Rat Husbandry questions.

[-Katana-]

I've had a doe give birth to her first litter and I kept the buck in with her because I read that the doe's come straight back into season.

How likely is it that she'd fall pregnant again straight away?

She's very protective of her pups and has bitten me twice and has bitten the buck ..he has bleeding ears.
I don't see this as a bad thing as I see this as a sign of a strong mothering instinct.

Any advice or tips welcomed.

Thanks,
~Akwendi.

 

[garthy]

I'm no expert either, personally I remove the male prior to the female giving birth. But I have a few females for him to service. After a few days I then take her out and put her in with the male for a couple of hours, and repeat this process over a period of about a week.The mother rats always get bitey when they have young. Although many will say it doesn't happen, I have always worried that the male may kill the pups

 

[-Katana-]

Thanks Garthy.
I've watched this buck and he tries to curl up in the nest on top of the litter.
I don't know if he's trying to help keep the litter warm or if he's trying to get warm but he isn't a little boy.
Hope he doesn't squash the pups.

Might have to do what you do and take "porky" out.

 

[Bez84]

I keep the male in with 2 or 3 females, never separate them and i dont have any problems.
Apparently they can fall pregnant as soon as they drop there litter.
If you have more then one female in a cage then you do not want the age of the litters to far apart.
Eg if one litter is furred and crawling around and another is pinkys then they usually get mixed around and the younger ones starve to death etc due to not being able to compete with the older babies...my experiences anyway.

 

[-Katana-]

That makes a lot of sense.

Thanks, Bez.

 

[grizz]

i have 2 females with each male, leave them in there all the time and if i get a bitey female or male they become snake crap!

 

[TigerCoastal]

i do the same thing as bez without a problem, occasionally i have litters at different stages in each tub, but i find the opposite to bez that the younger ones starve, mine still get all the food they need, i find that the mothers intentionally mix the litters to have them at different stages as they take different amounts of work for the mother to care for the babies.

As for the biting mother, i wouldnt breed from her again, none of my females bite, pregnant or with babies i can pick them up or handle the babies without fear of biting. Quite often i remove the pinks from the mothers nipples when i am doing my counts or a pinky run.

 

[Bez84]

None of my rats bite when they have babies i think its been bred out long long ago.
When i first started any that where biters, killers or tub destroyers became snake food.
Now i have rats that are tame without the need to handle them...

 

[-Katana-]

Thank you for the replies and the advice. I really appreciate it.

At the moment I only have two females who have had litters so I guess when the others start producing young I can afford to be fussier about temperament.

I guess it boils down to priorities.
For me it's a female that can get pregnant, birth and raise a litter to weaning and get pregnant again.
So essentially pulling her weight and justifying her existence by converting all this food I'm pouring down her neck into bubs.

I find it hard to think harshly about a female with a strong protective instinct of her new borns.

But that's just my opinion.

I'm no expert either, personally I remove the male prior to the female giving birth. But I have a few females for him to service. After a few days I then take her out and put her in with the male for a couple of hours, and repeat this process over a period of about a week.The mother rats always get bitey when they have young. Although many will say it doesn't happen, I have always worried that the male may kill the pups

So how many weeks between one litter and the next, Garthy?

 

[saximus]

The males shouldn't kill the pups if they are the father. They generally only kill them if they aren't his babies. I've had a mother have an "immaculate conception" before. I removed the male the day after the babies were born then she had another litter about three or four weeks later. So that would indicate he hopped straight back on the horse (so to speak) after they were born

 

[-Katana-]

The males shouldn't kill the pups if they are the father. They generally only kill them if they aren't his babies. I've had a mother have an "immaculate conception" before. I removed the male the day after the babies were born then she had another litter about three or four weeks later. So that would indicate he hopped straight back on the horse (so to speak) after they were born

That was a good surprise!
Did you keep him in with the doe after that next litter?

 

[saximus]

Yeah I'm trying two tubs with 4:1 ratios at the moment. I've been told as long as there is enough room it's fine to leave them in. They are still young though so they are only just preggers with their first litters at the moment. I'll let you know how successful it is

 

[Rattler]

YouTube - Weaner Rats - part 3

 

[saximus]

Wow that dude is efficient. Not sure I'd be happy to have them in such small tubs though

 

[mrs_davo]

I have been told that females can store their eggs and that is why they can have litters so close together without any males around...
I have actually had this happen with a couple of my females - I had 8 females and only 4 males to service them - so I frequently moved them around. After 1 of my girls got pregnant, I moved the male out and a few weeks after she had her litter, she dropped another litter....

 

[-Katana-]

YouTube - Weaner Rats - part 3

WOW!

Thank you for posting that, Hibern.

 

[wokka]

The males shouldn't kill the pups if they are the father. They generally only kill them if they aren't his babies. I've had a mother have an "immaculate conception" before. I removed the male the day after the babies were born then she had another litter about three or four weeks later. So that would indicate he hopped straight back on the horse (so to speak) after they were born

I doubt that a male has anyway of knowing the heretige of the babies. This is just a popular wives tale.

 

[Rattler]

WOW!

Thank you for posting that, Hibern.

Welcome..

I have been told that females can store their eggs and that is why they can have litters so close together without any males around...
I have actually had this happen with a couple of my females - I had 8 females and only 4 males to service them - so I frequently moved them around. After 1 of my girls got pregnant, I moved the male out and a few weeks after she had her litter, she dropped another litter....

ohh cmon, ur having us on right?

 

[Sezzzzzzzzz]

Breeding Guide: Mating

apparently it has been suggested that female rats can store sperm, but has not been lab proven...

 

[Rattler]

Breeding Guide: Mating

apparently it has been suggested that female rats can store sperm, but has not been lab proven...

store sperm for hours or days not for 3 weeks until she has a litter.