter!

can rats get out of gaps in my wire cage. the gaps are 2inches tall and 1 inch wide. im not worried about the babies getting out cuz ill be checking for babies everyday and if there are any ill be freezing them because i need the pinks for now.

RV
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Corns 0.0.3
0.0.1 03' Amel
0.0.1 03' Normal
0.0.1 04' Ghost

Generally, if a rat can get its head through something... it can work the rest of its body through. I'd be willing to bet that yes some rats could get out of it.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

>>can rats get out of gaps in my wire cage. the gaps are 2inches tall and 1 inch wide. im not worried about the babies getting out cuz ill be checking for babies everyday and if there are any ill be freezing them because i need the pinks for now.

Your females might get out. I don't trust that wiring with anything but fat boys.
If you haven't gotten rats yet...might I recommend you not get Larges....Getting ADULT rats is often not productive. Get mediums (or smalls) (I aim for 125 grams or so)and let them grow up together and breed. You are likely to get more production out of them.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

small rats will deffinitely get out with gaps that large. Full grown adult rats may not but I am surprised at the size of spaces these rodents can get through. Had an adult male mouse squeeze between the bars of your standard mouse cage with bars barely a quarter inch wide.