50+ rats OH MY hehe

**king2005** · 06-22-2006, 10:00 AM

well all the female ratties are tubby lol.. I'm expecting all to pop in about 1-2 weeks time.. the Avg litter is about 12.. so thats 60 babies, but I'm expecting closer to 50.. Don't want more then 60 as hearing 60+ squeeks gets a little loud at night lol

My friend get first pick from the litters & shes all excited.. I'm thinking of keeping 1 girl & 1 boy so they'll bond better with Shawn.. with the 5 shy girls, they scare him a little

**king2005** · 06-22-2006, 10:10 AM

Oh, almost forgot to ask.. Whats up with my 1 female attacking 2 other females? the other 2 don't bother her, she'll run up to them, do an agressive stand & then attack.. she leaves the other females alone & the male alone.. why these 2?

I'm taking her out tonight as she was at it again this morning

**Chilli** · 06-22-2006, 01:06 PM

Wow, did I miss something?

Are you breeding rats or were the females already pregnant when you got them? And I thought the seven rats I have now were enough, I can't imagine having more than 50!

And the bully female might just be showing them she's dominant, though I have also heard that some females just don't like being around others when they are pregnant.

**Miss Z** · 06-22-2006, 01:23 PM

If all the females are pregnant, seperate them all. They will NOT like each other being pregnant as all their hormones are up (hate to use the phrase 'ratty'

), and once litters arrive there will be pandamonium (sp?). It is not uncommon for rats to kill and eat other litters, and even mothers may slaughter their own young in protection from other rats.

**My Peanuts** · 06-22-2006, 01:28 PM

The male should be separated too (if he isn’t already). I had a gerbil pair where the dad actually helped out, but a lot of the time the father will eat the babies.

**molucass** · 06-22-2006, 01:29 PM

If you have the male in with the females, as soon as they give birth, they can get pregnant again. It is not good for their health to have litters back to back, so I would remove him from the girls cage as soon as possible.

**king2005** · 06-22-2006, 04:23 PM

I had 10 rat 5yrs ago & none of the females were "ratty" & never had a fight! My males (only had 1 male at a time) were never removed & they just kept the babies warm while momma was eatting. or they babied the mice.

My females always had babies at the sametime & they all shared in motherly duties as a team. I never knew which babies came from who, but that wasn't important as long as the mothers cared for them. More times then anything 1 of the mothers would refuse any care for her babies & the other rats took over & she would hang out with my male.

I'm only worried about the fighting casue of all the rats I've had, not 1 ever fought with another & This one isn't very nice to only 2 other females (shes fine with the other rats, just not these 2). When the mothers are getting closer to popping, I'll remove the male for a couple weeks, so the babies can grow to the size I need.

I don't trust Grissim with the young as hes a hungry greedy bugger & the females don't seem to like him too much at all, as they refuse to groom him & they wont sleep in the hanging basket with him.. all 5 girls will cram into the 1 small hanging basket together.. Poor Vodka's nose is all you can ever see lol
I don't think Grissim will be around for too long, as his health isn't the greatest.. I rescued him & he was origionally from a feeder breeder that imbreed the rats really bad, so little I can do to help him, except put him down when his body starts to fail. His brother is already dead.. I know the females are healthy as I worked at the store they came from. When I go for a road trip in a few months, I think I'll stop at a random petstore & pick up a male rat so the chances of having more young survive are better.

**Aspen and Misty** · 06-23-2006, 01:35 AM

Originally Posted by king2005

I don't think Grissim will be around for too long, as his health isn't the greatest.. I rescued him & he was origionally from a feeder breeder that imbreed the rats really bad,

I do not understand why you would breed a rat that is inbreed and has medical issues. It is no way responsible breeding, just breeding for the heck of it and ending up with babies with terrible medical issues who are inbred. It seems that this new babies will not bring anything with them but medical issues and a short life span. I guess my main thing is back yard breeders of dogs who do no testing on there dog's and breeds "just because" not to better the breed is something almost everyone on here is against (most likely yourself also) and many people call them back yard breeders. So I don't see how it is justified to breed a rat that has known medical issues and is inbred, these babies will not do anything for future rats or themselves. You also state that you do not expect many rats of the litter to survive......

Originally Posted by king2005

I think I'll stop at a random petstore & pick up a male rat so the chances of having more young survive are better.

This statement also bothers me because it makes it seem like you aren't going to try to find a good quality male (as far as genes go). And hey. Maybe I am wrong on the you getting a new male. I don't know as it was not stated how you will choose a new male just that you are going to stop at random pet stores to pick up a male rat.

It also concerns me that you have bred so many females that at one time you will have 50 babies. How will you find them all homes? Are you going to sell them for food?

On a last note I also want to add, I am in no way against RESPONSIBL breeding of any kind of animal. However it is the way you are going about it that bothers me. And maybe I have the whole situation wrong, if I do, I hope you will sign on and clarify.