# Could they be pregnant?



## MoonRatZee (May 1, 2011)

I just got these girls yesterday, and today the rest of the family met them, and one of my cousin's boyfriends used to breed them. He said Lee-Loo feels like she might be pregnant, but Dahlia feels and acts like she is.


Lee-Loo is just a little chubby on the tummy area and it feels a little "tight," a few of her nipples are visible. She's still very active and playful, which he said is the exact opposite of how they would act. Here are some tummy pictures of her...


















Dahlia, on the other hand doesn't look chubby in her tummy, but she's nesting, sleeping alone in their house and doesn't want to play or be held. Nearly all of her nipples are visible. Tummy pictures of her...


















Any thoughts/suggestions?


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Did they have any access to males before you got them?

Both look like they have a baby belly (growing up baby, not full of babies belly) but if they had access to males, I would expect 2 litters...

Where did you get them?


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## Monroe (Mar 26, 2011)

MoonRatZee said:


> Lee-Loo is just a little chubby on the tummy area and it feels a little "tight," a few of her nipples are visible. She's still very active and playful, which he said is the exact opposite of how they would act. Here are some tummy pictures of her...


I'm not sure about your situation as I'm not a veteran rat owner, but how are pregnant rats supposed to act? I'm in the same situation as you, not sure if my baby girls are pregnant. They don't act very curious & energetic. They are calm & rather slow. They just sit with me even though they are nervous around me still.


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## MoonRatZee (May 1, 2011)

lilspaz68 - From a pet store which strictly sells females, so if they were around males it would have to have been before the store got them from the breeder. (Supposedly, the breeder is a local vet who's a rat-lover.) I definitely don't keep the boys and the girls together, none of them are fixed.

monroe - According to him, they would act like Dahlia: sleeping separately from others, nesting, lazing around and not wanting to play.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Pregnant rats are often aggressive. Not always but they can be VERY hormonal, they might nest, but sometimes the don't nest until right before the babies are born.


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## Monroe (Mar 26, 2011)

Thanks for the heads up! 

/Hijacking thread.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

MoonRatZee said:


> lilspaz68 - From a pet store which strictly sells females, so if they were around males it would have to have been before the store got them from the breeder. (Supposedly, the breeder is a local vet who's a rat-lover.) I definitely don't keep the boys and the girls together, none of them are fixed.
> 
> monroe - According to him, they would act like Dahlia: sleeping separately from others, nesting, lazing around and not wanting to play.


Each rat acts very differently...this early in the game, your girl could just be nervous being in a new home, coming down with an illness, etc...One day is definitely not enough time to know how she acts normally. All rats nest, if they want to, so that also is not a "symptom". She could be a totally different rat in a week.

As I told Monroe, get yourself a digital scale and weigh your girls daily, at the same time every day...the more experienced members here can help you figure out the weight pattern which is a bit more difficult with young girls as they naturally grow anyways.

Weight is the only way to go, to be any way accurate.


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## MoonRatZee (May 1, 2011)

lilspaz68 said:


> Each rat acts very differently...this early in the game, your girl could just be nervous being in a new home, coming down with an illness, etc...One day is definitely not enough time to know how she acts normally. All rats nest, if they want to, so that also is not a "symptom". She could be a totally different rat in a week.


I really hope so, I'm a newbie owner, and I don't think I could deal with babies too! xP


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