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Breeding your Rat |
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| Female rats should not be bred until they are at least 6 months old. Females wont have finished their own growing before that time and so pregnancy can stunt their growth as well as that of the babies, not to mention health problems it can cause such as poor immune systems. Females can get pregnant from as young as 6 weeks old. So it is very important to separate males babies from females babies at around 5 weeks of age. It only takes a second for a female to get pregnant. If you think your female is pregnant make sure that you increase her food intake. Include soy milk, baby food, fresh vegetable, cooked chicken, cooked eggs, canned oysters and sardines are also good for pregnant females. Make sure you give your girl plenty of nesting material such as newspaper as she will build herself a nest in which to have her babies. Pregnancy lasts 21 to 23 days and females are able to get pregnant again within 24 to 48 hours of giving birth. But females should have at least a 3 to 6 month break in between litters to give their body time to get back into physical shape to handle another pregnancy. Females should not be bred after the age of 14 to 15 months as they can have complications with both their health and with the pregnancy and babies. Litters sizes on average are 10 to 14 babies, but litters as big as 19 and 23 have been recorded. Females can have problems giving birth so have an emergency vet number handy just incase you need to take your girl to the vet to deliver her babies. Some females will destroy their babies for various reasons, most times it will be due to the baby having a health problem that may not be noticable, or it can be due to her not having enough milk to nurture all the babies. Some inexperienced mothers may accidentally damage the babies while cleaning them after the birth, some accidents can be fatal to the babies, but please dont be upset at your female. Some females can have a problem producing milk, you can tell if your babies are getting milk as they will have what is called milk bands across their tummy so if you dont see a big white band or patch you will know that your girl isnt producinf milk and in that case you will need to find a foster mother for your babies. Contact a rat breeder as it is possible they will be able to find a foster mother for you. If after reading all of this you do still decide to breed your female, please try and have homes lined up before the babies are born as it can at times be hard to home every single baby especially from big litters of 14 to 20 babies. It is also preferable not to sell your babies to pet shops as some pet shops do not keep males and females separated so babies do become pregnant, and rats in pet shops do sometimes end up being sold as pet food, some knowingly and some unknowingly. |
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