# When to separate baby boys



## cinnaroll (Nov 13, 2021)

Hello!

I recently rescued a rat that ended up being pregnant. Now, I’ve rescued pregnant mice before and have separated boys at 4 to 4.5 weeks of age as I do not want accidental incestuous litters (not only because of the costs/lack of cages, but because it does run the risk of deformations and stillbirth). But I have to admit that I’ve never had an accidental rat pregnancy!

When should the boys be separated out? Is it the same as mice? I’ve tried to research this on my own and the answers are often mixed - some saying 4 weeks to avoid pregnancy and some saying 5 to even 6 weeks of age.

I just want to do what’s best for the boys while also preventing any more accidental pregnancies as there are only two boys and 7 girls - that would be a lot of babies!

So do any experienced breeders know what age is safest to remove the boys? Also, they were recently moved from the nursing bin to a private cage large enough to house many rats. Just wanted to state this in case anybody was worried. 


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## lfraser06 (Aug 5, 2020)

I've heard 3.5 to 4 weeks. I got one of my rats when she was 4 weeks, so at the very least, I know they can eat on their own at that age.

Here's some information for you to read: When rats can get pregnant.


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## Rats4All (Feb 4, 2021)

about 4 weeks is good. also the babies are so cute


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## ratbusters (Aug 28, 2020)

Hi. What lovely babies. 
I'm not a rat breeder but we have dealt with accidental litters. We were told that separating before 5 weeks was ideal, but not too much younger than that as they learn things from their mum when they're little. We separated males and females out at 3 days before they reached 5 weeks. The aim was to avoid pregnancy but give the boys as much time as possible with their mum. 
All I can tell you is that we did not have any accidental pregnancies by doing this. 
I wouldn't put your boys together on their own too young, as there are only 2 of them.


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## cinnaroll (Nov 13, 2021)

ratbusters said:


> Hi. What lovely babies.
> I'm not a rat breeder but we have dealt with accidental litters. We were told that separating before 5 weeks was ideal, but not too much younger than that as they learn things from their mum when they're little. We separated males and females out at 3 days before they reached 5 weeks. The aim was to avoid pregnancy but give the boys as much time as possible with their mum.
> All I can tell you is that we did not have any accidental pregnancies by doing this.
> I wouldn't put your boys together on their own too young, as there are only 2 of them.


Thank you!!
We also have decided that the boys will be neutered and placed back with the girls when appropriate!


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## ratbusters (Aug 28, 2020)

cinnaroll said:


> Thank you!!
> We also have decided that the boys will be neutered and placed back with the girls when appropriate!


Nice. I bet they'll love being back together.
We've got some neutered boys who are back in with Mum and 2 sisters. Happy families.


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## DaisyWillowHazel :D (Apr 4, 2021)

Hello!! Congratulations on your litter!! Rats reach sexual maturity at around 5 weeks of age, so I would split them at 4 weeks -4.5 weeks (at most) This is what I did when I had an accidental litter.
Hope this helped 


cinnaroll said:


> Hello!
> 
> I recently rescued a rat that ended up being pregnant. Now, I’ve rescued pregnant mice before and have separated boys at 4 to 4.5 weeks of age as I do not want accidental incestuous litters (not only because of the costs/lack of cages, but because it does run the risk of deformations and stillbirth). But I have to admit that I’ve never had an accidental rat pregnancy!
> 
> ...


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