# Uh-oh... belly forming on my baby :(



## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

Okay, I might be jumping the gun a bit here, but one of my new girls is only coming up for 8 weeks old, I've had them since last Saturday. They're almost identical and from the same litter and have been kept together since birth, but Rhea is *definitely* developing a bit of a rotund belly. I got them from a breeder who says that they were separated from the males in the litter when they were less than 5 weeks old, but she had a LOT of rats and I can't help but wonder it maybe there might have been a chance meeting somewhere?

She's much shyer than her sister Suri who is starting to explore and I've even seen a little bit of climbing the cage bars at last but Brea still hides up most of the time. It's quite pronounced the difference between their sizes now but I'm really not sure if I'm just starting to recognise it more now I've spent more time with them? I wanted to get a picture for comparison but I can't get them to hold still for long enough!

Do you think it's possible that the reason she's so nervous and more rotund than her sister might mean she's pregnant? If she is it could kill her at this age, right?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Pregnancy is always dangerous and young ones aren't as well equipped to do it. It can also stunt her growth. If you've the money, an e-spay is worth it. 


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

An e-spay at this point might be too late, if it is pregnancy and not just a fatty ratty then she must be getting quite far along as she's getting quite porky. Doesn't an espay have to be done at the very beginning of the pregnancy?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Within the first two weeks. The vet could also listen to see if there were babies in there. 


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

I heard that it's dangerous from the start but gets more so the longer after the conception? If she is preggers then she's definitely over a week gone at least as she's been here with no-one but her sister since then. I will try to take a picture.


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

This first one is Suri, the sister for comparison.









And this one is Brea, as you can see, looking somewhat more rotund :-/









It's not an ideal shot but I think you can clearly see the difference.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

She doesn't look preggo to me.
View attachment 117698
my girls
View attachment 117706
and their aunt who is built differently. 


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

It's not really very obvious in the picture but I guess I will just wait for a couple of days and see if she gets any bigger. If I feel she's getting fatter I'll take her to the vets :-/


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

When I first got Cappuccino from petsmart I thought I bought a pregnant rat because she had a very round belly and was very pear shaped. Turns out she is just naturally shaped like that. She is my pudgy girl still sporting her pregnant looking belly

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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

I guess it just worries me because she's almost identical to her sister in every way, except one has this belly and the other doesn't.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

She looks like a typical chubby youngster. Its probable that she likes her food a bit more than her sister and it may be worth taking her out for the first 10 mins with food. Still keep an eye on her and if she starts looking bigger with a lower belly then she could be pregnant. I don’t know which breeder you went to but most breeders do separate at 4-5 weeks (I tend to go for 4.5 weeks) and even those with many rats are usually very good at doing it properly. Saying that there are less reliable breeders out there so there are no guarantees.

A far safer option for such a young girl than an e-spay is using galastrop, this is medication that is normally used to treat tumours, however one dose will cause a rat to miscarry and its reliable with no apparent side effects. Its becoming fairly common use here in the UK so most vets will now prescribe it as a just in case, effectively like an emergency morning after pill (but it works at any stage of pregnancy, I personally wouldn’t be comfortable using it in the 3rd week I don’t think unless them mums health was at serious risk)


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## JoshDeMott2010 (Aug 25, 2007)

Just be patient and if she becomes pear shaped then she is pregnant the pregnancy can last up to 22-25 days... The last week is really when rat owners are going to notice major changes such as weight gain, nesting, and hair loss Keep loving her and keep on playing with her like normal just be aware of those changes and keep an eye out. I think she is just chubby from hiding and not being as active as her sis. Try giving her activities to do with plenty of incentive and see if she comes out of that shell of hers =D


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

Eeep! I've just come home from just over a day away and I'm pretty certain now that she's getting considerably bigger. I very much doubt it's my imagination at this stage, she's definitely gone pear shaped (excuse the pun) and now I'm really worried. She's so young and this could cause some serious problems for her


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

Here's the latest picture. I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining it, she's definitely bigger than the last picture


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Tomorrow is two weeks since you've had them right? And she'd be eight weeks? It's a little unlikely that she'd be pregnant since they are able to procreate at five weeks but usually aren't interested in it. She'd have to have gotten pregnant just as she turned five weeks. Have you contacted the breeder? If she's pregnant next week she'd have them. My girl had hers around that time and is fine. 

