# shadow looks pregnant .. she ..



## MissVampireQueen (Feb 15, 2008)

hi,

well my uncle and i own a rattery called runky rattery. anyway. it started when i had a litter. (not me, the rat !!) :lol: 
i rescued a female domino - she gave birth to 18! :? 
they have all been homed now. (16 - 2 died - sadly !!) well i have kept two females and my uncle surprised me yesterday by saying "surprise! i was keeping young dracula for you, Ol!" so i'm very happy about that. 
anyhow about two days before i rehomed them a nearby rescue came to work in the morning to find a show box. lots of squeaking too. 
it was a female and 22 babies. so we took them on, the rescue buying us a cage and nesting box for them. four have died so far though i didn't,didn't,didn't expect anything more than that to happen !! so anyway yesterday the rescue came back to us,well,gave us a call saying "look we know you are probably too busy, and that's fine, but we actually don't have room for.." mum & 8 babies!
two have died the other six are chubby little things about 5 days old now. i'm holding them and mum is very understanding with me.
the only problem i woke up this morning and shadow wasn't in the FN. i found a hole.. not long ago we'd added extra mesh to it,because the five girls could fit out,but shadow had stuck her mouth through to this mesh (i think) and bit out. she was standing under the boys cage when i went into the rat room.
i picked her up.
this was about a week ago and the girls stayed in the jenny until john - my uncle - fixed the FN,which he has,but now she looks bigger. (she's eight months.) her nipples are showing and her teets.. and eats & drinks some more than she ever did. she has went from 200grams up to 260grams.. i'm worried.
what if..?
i don't have the room,but i did tell john,and he said if she was she was all calm. (he doesn't seem bothered by anything like this,i don't know how he does it..)
anyway,my camera is broken,so even though i want to i can't put pictures up. we had saved up some money though,we had to use this on rats,and a new cage for this female. (not an ideal cage..)
how can i tell if she is pregnant and my question is she seems to be nesting already - is this usual? - or has she gotten out before and sneaked back in??!!??
please help,

olive


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

If her nipples are prominent I'd say she's likely pregnant, but further along than a week. I'd move her into her own nursery soon, just to be safe.

Also, I don't think you and your uncle own a rattery.

You seem to take in rats, that's more of a rescue if anything.


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## MissVampireQueen (Feb 15, 2008)

ok we'll buy a cage tomorrow. pets at home sell some ok ones.
it's not just taking in rats, we've turned the house into a rattery! :lol:



> People that have a house full of rats, and a special shed/room/building, this is called a rattery. Many believe..


it went on to homing them 
anyway i suppose you could say we're like a rescue, yes.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Rattery is a word that came from 'cattery', which is a place for the breeding and boarding of cats.

If there's no (delibrate) breeding, I'd think you just deserve the title of rat lovers. :?

But that's just semantics, after all.


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## MissVampireQueen (Feb 15, 2008)

no we don't breed, my uncle doesn't think people should breed for any reason. he's very into rescuing.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

You could also consider an emergancy spay, a the vet's.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

e-spay could be the way to go since finding a home for one female is so much easier than homing a litter of 10 to 20 babies & mom for 5 weeks then trying to find homes for everyone

good luck


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## MissVampireQueen (Feb 15, 2008)

i don't agree with e-spays. also shadow is my own rat that i rescued & i am keeping her.


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## reachthestars (Feb 27, 2007)

MissVampireQueen said:


> i don't agree with e-spays. also shadow is my own rat that i rescued & i am keeping her.



Can I ask why you don't agree with e-spays?

I know alot of people view it the same as abortion, but I have to say it's really not the same thing. The issue alot of people have with abortion is that (in North America atleast) people are starting to use it as a form of birth control. Humans know what they're getting into when the have sex, and if it is unprotected they know it's even a greater chance.

Animals don't have that. They reproduce because it's instinct. Now, in a rescue situation sometimes it's kinder to have the e-spay done, either to prevent more unwanted rats coming into the world, or because the pregnancy is risky for the mother. It's not cruel for us to make the decision to have an e-spay done, oftentimes it's the kindest thing we'll ever do for all rats involved. You open up homes as well for older rats that need to be adopted, and you don't risk the added costs of a caesarian (wich costs more than an e-spay and most babies don't survive).


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

there is no "nice" way to say this but understand, I'm not bashing you at all. Just trying to get you to rethink a few things before your attempts to help spiral out of control.

The long & short of it all is that you failed to be responsible for your rat's well being when you placed her in a cage you knew was damaged & one that was not repaired in proper fashion. 

Apparently a material was used that was not rat proof if she chewed through it & escaped. I don't know what you used but if you are still using this same material as a patch you are going to have more escapes & more unnecessary pregnancies. Because she was placed in this cage she was able to escape from she became pregnant & for that you have to assume all responsibility & often that responsibility means you have to make choices that are best for those who are in your care & often these choices go against your personal politics. 

I see a train wreck getting ready to happen so long as these rescues you are taking in are being improperly housed & oopsie pregnancies are happening within the "rescue". Many rescues actually have a policy of preforming an e-spay on females they suspect are pregnant just so they are not flooded with babies. A rescues often has little or no financial support outside their own. Check with the vet you are working with (do you have a vet you are working with?) & see if they can come to an arrangement on this because this & other medical needs are going to be necessary if you move forward with becoming a rescue. 

I think you have a good heart & you truly want to help out these rats but ask yourself this. Are you really doing any good if things like this happen?

I stated on here before... we all make mistakes, even the most experienced rat handlers can make mistakes. Hopefully this will be the only mistake you have. But if you fail to properly secure these rats & they continue to escape & get pregnant... well, do you see... you are no longer aiding the cause of saving lives or making a difference... you are essentially adding to the problem of producing even more rats in need of homes.

Please reconsider what an e-spay really means in the life & livelihood of your rat & all the rats that are already in need of homes. As Reachthestars pointed out... there are so many older rats out there in need of loving homes, for every additional unplanned/unhomed baby that is brought into the world & placed ahead of them, you doom them to a life of being without a forever home.


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## MissVampireQueen (Feb 15, 2008)

i did make a mistake with the mesh yes & i won't do it again. 
the reason i don't like e-spays is i gather yes,there are older rats,but me homing a few babies can't _really_ effect others.
strike that - it can.. & i know it can,but,as well as homing the bubs we are also homing tens of other rats & driving hours to make sure the home is rat friendly.
i know you are not bashing me & i want you to know i'm not either; you asked the reason why. and it is because why would you want to kill of bubs?people need to sometimes,if,for saying they don't want to do this or anything. i know,it isn't best on the female,shadow,& it's not we planned or anything. i feel strongly against this. i don't think i could take a female along the the vets (yes, we have a great vet=]) & then leave knowing i'm killing several rats. i know what you mean about other rats [older] not getting a chance to be rehomed & i totally agree with you,but these babies won't even get to see daylight,and killing them really upsets me.


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