# Female Possibly Pregnant?



## kobirot (Aug 5, 2013)

Hi there - we bought a female rat (Peanut) 3 weeks ago to keep our other female rat company. Although Peanut has never been quite as social as our first rat (i.e. she would occasionally "nip" your fingers when you went to pet her/pick her up), over the past couple of days she began biting our fingers harder. Just today, she started acting somewhat bizarre - burrowing in her nesting material, piling it up high in front of the door of the metal crate. She was moving the nesting material until she reached the hard, plastic bottom of the cage. I should note that she has been getting somewhat bigger since we got her (which we have been attributed to her eating well), but I wouldn't say she has become dramatically bigger. The pet store where we bought her did house males and females together (seems odd to me, but they did). I am hoping someone might be able to tell me whether this is behaviour indicative of a female rat about to give birth, or just one that might be a little neurotic  She is caged with our first rat, so if she is pregnant, I'm guessing it's not a good idea to have her in with our first rat. Many thanks for your time!


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

3 weeks exactly? Rats give birth around the 21st day. My female nested in the same fashion, but she also did have a swallowed-golfball look. I'd put her in a bin cage for two days, then take her to the vet if no pups.


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

It sounds to me that she is most likely pregnant if you can get a picture of her from her side or climbing on the cage so we can see her belly that would be helpful. Also if she is pregnant and you are not sure how far along rats are only pregnant for I think it is around 20 days? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. So I would separate your girls for alittle while before putting them together just to be safe.


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## kobirot (Aug 5, 2013)

In looking at my calendar, it appears it was TWO weeks exactly that we got her from the pet store (not three). I will try to get a picture of her if that's helpful. The only other factor that might correspond to her behaviour yesterday is that we changed the type of bedding that we used (Carefresh brand with baking soda - purple - as opposed to the regular white Carefresh without baking soda). I appreciate your comments and help


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## TexasRatties (Jun 2, 2013)

Sounds like their is a good possibility she is pregnant. I would say keep the rats seperated for another week and half if no babies then you are in the clear. Keep us posted but odds are you will have a litter in the next few days.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Keep the rats separated. Frenzied nest making occurred exactly a week before my girl gave birth. She didn't have the look of a pregnant rat until three days before. She didn't groom the hair away from her nipples until she already popped them out.
Since it's been two weeks (and we are assuming she was impregnated on the last day?) I would see if you can find a vet nearby to look at her they can tell you yes or no. My local banfield offered to do it for free.

Make sure to read up on what to do with a pregnant rat, what to do for babies, and orphans/birth defects. I can help if you have any questions (my babies turned 14 today)


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## kobirot (Aug 5, 2013)

*Photos of rat*

Mitsy: I have attached a couple of pictures of our Peanut - kind of difficult to get because she's been curled up for most of the day...


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

She does look kind of chubby but my rats look like that sometimes do, I think the chances of her being pregnant is very high though.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

What you should do is to offer a treat atop her cage. This will make her stretch her utmost, and you can snap a picture of her belly. It should revel a round harder belly -- usually, the sides bulge out like the sides of a circle.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I'm not sure if this will help, but here's a picture of Bijou the night before she gave birth to her 11 babies. The only time she started frantically building a nest was the night before she gave birth, maybe only 5 hours or so before. Before that, she just slept in a box with the stuff I already put in there for her. If you can get her to stand up and look at her tummy, it will help a lot to see if you think she is pregnant. As you can see in this pic, her tummy is VERY round here.


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

I did not know Bijou had an odd eye. She looks so much like my Leon. 

Also, Kobirot, she looks a little chubby, sometimes too, you can feel the babies in their tummy.


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## kobirot (Aug 5, 2013)

Well, it appears that we are in the clear (yay!). We are officially 21 days since we bought Peanut, and no babies. She actually seems a little bit less distended in the abdomen, which is interesting. Her behaviour hasn't changed, though. She continues to be very antisocial towards us (avoids any and all touch from us - even if we have treats, etc.), frantic re-organization of the cage (constantly creates piles of the bedding), and now has begun to bite myself, my husband, and both of my girls. HARD biting - breaking skin, drawing blood, etc. She is SO unlike our Touille. So, we are set to accept that, rather than pregnant, she is a slightly neurotic rat with obsessive-like behaviours. :-(


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Actually, wait until day 23 to be in the clear. If possible a vet visit might be worthwhile.


