# Pregnant! What do I do?



## Maple (Jun 9, 2008)

I just noticed that my rat is probably pregnant. Just in the last week she has gotten enormously round through the tummy. I don't know what to do. How long are they pregnant for? What should I do? Do I need to separate her from her female companion? I just bought her 3 weeks ago from the pet store and she was about 6-7 weeks old when I got her.
I am very concerned. Not sure what I need to do at this point. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.


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## collisiontheory89 (Apr 16, 2008)

Could you post pics? I'm certainly not an expert but it may not be a pregnancy, it could be some other sort of health issue.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

if you bought her 3 weeks ago & she is pregnant then she will have most likely had the babies before I get your reply. Gestation is 21 to 23 days. Was this Clover or Maple? You posted you got Clover on the 10th & Maple around the first of the month. 

Do you have any males rats in the house? Does your friend have males? I ask this because on post sounds like you two let your rats play together.
If there are males in your home or hers you have to keep them away from each other. If there are no males then am a bit concerned because of the age of the rat for a couple of reasons. !, too young.. 2, something internally wrong that may be causing bloat or bowel blockage. 

As Collision posted... can you get some pictures up? Best pic would be from above without you holding her or of her standing up on her hind legs... again without you holding her because often our grip alone makes them look squishy down below.

If by chance she does have the babies before you reply... you should make sure she is in a single level enclosure with clean bedding. Offer her some shredded paper towels or even newspaper & give her some quiet for the first 24 hours.

Please post back soon so that we can help you out with other tips but right now it is important to determine if she is pregnant or if something else is causing her to look chubby.


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## Maple (Jun 9, 2008)

its clover shes huge! I moved her into a different cage becuase I am watching my friends three girl rats and no I do not have any boy rats in the house but when I got her she was in the cage with other boys....
i will post some pics soon.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

If you don't come back before tonight then you will most likely have them by morning... can't be long now

I'm sorry to hear this... hopefully things go well. Don't be too concerned if there is some loss right off, it happens.. ok?

Make sure her cage is clean & it is a single level. Give her some privacy & make sure she isn't disturbed. You may be tempted to hover & watch but this may cause her to be uncomfortable so give her some space. Though rats can drop babies at any time, most often this takes place in the wee hours.


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## Maple (Jun 9, 2008)

Clover had her babies last night. Looks like there is about 10 of them. How long should I leave her alone before I can disturb her or the babies? I would like to clean the cage within a couple of days, just not sure when I can touch the babies.

Thanks.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

if you made sure the cage was clean prior to her having the babies (as was suggested) you really don't need to do a full cleaning. 

You can spot clean & just add a handful of new bedding & let mom arrange it

DO NOT do a complete cleaning... just spot clean... for at least the first week to 10 days. You only have one rat in the cage & mom will clean everything up from babies. 

be extremely careful when you do enter Mom's domain because rat Mom's are very protective & rat bite hurt like a (expletive edit) 

as for just checking the babies you can do so but do so carefully so mom doesn't get you & do it quickly so you don't disturb her.
do this first thing in the morning or late at night when the rats are most active. Try to get Mom to exit the cage by offering a treat & then keep her out of cage while giving the babies a quick look


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## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

Because she's so young I wouldn't touch or go anywhere near those babies for 7-10 days!!! Nervous new young mom + human interaction= dead babies typically. Put food and water in the cage, and leave them be. I like to say that if you can put them in a quit room away from everyone if at all possible. After 10 days you can see how mom is, take her out for about 5 minutes and let her stretch her legs and pet her if she wants it. Some new mom's won't leave the babies and defiantly don't let her out of the cage for longer than 5 minutes at a time unless she has a way to get back into the cage again! Leave the bedding and nest alone. If it's really super nasty in there you can pick out some of the old bedding and poops, but leave the nest intact for awhile. Mom will remove anything nasty, put clean bedding in, ect. Mom is tired and young, she probably doesn't want to build a new nest and feed her babies. Plus rats if they believe there is a threat to their babies will just kill and eat them.


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## Maple (Jun 9, 2008)

thanks for all the great advice. clovers doing great :!:


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## cami+honey+zelda (Jul 2, 2008)

to put pics on 
go to tinypic.com

copy the img code for forums & message boards


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## Maple (Jun 9, 2008)

ok i will try it. is that Cami in that pic its a cute picture    8)


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

well I offered to help but I have not seen any reply

it seemed as though you were not sure how to set up an account I thought my offer to host them for you would help

flickr.com

is a very easy way to get you pictures hosted

it is free

all you have to do is register an account, upload your photos & then click on the photo you wish to share on the forum... you will be given an option of sizes on there, select the medium size because often the full size photo is far too large for the forum


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## cami+honey+zelda (Jul 2, 2008)

YES IT IS CAMI AND HONEY WIHT KNUCKLES TO HOW DID U GEUSS?:lol:


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

ok, I received some photos & I have to assume this was from this thread. I wrote the sender back what I thought.... that the rat isn't pregnant but I will post them here for everyone else opinion. 

I honestly don't see how you thought the rat was pregnant because I don't see a belly at all. In fact I would say she needs to gain a few grams.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Doesn't look much like a pregnant rat to me. I agree with the second point also, that first pic makes her look quite slim and in need of a bit of chubb 

Bootaful though


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

I'm giving my best guess at her being about 4 to 5 months old too. Maybe she just when through a growth spurt & that is why she has that long lean look about her.

still a bit of a kid-rat face to her so not much older than that

not seeing the young lady face of 6 to 8 mounth old & definitely not the mature face of a gal coming up on a year.

May sound silly to some but when you've looked in the face of as many rats as some of us have you start seeing these subtle changes.


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