# My first rat is pregnant!?



## DiscoAvenue

Hi, i adopted a female rat 16 days ago. (i hate the term "buy" when talking about a living being) she was full of energy when i went to visit her at the petshop, she was the smallest of the 4 rats they had (the only female). brought her home cared for her, calling her name and giving her rice crispies when ever she came. i recently started playing with her on my bed, she runs around and explores alot, but she is now used to come when called. although she nibbles my fingers when i dont give her a treat (is this normal?) she has grown to about twice her size in the past 2 weeks. i am convinced she is pregnant. i am happy she is pregnant i will keep one of her newborns as a friend. will find a home for the rest. anyway i have questions.

she nibles on my fingers, is this normal? is it becaus she associates me with food?

when i try to pet her she backs up. is this becaus she is pregnant? i hear they get a bit weird. or is it becaus she is still getting used to me. maybe shes mad becaus i called her Maurice? i try to take her out of her cage at least 30 minutes per day, would like her to stay with me on a chair in front of the computer, or on my shoulder but she is mini indianna jones, and cant stop exploring (cant complain thats why i fell in love with her).

if she is pregnant, is it safe to keep one of her newborns as a cagemate? (same sex of course)

after the first few days i noticed she only used part of her cage as a litter so i put some litter in a box with a bit of poop and soiled litter and let her play on my bed and she would go to the box to do her thing, i though she was littertrained hurray! but once i put her in her cage i found she wouldnt keep using her litter. any trick?

i will read more on breeding in the next few hours/days. but i want to know if my basic stuff is okay.
i use recycled wood pellets for litter.( i hear some litter can become sticky when wet and stick to newborns, is mine okay?)
hamster food pellets (pet shop lady told me this was fine, they also had rat food but the kind they can pick thru. will buy rat pellets as soon as this bag is done.)
2 small towels where she likes to hide, when shes not on the 2nd floor of her cage sitting calmly and looking at me playing music, on the computer(she is next to me on my desk, it is where i spend most time), cooking or sleeping.

EDIT: forgot to mention my cage has bar spacing of about 1/3 of an inch or 1.5 cm ~


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## DiscoAvenue

got 15 pups they are all healthy


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## lilspaz68

Big litter, glad they all made it, usually 1 will die in the first 24 hours in a bigger litter.

Do you know how to feed a lactating mom? Supplement her like crazy, that is one very big family and she will feed them literally with the flesh off her back unless you can help her pack the food in. She will need extra proteins like fish, eggs and chicken...lots of veggies, I use Ensure with baby cereal and mix it with soy milk formula.

The backing up was a nervous rat, not being pregnant. 
you now have to rehome 13-14 babies (its actually best to keep 2 girl babies, since they will play with each other after Mom has had enough of their insane energy).
Its a very hard task you have set yourself, you find lots of adopters, but a lot will bail out on you . 
You can handle the wee ones gently and for very short periods a few hours after birth, but mom may be nippy or even bitey in her instincts to protect her offspring.
If this is so, remove mom first, then take the babies out. 
In a few days I will put up pics for sexing babies at 5 days old


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## DiscoAvenue

thanks for the help.  i have found a couple of adopters, and the petshop is willing to take them back if they dont all get adopted. i will certainly keep 2 girls to play with mom.


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## zoe9

I hope you can find homes for all the babies. It's good that you are looking into your options and can fall back on the petshop if need be but (and sorry to sound cynical) if it were me, I'd be wary of returning any of the babies to the shop to sell.

Reason is after spending over a month watching them grow and handling them so they're friendly and socialised and ready to make great pets I just think it'd be really sad if they ended up being sold by the petshop to someone with a snake, you know .....


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## xxhawksxx

Absolutely dont give any back to the petstore! A few reasons: A. They dont often do homechecks, B. They sell to the first person with money who says "I want that one!", C. They are in it for profit. They dont "Adopt out" they sell, just like the rest of their "items" and D. They obviously dont know how to sex rats or had no problem with rats of unknown background mating for fun of "little cute babys". 
But, any updates on the litter? pics? hehe.


