# I think my rat is pregnant?



## grim13sleeper (Feb 12, 2016)

I adopted my rat, Rowan, exactly sixteen days ago today. When we got her, I noticed that she seemed a little chubby but I didn't think anything of it because all of the rats she was being housed with were females, though it is possible a male was in the same cage with her at some point because it's not uncommonly seen where we got her. About a week and a half after we brought her home, we went on a weekend away and my best friend, also a rat owner, took care of our ratties while we were gone. When we came back, Rowan had nearly doubled in size. I really shouldn't have titled this what I did, because we're basically positive that our Rowan is pregnant. We've already prepared a "delivery room" for her, given her materials to nest with and have removed her from the cage with her two sisters because I've been worried that she'll have them while we're both at work and Darby and Dren might hurt them. I was just wondering if any of you guys could tell me how soon she'll be having her babies? Or might have an idea of how large of a litter this could be, and what to look for as far as signs that she is going into labor. I'll insert some pictures down below all of this. I know they probably aren't ideal photographs to look at when trying to determine if a rat is pregnant or not, but she wouldn't hold still for long... She doesn't like it when we touch her belly too much.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

She should give birth as early as 5 days from now, but could be as much as 8 days. There is no way of knowing how many babies she will have, even if I had her in front of me. I have seen huge pregnant rats who you would think were pregnant with 15+ babies but had only 8, and vice versa.


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## grim13sleeper (Feb 12, 2016)

Okay, thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly. I know that my questions may seem trivial for someone who has owned rats and has five now, but I've never dealt with one being pregnant and neither has my wife. Those pictures are also about three days old now. 
Also, she just moved her bedding and paper to a corner in the cage and has herself laying flat on top of it all. Her back end literally looks like a pancake and she's been breathing pretty heavily for a little while now. We've also noticed that she has a ripple go down her stomach every few minutes, but I'm not sure if it's contractions or babies moving...?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

When rats are far along in their pregnancy, you can see the babies moving in them. Contractions wouldn't start before a few hours before birth in the majority of cases. She could have been pregnant many days before you got her and in this case you might be seeing contractions now!


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I made my math under the hypothesis that she got pregnant right around the time you bought her. Obviously she might have been pregnant for already a week when you got her. If that is the case she might be having contractions now.


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## grim13sleeper (Feb 12, 2016)

Well, she is having her babies now!


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

Hopefully all went well!


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## Ratloved (Oct 4, 2015)

Let us know the details when things are all done, hope it goes great without complications. Would love pics if u can get them without disturbing too much. (Maybe in couple of days)


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

How did it go?


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## grim13sleeper (Feb 12, 2016)

Everything seemed to go fine. We're guesstimating there are thirteen to fifteen babies. We only got this picture, we didn't want to disturb them any today. Going to make mommy rat some scrambled eggs later though, haha.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Great idea, she will need the extra protein and calories


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## grim13sleeper (Feb 12, 2016)

There are thirteen baby ratties. All of them have a "milk band" and mommy is doing just fine.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Good to hear, congrats!Are you going to keep a few?


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## grim13sleeper (Feb 12, 2016)

We're probably going to keep several. We are looking for a few good homes for some to go to, though.


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

Congrats. 13 is a lot. Too bad because if she only had six you could keep them all and not have to worry about finding homes. Good luck though with that.


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## ElectricPaladin (Jan 18, 2016)

Are momma rats really that chill about you handling their pups? My wife was telling me about her experience with hamsters and said that if you even open the cage, the momma hamster will start eating her babies in terror...


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## grim13sleeper (Feb 12, 2016)

Rats are nothing like hamsters. They actually form a bond with you. If they trust you, they will let you handle their babies. Rowan enjoyed visiting her sisters while we checked out all of her babies, and once we were done we put them back in the nest she's had them in and she just went back to caring for them like she was before we touched them.


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## ElectricPaladin (Jan 18, 2016)

Thanks!


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## grim13sleeper (Feb 12, 2016)

Day three of the Valentine litter!


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