# Ruby had babies, I need some advice!



## Alyneza (Feb 6, 2012)

Hello Everyone,

A few months ago I adopted a PEW female fancy rat from a pet store. Well, three weeks later she had a litter of fourteen; two died five days after. My mother and I have never been in a situation like this. Actually, we mainly have male rats; this birth thing has us on edge. And the females we do have are dumbo and spayed. Anyway, the babies will be four weeks old this coming saturday. I already have homes for all of her children, and I have made sure they will not be "snake food." 

Question:

When should I seperate them?
When should I put them up for adoption?
Also, Ruby has a trendous about of agression; any ideas to curb it? (We will be setting up an appointment for her at the vet)

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The rats in my family are Roger (agouti), Jasper (black hooded), Nick (Berkshire), Katie (Bareback w/ nose stripe), Dora (Mink), and Ruby (PEW)


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## Alyneza (Feb 6, 2012)

Please exuse my english errors


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## meekosan (Dec 23, 2011)

Alyneza said:


> When should I seperate them?


At about the 5 week mark. After that then they will soon be interested in mating.



Alyneza said:


> When should I put them up for adoption?


If you already found homes for them, you're good. I would maybe say around 6-7 weeks to make sure the kiddies are definitely doing well with eating on their own and drinking from the water bottle. Someone else may have better ideas or suggestions for this.



Alyneza said:


> Also, Ruby has a trendous about of agression; any ideas to curb it? (We will be setting up an appointment for her at the vet)


Vet, vet, vet. You're already on the right track with going to the vet. It may help some to have her spayed, but I can't say for certain. My momma rat was never agressive with me or the others and is very timid and sweet. Someone else may have ideas but search for threads on trust training. That may be all you need to let her know that you are the friend and not the enemy.


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## RatMama13 (Aug 20, 2011)

Trust training is the way to go. There is a sticky in behavior about it. I used babyfood to get my new ratties to warm up to me. I just put a little on the spoon and after a few times she started greeting me at the cage door  five weeks is the appropriate age for seperating and they can be adopted out anytime after that


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## Alyneza (Feb 6, 2012)

Hello everyone, Ruby is doing fine. Someone in my family adopted her; I could not handle the aggression. They also adopted Nick my Black Berkshire as her companion. She is fixed now, so the gender pairing is not a huge issue. Also her offspring are doing wonderful and all have been adopted except one male. We are keeping him but he is still to small to introduce to his cage mates.


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