# Afraid my rat might be pregnant



## Cricket

I purchased a baby rat from a petstore about two weeks ago. (I couldn't resist, and the petstore does care very well for it's animals) She and her sisters were still with their brothers at that point because they needed to make room to separate them. I don't know for sure how old they were, my guess is about 4 weeks. They were very small. I almost mistook them for mice at first glance, if that's any hint at size. Given that, I'd assume her to be 6 weeks old now? (Also, when I went two days later to actually get her, they'd been separated)

I assumed she was still not sexually mature, because what I've read seems to indicate that neither the males or females were at breeding age. However, she has been getting rather bulbous and lumpy. I used to have a close friend who frequently and carelessly bred mice when I was about 12 or so, so I know that their bellies grow to mass proportions, but usually for the mice at least it was in the last few days before birth. 

Anyhow. My baby isn't huge or even exceptionally big, but her shape is worrying me a little bit. I took a few pictures. I have two other rats and they have always had very flat bellies. 

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r18/Rilyne/aa.jpg
A comparison between ratty stomachs.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r18/Rilyne/aab.jpg
General size comparison. The adult with her is Penelope, who is about 5 mo old. She is a relatively small rat.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r18/Rilyne/aaa.jpg
Looking a bit lumpy at the sides.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r18/Rilyne/aac.jpg
Probably the most telling picture.

I would guess that if she is pregnant she is about two weeks along. 
What do you guys think? Possible pregnancy?


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## hshelton

I've never had a pregnant rat before but her belly is awfully big for her size.


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## Stace87

Have you looked at anything about megacolon too?


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## Cricket

Aw man. I really, really hope it isn't megacolon. I looked into the symptoms, she seems to be passing stools just fine. I'm cleaning out her cage in about an hour or so, so I'll moniter what's going on extra carefully. She seems to be doing very well though. I looked at the pictures and I'm not sure if they are particularly servere cases, but she doesn't look similar to them at all, and is older or as old as the majority of the pups they depicted. She also isn't showing any symptoms of pain and is bright eyes and bouncy. 

I also haven't been weighing her or anything, but she appears to be growing! So I certainly hope Megacolon is not the case. :-[


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## ema-leigh

She could definatly be a canadiate for megacolon by looking at her markings. I would put her in an animal carrier, or small cage for about an hour just so you can double check her stools. 

There is also a chance she could be pregnant! Ive seen tiny 4-5 week old rats who also looked like mice and petstore stock are often small anyway. If shes passing stool fine, then I would guess shes pregnant. Have her nipples become more prominant? Also in the last few days you can often see and feel the babies moving inside of her. Give her a little bit of scrambled egg for some additional protien. 

Keep us updated.


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## Cricket

After I cleaned out her cage and put her back in there was about 4 or 5 rat droppings in there within the half hour, which I take to be a good sign. Her stools seem normal, they don't match the symptoms. Also, when I looked at the link it said that the rats were stunted in growth in comparison to their siblings, and she had a few very similar siblings (I don't remember if they had the same spot on the forehead) and a few solid colored ones as well. They were all very much the same size. Which I also take to be a good thing. 

I am worried though that if she is pregnant, what the likelihood of the babies coming out with it would be, since I am guessing one of her brothers is the dad. I also don't know very much about rat genetics, and certainly didn't plan to get into the breeding thing. 

But since everything seems in order as far as genetics go, from what I can tell, I'll amp up her diet with some protein indeed. She definitely seems lively enough. Her favorite activities are hopping around her cage like a maniac and clinging to the lid. x]


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## Kiko

Ack, she is very small. I pray it's not megacolon...thats awful.
IF she is pregnant, Don't worry about if it's a brother or not. Rats are often inbred in breeding mills (gross bleh)
The only thing that worries me is that she is SO young :/
But then again my rat who had an accidental litter was barely 9 weeks when she had them, and all survived and are healthy to this day 
12 happy eepers. Well, not eepers anymore, they are turning 1 this November hah!


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## ema-leigh

Are you sure they are her poops and not a cagemates? If your 100% sure there hers, I would rule out megacolon for now.

I wouldnt worry so much about the babies health, they might be a smaller size but they will take everything they need from mom as long as its available. I would worry about supplimenting your girl.. because not only is she growing herself, but possibly lots of little ones inside of her. She will need additional protien, I would aim for 18% per day. 

