# Is reabsorbing litters common?



## MeinTora (Mar 19, 2014)

I was wondering If this happens often. I have no interest in breeding, just curious since it seems there are a lot of pregnancy scares on here, and a lot of reabsorbing. What causes this? 


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

Reabsorbing is not uncommon, but its hard to put a precise liklihood on it. It basically happens when a pregnant rats body decides that the conditions arent right for there babies to be born, so they effectively conserve the nutrients and reabsorb the featuses, effectively cut there losses. In the wild this would happen in situations where there wasnt enough food available, where mum was ill or when mum was in a lot of danger. All of which would mean the babies would be unlikley to survive, and mums life would be at risk too.

When it comes to pet rats reabsorbing its a little harder to predict, they have a much steadier supply of food and a safer enviroment. However they also arent used to the same amount of change and dangers in there enviroment, so a small change can upset them just as much as a bigger change for a wild rat. Reabsorbing tends to happen most often when a doe is subjected to stress mid pregnancy. The first few days see the featus' being so tiny that they can withstand shock easily, the mums body only just realising its pregnant, and at the end of the day its a good 22-24 days until mum is going to have them. The last few days sees the babies being close to fully formed, babies can survive being born from around day 20-21 (earliest i've had was early day 22 and they were tiny and definitly premature, but she was from a family that tended towards day 24) so a disruption in pregnancy at this stage is more likley to trigger labour than it is to cause reabsorption (in fact the girl i mentioned above was moved on day 21, and promptly gave birth the next day). Between these times subjecting the pregnant doe to stress often triggers a reabsorption. Stress can be caused by a number of things, such as loosing a close cagemate, heirachy disputes and most commonly moving her from one home to another. 

This fits well with what we see on this forum, a lot of pregnant rats on here arent planned, instead people take them on whilst they are still young, only to find them appearing pregnant from not being seperated young enough. This typically means that the doe has been moved to a new home in the danger phase of pregnancy.

I will say though that in many cases its probably kinder on the young does to reabsorb, its a lot to ask for a young mum


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## Daize (Jun 8, 2013)

MeinTora said:


> I was wondering If this happens often. I have no interest in breeding, just curious since it seems there are a lot of pregnancy scares on here, and a lot of reabsorbing. What causes this?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


It could also be that some of the posts on reabsorbed pregnancies weren't actually pregnant.

Some people get new rats and as soon as they start to get a "belly" they "assume" pregnant. Many times these rats that are assumed pregnant are on the younger side. 

Anyway, sometimes people get a new female rats and suddenly the belly is getting bigger. It could simply be that the young rat is eating more than usual. Some rats, especially if they were kept with several other rats, go crazy on eating when there's no competition at the food bowl. Since they're used to having to compete for enough to eat, they eat as much as they can as fast as they can. Some eat a bit too much. Young rats get a chubbiness to them and they can look pregnant. It doesn't mean they are. I just means they like food. As soon as the amount of food they've been eating levels off. The belly goes back to normal. 

"Sometimes" it will be "assumed" that the girl was pregnant and "reabsorbed" the litter. So many times people will post pictures of their "very young" females swearing they're pregnant, because the belly grows bigger by the day. The majority of these posts end up in the female reabsorbing........ 

Reabsorbing litters does happen, but more often an inexperienced owner "misidentifies" the cause for the belly.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

I agree with Daize. A lot of times it seems to be a newer rat and a growing belly...but she's just chubby. Rat pregnancies aren't exactly easy to determine to start with, and I think people have a lot of paranoia about it.


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## MeinTora (Mar 19, 2014)

Thanks guys. All very informative. It does make since that most people are just being "extra careful" and assume when the belly goes away that it was reabsorbed. I guess I would be panicking too, if I thought I had 9..13 new ratties on my hands.


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