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## lilspaz68

Sexing pics

Here are the pics of 5 week old babies with the explanation on how to sex them...it has all to do with the gap between the genitals and the anus (anogenital method)
Girl








Boy









5 day old babies
Girl

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content









Boy









I also have 24 day old babies as well

Use


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## DiscoAvenue

i have no pics, sadly  ( no cam) but they are all doing well. once of them is a bit smaller. is there any way i can help her out? most of the are hooded like the mother with small to large trails on theyr backs 3 of them have beige or grey markings.. waiting to see fur. mom is doing very well. she is very friendly and well behaved. now that she got to know me. she stills nibles me, but when she tries to jump in my mouth i just "eep" it does wonders, i did it 3 times in a row, 2 days ago and she hasnt done it since. i found homes for 5. since i am keeping 2 females i ned a new cage, and thinking i might keep a male in the small cage i have right now. we shall see. i will try to send pictures soon. thanks for the help and support i love these forums


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## Neuroticax

Make sure you keep a friend for the male, too.


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## lilspaz68

Its better that you just keep females, so you never have to mistakenly bring more unwanted rats into the world. Plus a small cage alone just isn't fair to a ratboy at all.


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## DiscoAvenue

hello. update:
today they opened theyr eyes. i took them out for theyr first playtime. they are full of energy exploring the bed. and they are so cute as soon as they find me i was resting my arms and head on the bed watching and talking to them, picking them up when they went to far. so when they found me, they would curl up and sleep against my arm. it so cute. one of them is still insanely small compared to the others but she seems to be doing okay. i have 11 white with black hoods and 4 white with beige hoods. markings on the back vary from a toxedo (back almost fully covered with only a little white on the sides/belly) to "s" shape train down the back and one of them only has a hood and a diamond on her rear end. odly enough one of them is almost exactly like her mother. hooded with big black trail on the back with a bigger patch on the right hip.

so thats it just tought i might keep you guyz updated.


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## RidingTheWave

OOH

How are they doing now?
How is the whole experiance?
Cause, I just bought a rat, and Im pretty sure I want her to have kittens :].
Just cause all the past rodents Ive had (mainly mice) have all had babies!
And I only have had boys before, (Before they died :[) and now im so interested in having more rats!


I have three cages, a small cage (for mice of course), a really big cage (for rabbits) and just a medium sized cage (for rats, usually boys cause all the boys i had were sick and lazy)


I really wanna know what to expect...my rat is fairly new, and ive bonded with her, but she hasnt bonded with me so well, so im wondering if she'll even let me touch them. (If she ever has any)

??? ??? ??? ???


:] All, inform me please?


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## DiscoAvenue

it was a great experience for me. a bit stressfull and many sleepless nights ( i live in a studio apartment so i sleep right next to the cage and 15 baby rats signing a a coar can keep even the deepest sleeper awake.) if you need information look around on the web. and read up in these forums you should find all the information you need  and the more you play with yournew rat the more she will bond with you.


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## lilspaz68

I need to add that we do not condone intentional breeding of our pet rats. 

Please read the 2 posts stickied above 
Why Not to Breed
What to Consider Before Breeding


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## DAZZIE

Just beacause you can breed doesn't mean you should, rats aren't cheaps and pups are very expensive, I breed but I have had rats for years and I never breed one just because I WANT it to have pups, Breeding should be done to improve what you are working to, (my goal is a silky blue, bareback downunder with a wedge blaze and also improve the heath by only breeding rats with great health) If you have only just gotten the rat why do you want to breed when you have a perfectly good rat, she might die during labor or anything.


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## DiscoAvenue

is it normal that they are still feeding off theyr mother at 4.5 weeks?
or do they like sleeping under her alot?
can i seperate them if they are still feeding?
i know they eat solids.


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## lilspaz68

DiscoAvenue said:


> is it normal that they are still feeding off theyr mother at 4.5 weeks?
> or do they like sleeping under her alot?
> can i seperate them if they are still feeding?
> i know they eat solids.


Mine suckled until the time I weaned the boys at a day or 2 before 5 weeks, then I left the girls with her and she weaned them herself at about 6 weeks.


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