Rats eating Babies

[Rennie]

why do rats get bums and cuts on thier ears

I'm yet to see a rat with a bum on its ear but I guess I haven't seen too many yet.

 

[elapid68]

Damm Rennie, you beat me to it.

 

[ashman07]

lol i meant bumps and lumps

 

[jeramie85]

so what would be a good litter size as its the first time mine have breed and so far ive counted 10 babys is that a good size?

there may be 1 or 2 more hidden under the others but im not going to move em around to look due to im hoping none get eaten or anything like that

and ill wait for some fur to show up before they become food (am planning on keeping 1 or 2 females and a male at least)

also is it ok to keep the father in same enclosure or would it be better/safer to remove the father ?
as i keep my father for my mice in same enclosure and never had any problems but not sure if rats are different or not

centralian11
250 females thats a fair few
what do you feed em? i just use normal rat/mouse food its got pellets corn and well to me looks like bird seed never even thought of feeding them meat
sometimes they will get some biscuits eg jatz or something along the lines and also some carrots and or lettuce

 

[dynea]

I cleen my rats out every 3 days and so my rats are used to being handled and have no problem with me moving there baby's at all. While I'm cleaning i cull some and they don't even notice them missing.

Also make sure that you give your lactating mothers some special little treats. A little apple or some cordial. It gives them a energy boost. For some reason one of mine seems to enjoy a little of her own poop for the first 2 days after birth. you can see her excitment when she is doing it, it's really funny. But she knows what she needs and likes i dont mind what she does.

With them eating there babie i would say it has to do with a few factors.
1. The baby has something wrong with it.
2. The mother needs some kind of suppliment.
3. She is cutting down the numbers due to a lack of food or water
4. She's under alot of stress.
5. she is too young or old to deal with the responsibility

Hope this helps, I realise not all will agree

 

[Monkeyman]

we've had mothers eat their babies (talking about mice) because you handle them too early and the mother is stressed because of the disturbance to her nest. (like if she eats them it will protect them!?! dufus mouse)

a trick we learned is to rub your hands in their cage flooring material (nothing like mouse wee to disguise your scent) and they aren't as disturbed by that scent in their bedding.

 

[Tatelina]

I personally wouldnt move a mother to a new place before she gives birth this could be causing the stress. Rats are best left together all the time IMO they all help each other out and its much less stressful on the mother.

woh...but if you leave males in there they may cause extra hassles and will mate with the mum straight after giving birth.... you should give them a bit of a rest in between litters.. poor things are probably stressed and tired so reducing litter size to make it easier..

if its possible I would say to disturb them as little as possible up to, during birth and a little bit after.. cause it is stressful!

 

[Xenogenesis]

Yeah, not long ago one of my rats had a litter of about 8 and by the time she'd finished dineing there was two left! i was shocked.

 

[cyclamen]

hey, i use to breed mice, but found no matter what i did they would eat the heads of there babies, and that weirded me out, so i switched to rats, and have been successfully breeding them for years now, i have never had one eat there babies. so its sorta weird. but they are werid animals.

 

[Jen]

slightly off topic, but has anyone had problems with mice or rats fighting with each other?