# Pregnant or just fat?



## Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

I took a girl rat out of a bad situation last weekend and she has a belly but it's not huge. I don't know where she came from originally but she was only at the home I took her from for a few days, and I so I know she hasn't seen a male for at least a week. Her nipples are really noticeable and I haven't seen her go into heat, but she eats a lot. I know it's mostly going to be a waiting game but I'm worried that she's probably about 2 weeks pregnant but her belly isn't very big? She's not a young rat she's probably about 6 months old would be my guess. Could there be a problem if she is pregnant? I've been giving her as much lab blocks and extra protein as she wants but how fast should a pregnant rat put on weight?


----------



## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

You will need to get a digital postal or food scale and weigh your girl every day at the same time

If this helps, I took in a 4 month shelter sweetie who was pregnant and my first ooops mom. I documented her weight gain so you could see what weight gain to look for.

Bronwen’s Weight Gain (4 months old) 
Aug. 11 – 267 g 
Aug. 14 – 279 g 
Aug. 15 – 289 g
Aug. 16 – 302 g
Aug. 17 – 319 g
Aug. 18 – 329 g
Aug. 19 – 346 g
Aug. 20 – 354 g
Aug. 21 – 364 g (birth)
Sept. 14 – 278 g


----------



## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

As any animal if they came from a bad situation its possible they just eat a lot. However its very possible she is pregnant. I would suggest giving her a little bit of of peanut butter or yougart every day (half a spoon or so) this will help her not to bloat from all the extra food she is trying to eat to care for the potential babies. I did this for my pregnant rat adn it worked really well, she did not bloat and she did not eat a lot more then normal and her babies were very healthy (first time mom at 2 months due to an accident and they all survived) I also continued with yougart increased to just under a spoon full while she was nursing. If you are concerned about diet also ty feeding her more produce, its really good for them. Mine like just about all fruits and veggies ive given them and they get about 8 SMALL peices of different things each every day (General rule-20 percent of diet should be produce if on a block forti-diet). Hope this helps and good luck. 

Dont forget to give her nesting materials just in case she is pregnant! My female made a very large nest, some dont. I had her on newspaper but gave her carefreesh bedding, kleenex and papertowels to nest.


----------



## Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

She's a good size now and she's probably going to give birth in a few days- it's not really easy to doubt now!  She has nesting materials and I've been giving her veggies, Total cereal, dried cranberries, soynuts, rolled oats, pasta and boiled eggs in addition to her lab blocks- tbh I don't feel comfortable with the potential choking risk associated with peanut butter. She's starting showing some signs of nesting tonight but she's not huge in her belly yet so I think she probably has a few days left.


----------



## keytoaratsheart (Sep 10, 2008)

A few rats who have come into our rescue are very tubby because of the poor diet they have when they come out of the rescue situations. She could just be fat, but she also could be pregnant. Prepare for birth just in case. My vet can tell if my rats are pregnant, so you may want to visit an experienced vet and see what s/he thinks about it. 

Bless you for rescuing her! 

I just saw your update; and keep us updated! I want to hear about those babies.


----------



## Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

Yeah I thought she could just be getting fat from having lots of good food, but the weight kind of kept coming on and now she's very round.  She's started nesting and I'm pretty sure she's going to have them tonight or tomorrow. She's been acting really funny tonight but I'm not sure if it's labor or just her feeling antsy. I haven't seen any spotting yet and I thought they spotted before going into labor? ???


----------



## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

They don't always spot...they usually stop eating for hours before the birth, and as you know a momma is always eating! :


----------



## Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

I don't think she's aten since about 4am or so, (it's 8am now) but she's been napping in that time anyway.  Very eventful night of ripping up newspaper and jamming it under her hiding spots!


----------



## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Has she groomed the fur off around her nipples? Can you see movement under her skin? Will she let you hold her on your lap and you can place your fingers flat against the spot between her ribs and hipbones? If you feel lots of baby movement then its gonna be SOON. ;D


----------



## Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

She's groomed off most the fur around her bottom nipples, and they're bigger then they usually are. It's hard to tell what is her moving and what is the babies.  She's moved all her nesting material around again but has just been napping the past few hours. I'd think she was saving up her energy but she was up like all last night so who knows.  She only started getting really big about 3/4 days ago, and I've had her for a week so it can't be much longer! She's only a tan and white rat but I'm so curious about what the babies will be!


----------



## Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

Still no babies, but she's so fat!!

Her nipples look pinker today, could that mean she's closer? ??? Especially the top nipples that had some hair loss around them but not a lot, they stick out more and their color changed.


----------



## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

never noticed change of nipples to signal impending birth, i just know when you think they cannot get any bigger, they do


----------

