# advice on separating boy and girl rats



## allysonbonilla (Feb 3, 2021)

about a month ago my rat amyah had a litter of 4 , 3 girls and one boy. yesterday it was time to separate them so that he wouldn’t get the other girls pregnant but i didn’t realize that it wasn’t safe to neuter boys until 4-6 months . i can’t buy another boy rat but am afraid of keeping him alone in a separate cage for so long i don’t want him to be sad. i don’t know of anyone who would adopt my rats and i am hesitant to trust just anybody or put up an ad because i am afraid someone would take him as a feeder. please any advice would help. will he be okay alone for now? can i get him neutered sooner?


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## 511958 (Feb 11, 2019)

You could try and rehome him, ask for cage photos and put up an adoption fee. Is it an option to spay his mother and keep them together?

Those are the only options I can think of right now, besides getting him a friend.


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## Tinytoes (Dec 23, 2020)

Hi, I am a foster and work with a rescue. Where do you live? I have 5 boys, 8 weeks old, another one wouldn't be a problem for me


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## allysonbonilla (Feb 3, 2021)

Tinytoes said:


> Hi, I am a foster and work with a rescue. Where do you live? I have 5 boys, 8 weeks old, another one wouldn't be a problem for me


i live in tampa florida but often travel to riverview and brandon aswell


Tinytoes said:


> Hi, I am a foster and work with a rescue. Where do you live? I have 5 boys, 8 weeks old, another one wouldn't be a problem for me


i didn’t even think about spaying the mom that could be a good idea for now ,i’ll have to look into it. thankyou


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## MinkShadow (Mar 5, 2021)

allysonbonilla said:


> about a month ago my rat amyah had a litter of 4 , 3 girls and one boy. yesterday it was time to separate them so that he wouldn’t get the other girls pregnant but i didn’t realize that it wasn’t safe to neuter boys until 4-6 months . i can’t buy another boy rat but am afraid of keeping him alone in a separate cage for so long i don’t want him to be sad. i don’t know of anyone who would adopt my rats and i am hesitant to trust just anybody or put up an ad because i am afraid someone would take him as a feeder. please any advice would help. will he be okay alone for now? can i get him neutered sooner?


You could rehome him but be very careful, high adoption fee, require photos of cage setup etc. Either that or maybe spay the mom? Depends how old she is.


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## lfraser06 (Aug 5, 2020)

MinkShadow said:


> You could rehome him but be very careful, high adoption fee, require photos of cage setup etc. Either that or maybe spay the mom? Depends how old she is.


But wouldn't the female kits need to be spayed as well? If the male can impregnate the mom - he can the litter mates as well. Or am I missing something?

Also, typically it costs more to spay a female.


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## MinkShadow (Mar 5, 2021)

lfraser06 said:


> But wouldn't the female kits need to be spayed as well? If the male can impregnate the mom - he can the litter mates as well. Or am I missing something?
> 
> Also, typically it costs more to spay a female.


No, you could separate the female babies into a cage by themselves and then the spayed mom & male in another cage.


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## lfraser06 (Aug 5, 2020)

MinkShadow said:


> No, you could separate the female babies into a cage by themselves and then the spayed mom & male in another cage.


Oh, duh .... I see what I missed now. Spaying the mom so she can be in the cage with the one male. Got it. For some reason I was thinking about just one cage


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