WOW! This thread has me shaking my head! First off, rats CANNOT impregnate themselves. I don't know where someone heard such a thing. Mother rats can be very protective. It is VERY VERY rare for a mother rat to eat her young. They either need to be sick, malnourished, not producing milk or way way way stressed out. I have owned rats for going on 20 years, and have been an active breeder since 2001. I handle each of my litters since day 1, and have NEVER had a problem with a mother rat cannabalizing her young. I have had a rescue who ate a few babies, but she came from a petstore and was already eaten them when I got there to pick them up, as when she gave birth she was in a cage with about 40 other rats that were dumped.

I would expect her to be agressive, she she probably has not had much socialization with you or anyone else for that matter, and has not yet learned to trust you. My rats let me handle their babies with no problems. At about two weeks, when eyes start to open, the mom should be begging you to take the babies out. You will need to check the babies reguarly to make sure they are being fed. To clean the cage I would take the mom out with some heavy duty gloves and set her somewhere else while you tend to cleaning/checking the babies over.

If you need help placing babies let me know. I know many rat friends across the states! In the meantime, check our my rattery site as it has information that will be helpful to you.

www.RompingRattiesRattery.com