# Fostering a litter!



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

My local animal shelter just took in 11 rats and one of the females is pregnant. Since I am the "rat person" where I volunteer, I offered to foster the litter!
This is the first litter I will be raising, so wish me luck! I have done a lot of research and feel prepared, so I hope all goes well!
I will try to post updates as often as possible!

The girl has swollen nipples but her stomach isn't too large... how far along do you think she may be?
I'll post pictures tomorrow so that perhaps someone can give a more accurate estimate.


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Pictures will help to determine, but if you don't know when she conceived it will be hard to tell regardless. Just be prepared! 

Can't wait to see pictures and hear how it goes!


----------



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

So I should probably give some more information on her! 

A police man called the shelter where I volunteer and said that they had found rats that someone left at the dump in a box! They had no food or water with them!!! Thankfully, the officer that found them was nice enough to bring them to the shelter. There were 5 girls and 6 boys all mixed in together. I'm not quite sure of their ages, but the girl who I'm fostering is definitely at least a few months old, maybe older. She is a pretty little rex dumbo with tan/beige markings on her face. Her name is Ricotta and we're calling her Ri (pronounced like "Ree") for short.

Here she is! Isn't she pretty?!
























And here's her pregnant belly! How far along do you think she is?


----------



## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

She is a pretty girl! She definitely looks like she has been a mother before. But I am honestly not sure if she is pregnant or not. Maybe others will have an idea.


----------



## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

She honestly looks like she JUST weaned a litter to me. I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't pregnant. She's beautiful! 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

That is what I was thinking Muttly. It looks like "saggy mommy" weight to me and not pregnant weight to me. I could be wrong tho!


----------



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

Is there any way I could tell if she had just weaned a litter?


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

How old are the other rats they found with her? That might have been her litter.


----------



## Kaliloca (Jan 24, 2013)

She does look like she just weaned a litter, but..... 

That doesn't mean she's not pregnant. Since there were male rats in the box she was found in.... That means she could still be pregnant. 

Until you know, for sure, one way or the other. You should feed her like she's pregnant. Give her extra protein and if she starts to look like she swallowed a tennis ball... Give her some extra materials for building a nest. 

Of course, it could be that the other rats in the box "were her weaned babies".... If that's she case, it's more likely she's not pregnant.


----------



## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Not sure about just weaned litter, it does look like it, but she does look a bit pregnant, but it's odd that her belly is a bit saggy. But could just be because she is a rex?

Oh and she is a Fawn Masked/Over marked Dalmatian/Patched. (same gene causes all of them). Depending on the father's markings and how much white he had if she is pregnant you could get some BEWs, or REWs (ruby eyed whites).


----------



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

Would her nipples be that prominent if she had just weaned a litter? How long after weaning would her nipples stay like that?

The other rats in the box seemed much too old to have just been weaned. So if she has just weaned a litter, I wonder what happened to her babies?

And LightningWolf thank you for letting me know what type of rat she is because I was wondering about what her color and markings were called!


----------



## Kaliloca (Jan 24, 2013)

I have no idea how long the nipples stay that prominent in a rat. However, I do know that they stay very prominent in a mouse for about 2 weeks after the babies are weaned. 

I had to baby sit a pregnant mouse once. Mice are a bit too smelly for me. LOL


----------



## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

I can help!  when I get home I'll post a pic of Geisha. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

Here is Geisha. Weaned her litter just under 3 weeks ago.










Her belly is more saggy when she sits naturally. I've stretched the skin a bit so you could see her belly. 

Now, it's still good to be prepared for a litter in case, haha. But don't be too upset it concerned if she never has any.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## ratatattat (Aug 31, 2012)

OMG she is adorable! Love her name.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Kaliloca (Jan 24, 2013)

I'm still thinking those other rats could have been her babies. Did any of them have Dumbo Ears or a Rex coat? 

You might want to give them a second look.


----------



## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Actually her offspring would only be Dumbo if the father was Dumbo or Het for Dumbo since it's a recessive trait. possible for her offspring to all be top eared. Sorry, genetic rambling again


----------



## Kaliloca (Jan 24, 2013)

I believe the father would have to be Homozygous, Dumbo, for all the babies to be Dumbo. If the father is only a Het Dumbo, then aprox 50% of the litter would be Dumbo and 50% would be top eared. Then the top eared ones would be Het for Dumbo. 

A Dumbo gene would have to be passed from each parent. The mom would pass the gene every time. The father, if he's a Het Dumbo, will "statistically" pass the Dumbo gene to half the babies, then "statistically" the other half would get the wild trait, top eared, gene. So, only half would be Dumbo if the father was a Het. 

With a recessive trait you have to breed Homozygous to Homozygous to produce 100% Homozygous babies. As long as a Het in involved you have the chance of passing on the wild trait, top eared, gene. 

If the father was a top eared rat, then none of the babies would be Dumbo, but they would all be Het Dumbo. 

Then you have the Rex gene, but that's a Dominant gene. Half the babies would have been Rex if the father was a smooth coat. However, if the father was also Rex there would have been Double Rex or some that looked like Hairless rats in the bunch.


----------



## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

That's correct. That's why I said that even if they aren't all (or any) Dumbo that doesn't mean that they aren't her offspring 

Oops, just realized I said Only dumbo. I meant the only way for any of them or all to be Dumbo was those ways. I've had a long week.


----------



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

A lot of the babies were dumbo and/or rex however all of them were at least a few months old, so if they are her babies, she must have had them a while ago. 

The stomach on my girl does look somewhat similar to Geisha's, however Ricotta's seems significantly larger... 

Either way, I guess I'll find out within a week or so! Thank you all for your feedback and I'll keep you updated.


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Yes, keep us updated! Either way, she is a cutie!


----------



## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

Geisha is slightly underweight right now and has always been significantly more thin than my others. Her weight is bouncing right now as I struggled to find the proper amount to feed after she weaned. They sucked it all out of her. 
She'll be chunkier again in a week or so. I'll update then.
If ricotta is pregnant, you'll definitely need to post pics! 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

Quick update:
She's pretty much the same today, except one of her nipples has a little bit of blood on it... It doesn't look like its coming from the nipple, it just looks like the nipple is irritated. What could be causing that? Do you think it was just a scratch?


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

It's probably a scratch. What kind of bedding is she on?


----------



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

I have her on fleece and I've been giving her tissues to tear up and store in her igloo.


----------



## Muttlycrew (Dec 21, 2012)

Probably just a scratch. Could've been her grooming or it could've just gotten dry and cracked.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

Update:

I came downstairs this morning to find that she had built a nest out of the tissues and paper towels I gave her last night! Prior to last night she had been stuffing the tissues in her igloo. Also, she seems to have gained some belly weight!


----------



## socal_sarah (Mar 5, 2013)

Good luck with your possibly upcoming litter! She's BEAUTIFUL!


----------



## Kaliloca (Jan 24, 2013)

It's been a while. Any updates on your girl?


----------



## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

Sorry, I 've been meaning to update but I kept forgetting! I don't think she is pregnant because she has been at a steady weight since I last updated. 

As I think I mentioned before, we will be keeping her anyways because we needed a friend for Delilah. They get along great and Ricotta is so sweet! She absolutely loves when I scratch behind her ears and usually will brux and boggle when I do this!

I'll try to take some pictures of the two them together and make another thread just for introducing her!


----------



## Kaliloca (Jan 24, 2013)

I'm glad you're keeping her. She looked like she had a rough life. 

Now, she can be spoiled and loved.  

I look forward to seeing pictures of your girls together.


----------