I don't really see a terrible difference in the pictures but it's a picture so it's hard to tell. 


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

No, it's only 1 week tomorrow since I've had them and she's got steadily bigger in that time. It might not be obvious from the pictures but it's very obvious in the flesh, she's MUCH bigger and that belly is really rotund, sticks right out. I'm about 90% sure that she is preggers right now...


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## Daize (Jun 8, 2013)

I don't think she's pregnant. The timing is off. You got them at 7 weeks, since you said they're coming up on 8 weeks and you've had them a week. To be showing as much as you think she is, she would have had to been bred at 6 1/2 weeks. She'd have to be halfway through gestation to be showing. Very few rats actually get pregnant at that age. Then you have to go by the breeder saying she separated them early enough, so they wouldn't get pregnant. It's just not likely that she's pregnant. 

So, just keep an eye on her, just in case, but she really doesn't look pregnant.


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

She's either pregnant or she has some serious eating issues. Because it's a very pronounced, circular bulbous tummy on an otherwise very sleek and slender rat. She is huge compared to her sister in the tummy but identically sized in every other area, and this has all come on in the last 4-5 days because when I first got them last Saturday they were absolutely impossible to tell the difference other than their tummy markings...


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## evander (Jun 30, 2013)

Although it is not likely based on what the breeder ( if she was truthful) said it is very, very possible - I adopted a girl who gave birth at 8 weeks.

It is not ideal - but she should be ok.

In the mean time trust your gut - separate her today, give her lots of soft bedding and places to hide.

Good luck!!


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## Daize (Jun 8, 2013)

Urithrand said:


> She's either pregnant or she has some serious eating issues. Because it's a very pronounced, circular bulbous tummy on an otherwise very sleek and slender rat. She is huge compared to her sister in the tummy but identically sized in every other area, and this has all come on in the last 4-5 days because when I first got them last Saturday they were absolutely impossible to tell the difference other than their tummy markings...


I think she likes food. I think it's possible she's eating more than her share. 

If you're concerned you should contact the breeder and let her know what's going on.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

If your worried try the galastrop, one dose wont hurt her and will give you peace of mind


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

She's started behaving quite strangely today. She keeps burrowing into her bedding and shifting big piles of it this way and that. Could this be an early indication of nesting?


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

Okay, I think it's looking more likely now that she's pregnant. She's gone from living *in* the nesting box to living *under* it and has burrowed right into the bedding and started lining her nest with tissue... Her tummy is also still getting bigger. She hasn't got violent though, and is still very happy to have her sister around at this point. Is it safe for me to keep them together? I'm really nervous about separating them so early after they arrived, the idea of having Suri live alone for the next 6 weeks is quite upsetting...


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## AzuRinaHeiZo (Jun 6, 2013)

You should be able to leave them together. My rat had babies a week after I brought her home and introduced her to my already owned rat. I had no clue she was pregnant so I didn't separate them and my previous rat actually helped with the babies. So as long as she is comfortable having her sister in, there should be no issues.

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## Daize (Jun 8, 2013)

What happened with your girl? Did you turn out to be pregnant or was she just eating more than usual?


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## Urithrand (Feb 12, 2008)

Well her tummy very suddenly disappeared a few days ago and her nesting behaviour stopped, so I'm assuming that she re-absorbed the litter. I'm fairly convinced that she *was* pregnant because she steadily got bigger and bigger and looked like she'd swallowed a golf ball like people describe. I'm not sure how fast re absorption happens but it literally went from that to looking just like her sister again in the space of 2 days.

Much as it might sound cruel towards the kittens, I'm glad this happened because she was just too young and her own health was at risk.

Thanks for asking =)


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

it can take up to a week for them to reabsorb, but lost look mostly normal in a few days. It is a shame about the babies but like you say it was probably for the best.


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