50+ rats OH MY hehe

**Miss Z** · 06-22-2006, 12:23 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, 12:28 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, 12:29 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, 03:23 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.

**molucass** · 06-22-2006, 05:37 PM

What is the purpose of you breeding the rats anyway? What if you cannot find homes for ALL of those babies? Are you going to keep them, or sell them as feeders, or return them to the pet store, where they will probably just be sold as feeders?

You said that the male was an inbred mess and that would in turn make the babies unhealthy... I just dont understand the reasoning.

The females may be healthy now, but if you keep breeding them over and over again without a break, then they will not be healthy.

My suggestions is to get 2 males this time from the pet store, so he will have a buddy, and keep them away from the females.

**jackie** · 06-22-2006, 06:58 PM

Do you have homes lined up for them all?

That is excessive... to say the least.

**Aspen and Misty** · 06-22-2006, 09:51 PM

I'm confused; did I miss the thread telling the whole story? Are you purposely breeding them or did the females come pregnant? Who is the father? Are these rats food for someone?

Ashley

**molucass** · 06-22-2006, 11:51 PM

There was another thread she posted saying she was breeding them on purpose. She has a male in the cage with all of the females that shes bred them to.

Originally Posted by lute

are you going to breed them?

Originally Posted by king2005

opps, missed that question & its a yes...
=======
Don't bother starting a flame war, one was started 6yrs ago, so if you can see that far back look under my old username if your that interested.

I am not trying to start a flame war, I'm just curious, thats the reason I asked the questions I had asked.

**jackie** · 06-23-2006, 03:51 AM

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.

I totally missed this comment.

**Jods** · 06-23-2006, 06:58 AM

Oh yeah wanted to add I got 2 ratty babies from a women whose rat was pregnant when she got her she got pregnant in the petstore. Well one of the babies dies before she was even one year old and the reason bad breeding. I had to indure my pet dying because a stupid petstore owner didn't educate himself. The sad part is he makes money off these sick rats and all us petowners indure tragedy

**Miss Z** · 06-23-2006, 08:11 AM

I am very concerned about this

I was a little concerned about the fact that all these rats are housed together, and so far I've just heard negative comments about these rats. Now as 50+ rats are on their way....

And even though you have had rats in the past who didn't fight, that doesn't mean they won't fight this time.

**finn's mom** · 06-23-2006, 08:22 AM

I'm just now seeing this thread, as pet general isn't a place I stop often. I haven't been able to post pictures of the fish I have now, so, I haven't had much to say. But, I came on to see this...and, wow. I am very interested to hear the reasoning behind this. Maybe we're all misunderstanding, but, it does sound like it's being done irresponsibly. And, that's just sad for the rats.

**king2005** · 06-23-2006, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by Miss Z

And even though you have had rats in the past who didn't fight, that doesn't mean they won't fight this time.

Thats why I asked about her fighting, it was not normal as to what my other rats did.

Yes the babies are feeders.

No they wont go homeless.

Didn't know Grissim was imbreed. He just looked hungry. Hes a fat ratty now & lice free, but the old owner told me after I breed him that he is really imbreed (After I told her about the lice & wasn't happy)... I knew his hank mate was imbreed, but not Grissim too.

Why will I go to a random pet store & get a new male?
To make sure he isn't related to the females (I'm not into imbreed aminals & have driven 60km before to pick up unrelated male rats.. this time it'll be 500km) & will pick a healthy clean looking male rat.

The old owner gets first pick of the litters that are being born, as that was the agreement we had made (I have no choice to follow through). I have decided (was thinking while looking at the cage lastnight) to put Grissim down (I'll tell the old owner that I woke up to him dead) after the litters are born & to try to find a new male sooner (if not I'll wait until my trip in Aug).

I do enjoy giving rats away for "free", but NOT imbreed rats (well years ago I accidently breed the wrong male "mouse" & I refused to give any of those away or let them live, I kept them for personal feeders).

I am strict when it comes to imbreeding, YUCK! I was hoping to bring some (not too many as I need them for my personal stock) of these litters into the ma & pop pet store near my place for credits (will use it to buy the fancy shavings(aspen is what I use) & fancy foods). Its a very clean pet store & they don't want trash pets in there, so they would be angry if I gave them imbreed rats (don't blame them at all, I'd be angry too & am).

No I don't breed for money! I could use all the babies for myself, but if others want a pet (well not from this litter, only the non-imbreed litters) then they'll get it for free. If a store wants healthy feeders then I'll give a few to them for credits to help in paying for all the costs.

My cage is HUGE. its an XL rabbit cage (I don't use tanks, as that promotes lung issues which can = death & lots of pain (not good!).

I feed the best foods I can get. I feed (forget the brand) this food that has all sorts of different things in it, fruits, veggies, seeds, grains, rat blocks, & so much more. I also feed cat food (made sure there was no BHT & BHA crap in it!!). However I'll be switching it to Nutro puppy or kitten (depending on the size I can get) kibble, for the next bag as its the best, IMO. I also give them 12 grain bread as a treat, & veggies. They had a little banana milk shake last weekend in their mini water bottle (1/4 full) & got a little piece of hotdog each last night.

They have 2 hanging baskets in their cage (I made them), 1 ice cube holder thing (it acts like a basket) & 2 pop boxes (case of 12) to hide in.

For the food dish, I'm using a large dog's ceramic bowl...so if all rats wanted to eat at once they can without pushing the other out of the way & it helps to make sure I don't run out of food (I don't fill it, I just cover the bottom with the kibble & some alfalfa (sp?). I have a rabbit dish that I put in the middle of the dog dish & that holds the rat mix food & I have a small hamster dish that is also in the large rat dish that holds the fresh veggies or damp treats/foods.

I have 2 water bottles. 1 rat sized & 1 rabbit sized (not that HUGE one, but the 1 a rat can use but the bottle can just hold more water) & the mini one that I hook up when they get a liquid treat.

I also clean the cage twice a week with bleach & hot water, & this weekend the rats get a suprize.. a BATH!!! hehe, I can't have dirty rats now can I? hehe

Before I look it up, is it safe to bathe a rat once a week? My rats don't look dirty (you know that nasty fur look, EWWW, I've seen it, but never had a rat look it), but the silly things still play & roll around on soiled bedding & pee on each other! so they smell like urine & I'm sure that its not healthy being on their fur, yuck!

As for shampoo, I didn't see one for rats, so will the one for hamsters or ferrats be safe to use?
or kitten?
or human baby? Don't wanna make them sick from a bath.
Also how deep should the water be?
& how warm or cool should the water be?
is getting water on their face/nose gonna drown them?
or getting some in their ears gonna cause an ear infection?
is the shampoo save to put on their private parts?
will it burn their eyes if it accidently gets in their eyes?
is it safe to use on a preg rat or a nursing rat?
how do you safely dry a rat?
will a blow drier on low heat & at a distance hurt the rat? - I would keep my hand holding the rat so I know it wasn't getting hot.

Just don't judge me because I breed rats for feeders. My turtle needs to eat & if I had enough room/money I'd breed cows for my own use, as I know its off spring would be eatting healthy food & not pumpped full of drugs or eatting other animals, ewwww!!

I hope I answered all questions.. there was just so many to go through