# Pregnant rat possibly giving birth soon?



## Rattieqxeennn (Oct 17, 2016)

Hiya, so I have a question. I have a tiny 8-9 week old female rat, Honey. I got her Sept 29th. She had been in with males her whole life up until I got her. And then I brought home a "female" rat to keep my little girlie company. I named this rat Cheddar. Well about 2 days later I was holding 12 week old Cheddar and realized "she" is a boy...Oops. This was on a Sunday. I couldnt get to the store as they were all closed to get a second cage. They were together from friday afternoon to Monday afternoon. Now its a couple weeks later and theyre seperated. A week ago Honey got extremely aggressive. She'd attack me whenever I tried to pick her up or touch stuff in her cage. I gave her space. And about 3 days ago I noticed her tummy is getting rounder. She is getting bigger and bigger. She looks like shes eaten a ball. Her nipples arent prominent and shes been nesting occasionally. Does anyone have any idea of when she'll give birth? Could it be a day? A week?


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

You posted before about a different rat being pregnant as well??

I really truly hope you are not purposefully breeding  


I'm not sure how anyone could miss a boy at 12 weeks old. I would very much suggest several things- 
don't put rats together as soon as you bring them home. Quarantine is very important and even waiting a bit can prevent issues like this. 
Learn how to sex rats. Rats are like the easiest to sex. http://www.onceuponamischief.com/sexing 
I'd also suggest ALWAYS having back up cages, even more so if you are bringing in new rats. What if intros went wrong? 

I answered as well on your other thread that rat pregnancy is around 21 days. How long ago did you get him? Rats generally show the last week of their pregnancy, though some can be alittle earlier. 
I'd HIGHLY suggest taking her to the vet and having her pregnancy ended. She is far too young to be a mom. It will not be good for her or the babies and is not fair to any of them. 

You will also need several more cages for all of these babies. As well as a different cage for mom. You should make a bin cage as I said on your other thread. And NOT just poke holes in a bin but buy hardware cloth and attach it to the sides. Holes will just allow rats to chew them larger and escape... and not provide enough ventilation. The cage you have her in, in the pic is a horrible cage, way way too small for rats and not appropriate for babies at all either.


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## Rattieqxeennn (Oct 17, 2016)

No I am not purposely breeding. They were my first pair of rats ever. I have a much larger cage for my male and have ordered a second one for Honey. This is merely to keep her in while im waiting for the new cage to come. She does not get along with my other female (who is not pregnant). I didn't know about quarantining new rats and the woman I got my male from said he was a female. I didn't even think to check. I know a rats gestation period is 21 days. And I think its been about 20 days since the male was seperated. Once all of the babies are 5 weeks the males and females will be seperated. I also will only be keeping one gender so this doesnt happen again. I take very good care of my rats and I would not intentionally breed them because I know how many of them are used as feeders.


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