# Accidental Litter...Again



## BlueMoonLuna (Feb 11, 2021)

tl;dr, please be gentle. I was trying to do the right thing and failed. I have a momma who had back to back litters.

A few years ago, I rescued two baby boy rats. It was spur of the moment, a friend of a friend was keeping them in an aquarium and threatened to let them loose outside if she couldn't find them new homes. I've always been the person people give their 'unwanted' animals to, so my name came up. I took them in looked into proper cages and within 48hrs they were in a critter nation that was decked out with hides, hammocks, toys, the whole nine yards. I did as much research as I could, and did my best to socialize them, but they didn't like to be touched and I didn't like stressing them out. I played with them daily hands off, and gave them the best little lives I could. Unfortunately, a few months ago, one of my boys died. His brother became depressed, wouldn't get out of his hammock for anything, and became aggressive. I thought I was doing the right thing, and I introduced two new boys I purchased from a local breeder. They got along well, but these guys didn't enjoy being touched either and again...I wasn't going to stress them. I gave them free roaming playtime (supervised) and played with them hands off. At this point, I've only ever seen boys - and these guys were young.

I found out the hard way a week later that they weren't both boys. I was gone for a 48hr shift, and when I returned to clean and play with them, I found babies. I was very flustered, and immediately separated them all. I had NO IDEA one of them was a girl, and I feel horrible. I did as much research as I could that night, and temporarily housed her and her babies in long, low cage so that she could be in a quieter part of the house while the babies were young. I saved up and bought a second critter nation and decked it out. I moved mom and her litter in there about two weeks ago, and they have been having a grand time. Mom and babies are all very friendly and loving! 

I went to clean the cage before another shift, and my god...I found another litter of babies. I had no idea she was pregnant again, she doesn't let me hold her, but she has no issue climbing all over me and she didn't seem fatter and her mood didn't change much at all. From what I've read...she must of gotten pregnant during postpartum estrus before I found the first litter.I separated her 4 week old babies from her so she can have some peace, especially until I get answers. 

I just...feel horrible. I have these 4 week old babies and now a litter of new little guys. I'm trying my best to do the right thing, I'm just so worried. I'm terrified of looking for homes for them, because I know people lie and may use them as feeders. The closest rescue is 6 hours away. I just want to do the right thing and make sure all these little guys have good lives. It shouldn't happen again, I spent an insane amount of time researching sexing and breeding and mom has had no contact with sexually mature males since I found the first litter.

Is momma gonna be able to nurse this second litter so soon? I read about chicken gizzards for protein, should I do that? I already separated the baby boys from the first litter earlier today, and they turned 4 weeks yesterday. Do I need to keep the 4 week old girls separate from mom for now too? I know I messed up, I just want them to be taken care of. I'm working more cages into my budget if need be, because If I cant find them GOOD homes I will just care for them myself. 

Again - I feel like I committed a mortal sin. I love these little guys and I just did the wrong thing.


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## Rats4All (Feb 4, 2021)

oh my gosh! that is horrible! it doesn't seem to be to deeply your fault, but..... i honestly don't know at all. i really wish i could help, that sounds awful.


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

I'm sorry this happened to you and your little girl. It can be hard to find breeders that are actually good.

I've never dealt with litters so I really don't have any advice to give you there but if the 4 week old females are competing with the newborns for mom's attention, you will likely have to separate them from her. 

A well laid out single unit Critter Nation is great for 4 or 5 rats, a double unit maybe up to 10. Depending on how many rats you now have and the male/female proportions, you may be just fine if you have two DCN cages. If you have two single units, you may need to come up with some supplemental cages to house all of them. [Bin cages] might be a good option because they're pretty cheap and simple to put together.

You can look into surrendering the babies to a small pet rescue organization or even just your local humane society. If you want to find legitimate rescues that take in rats in your area, you can plug your zip code into PetFinder and search for rats. 

If you'd prefer to find homes for them yourself, you could try posting in rat forums like this or on facebook rat groups or reddit, etc. You could post general ads on sites like craigslist but it would be smart to charge some sort of homing fee a little bit more expensive than feeders are in your area. You could also ask for proof of cage and care information. 

I would recommend you start handling your rats. Rats are sometimes apprehensive about it at first but with some work and patience, they can come around. If you don't ever handle them, you don't give them the chance to get used to it. I'd suggest checking out the socialization videos at the Isamu Rat Care youtube channel for some tips.


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## lfraser06 (Aug 5, 2020)

From what I know - rats can breed as young as 4 weeks .... so if the babies were 4 weeks old - Mom could certainly get pregnant again.
Whether or not mom can handle all the nursing - that remains to be seen. The first litter should be done nursing now and she should just be dealing with the new litter. Make sure she gets lots of good nutrition and rest. Some shortened time out of the cage could probably help her, too. Everybody needs a break from the kids every now and then.

Try placing an ad on Craigslist to re-home the rats. Don't be shy about asking potential homes to show you their cages, etc - it may help offset your feeder fears.

Litters happen ... so there's really no point in beating yourself up over it. It's clear you care about them. Just moving forward, keep distance between the males and females. That include during "free roam" or "play time".

Good luck!


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