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## kobirot (Aug 5, 2013)

Hi nanashi7: I officially spoke too soon. Peanut gave birth this morning to 6 rats (so far). She started giving birth about 1 hour ago. Any information on how long the birthing process takes (trying to anticipate whether there are more to come). It looks as though one has died. I have been reading conflicting information around whether our other rat Touille, should be separated from Peanut. Some say separate them; others say other females will actually help care for the babies. We put them back together yesterday thinking we were in the "clear". So far, Touille seems mostly to be just interested and going over to look at them. Not excited about this - that's for sure, but want to make sure that the babies are cared for. Thanks to everyone for their help so far; any additional feedback/information would be very appreciated (what to do, does the mother need anything additional from us, etc.). Sadly, we have no intentions of keeping these six additions to the family.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I would separate them just so Peanut doesn't get stressed or aggressive. It will also help when you need to interact with the babies (trust me, they aren't sweet little mamas that won't leave their babies. They'll hop out of the cage if the chance presents itself). My rat took about 2 hours. The rule is generally no more than 20 min a pup, elsewise there may be a problem. I had 14 pups, one deceased. 

I wouldn't stick your hands in to remove the dead, especially since I tried to do it and it was just an immobile pup. I would call Touille out to go have fun in the wire cage. She'll need the entertainment. I am assuming Peanut is in a birth-cage? If not, once she has finished and is not nursing lure her to you with a treat and put her in the birth cage. Then babies and nest should be added -- make sure old bedding goes with.

Just make sure momma is kept warm and safe, keep her cage partially darkened if you have no hidey places (I removed them for ease of baby check). You can start checking the babies for deformity as soon as you are comfortable -- you should also check for a yellow/white band across their belly indicating she is feeding them. There shouldn't be too much concern if the babies number under 12, but a small cage that is warm dark and quiet will help make momma feed them.
She will need extra protein, so kibble, wet cat food, or cheeseless scrambled eggs will help. Adding blueberries and cooked broccoli helps females fight against cancer and passes down to the pups.

Once you have a count, post an ad on here stating your location to find adopters. I did and adopted out 8 of my 13.


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## CJMoore (Jul 30, 2013)

Well, a birth is so much better than an aggressive rat!  Lucky for us we already got Kitty (our Pet store pregnant rat, due any day now) used to us before she got scared and unfriendly so we are sure she will return to the sweet rat she once was. 

How many babies are there now? I can't wait to see the babies and I hope she stopped at six


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## kobirot (Aug 5, 2013)

@CJMoore - yes, babies are better than a aggressive rat, for sure. Final count is 6 - all are still alive; Peanut does seem to be caring appropriately for them (from a rat-naïve person's perspective) at this point. I have separated our rats now, and Peanut and babies are in a well-equipped cage alone to rest, etc. I have cooked some scrambled egg up and am giving some broccoli, but not sure how much is an appropriate amount for Peanut to eat in terms of daily protein need?


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I never really thought about appropriate amounts, darn. I usually split an egg in half for my girl, and she gets like one piece of broccoli or three blueberries. She's on lab blocks so I try not to tinker with her food too much. I'm sure someone else can chime in with a scientific amount.

Congrats on the 7 babies! Be wary of momma and her babies, as my girl Caius bit my sister whom she didn't trust for coming near the cage when her babies were young.


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## CJMoore (Jul 30, 2013)

6 babies are the perfect amount! You are very lucky  Congratulations.


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## JLSaufl (Jan 20, 2013)

How are the babies doing?

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## kobirot (Aug 5, 2013)

Hi there: Babies seem to be doing well - already growing so quickly in only 5 days! Cleaned out their cage today, and picked all of them up - let Peanut out to play with Touille (first rat), especially since she still is biting ++. She doesn't seem to bite me, for whatever reason. I'm attaching a picture of the babies, for your viewing  Thanks for all of the support!


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## CJMoore (Jul 30, 2013)

Oh my goodness, what cuties!


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## CJMoore (Jul 30, 2013)

I am ready for more pictures


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## OwlEyes (May 4, 2013)

Wow, those are some seriously beautiful babies. :O


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