Have you noticed any change in behaviour? I find in the last week, or few days my girls like to hoard food and they start to build a nest. If she is then give her lots of soft material for bedding. Fleece or tissue is great. Nothing dusty or that could injure the babies!


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## Cricket

I'm positive they are her poops.  She is still in a separate cage. I was going to move her in with the others yesterday, but obviously if she might be carrying babies that will be delayed. 

It's not the inbreeding so much as the possibility that the babies could come out with megacolon? :/ But again, I don't know much at all about rat genetics.

But thanks for the advice and information, guys! I'm especially glad I learned about megacolon as well. 

I will keep her packed with extra nutrients, and hopefully, whatever it is, it all goes well! 
And I will keep everybody posted!


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## ema-leigh

Well thats great news  Well except that means shes most definatly pregnant. 

Do you remember the markings from the siblings or parents.... were there lots of white? blazes? or odd eyes? Its hard to say for sure unless you know the genetics for a few generations. But these markings are at a higher risk. I hope they are all healthy, as megacolon is horrible. 

Did you get mom from a pet store? Phone and complain!


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## Cricket

Well I know that there were three girls that looked quite identical to her the day I picked her up, though I'm not sure they had the same forehead spot. There was one boy and he was completely beige. There were others from what I know, because one of the employees said she took one home, but from what was left I'd say they were all beige or a white/beige mix. That's what's got me worried. None of the parents were there. None of them that were remaining had odd eyes either.

But if it's quite likely that she's pregnant, I'll definitely keep a close eye on her for the next few days. 

I'm not being too critical on the petstore. Apparently some guy dropped in with the litter and suggested they sell them as feeders, which they didn't want to do. Actually, I don't even know if they have live feeders there. In any case, they didn't have room to separate them immediately, and when I saw them all together they had probably only been there since the day before. When I went back later, they were separated. 

But needless to say, if the previous owner brought them in for feeders, their genetics are probably not fantastic. Which I didn't mind since she's sweet and friendly. Just didn't quite expect her to be packing.


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## ema-leigh

Well maybe you could call the petstore and let them know you think the girls pregant. They might have to take them all to a rescue or something but its better than them being sold into unknowledgable homes then having litters.... I guess its not the petstores fault, but they do have the obligation to fix the problem when they took them in and resold them for money.

I wouldnt be too concerned about megacolon, ifs its going to happen it already has and there would be nothing you could do anyway. Unless they had rare milder conditions.. they would have to be humanley euthanised. For now just concentrate on preparing momma for the birth. Make sure her cage is clean, not dusty and that she has plenty of nesting materials.


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## hshelton

Where do you live? Maybe some people on here might take some if she is pregnant.


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## Cricket

Well, my mother wants me to take the babies back to the pet sore, but I am quite determined not to do that. What IS good is that a lot of people who go to my school have rats, because the pysch classes do a project on classical conditioning where they train rats (don't worry, they are treated well.) That's actually how I got the other rat in the pics above. She's such a sweetheart. <3 So I can ask among people I know that already have rats.

Anyhow! I'm gonna look around for homes. I will not take them back to the pet store. :| I don't know if I want to start until they're born because part of me is still hoping she is just playing a really good joke on me, I don't want to falsely advertise. In any case, since that's likely not the case, I'm keeping well prepared with my baby. I gave her lots of nesty stuff and gave her some scrambled eggs. And luckily, I'll be off school for the summer on Thursday so I'll have ample time to devote to finding good homes. 

Also! I live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, if indeed anyone is interested.


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## hshelton

I'm in virginia and I've never been to pennsylvania so I have no idea how far away it is but I've been looking around for one with a blaze since I got into rats 4 years ago. Maybe if you have one we can work something out.


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## Kiko

I go to Virginia several times a year, PA is a big state, but in general it is several hours away from VA.
If you can't find homes for all of them, (that is if she IS pregnant). You might try goosemoose.com the finding homes section is very active. It's where i got my amazing little hairless boy, and found homes for 2 of my accidental litter.


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## Cricket

Update:

No babies and her belly looks normal now. Must have been a false alarm! In any case, everything seems to be in order and all is well in my very small rat community.  Thank you everyone for your help!


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## hshelton

Well thats good, maybe she just ate a little to much lol


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## Jaguar

She may have reabsorbed her litter if she had one also - it would explain the disappearance of her belly. Just keep an eye on her, but she should be okay


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