# creating a nursery?



## mamatank (Jul 9, 2011)

after having juniper for only 2 weeks, she gave birth to 9 pups. they're nearly two weeks old and they're really starting to become mobile. i'm concerned that their current cage (which was designed for 2 adult does) isn't suitable for babies. it has two levels, which are only connected by a tunnel. the second level is wire and i'm afraid they would be able to slip through the bars (space between bars is a little less than an inch.) below is a photo of the cage.

i'm thinking about creating a nursery. here's my plan: a large size rubbermaid storage container (walls high enough that they can't hop out), with bedding, toys, lots of enrichment activities for the little guys, etc. this way they have a safe and open area to grow while i get larger cages put together. does anyone else use something like this for pups? if not, what do you do with babies while they're in the exploratory stage but still small enough to escape/get hurt?


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

yeah, that bar spacing is far too big for babies, haha. you could cover it in hardware cloth, or make a bin cage. lots of people make them because they're so cheap. you can cut ventilation holes in the sides/top and use hardware cloth to cover them so they can climb around, too. if you leave the top open, they WILL find out a way to get out - they are incredible jumpers haha.

here's a good picture of one i found on google, rights to its owner.


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## mamatank (Jul 9, 2011)

great! thank you so much. that's almost exactly what i had in mind, although mine is going to be longer. at what age do you recommend i move them into the nursery? and should mama rat go in with them full time or just part time? i assume full time since she feeds them.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Mom lives with her babies full time until 5 weeks of age when you separate out the boys. Mom can stay with the girls until they are either adopted out or for the rest of their lives. That cage will not be suitable for any young rats at all, and I think you had better start looking for 2 small bar spaced cages for the females and males. Five weeks comes very fast!

the bin cage is alright, but needs a lot of ventilation.


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## mamatank (Jul 9, 2011)

i'm a little concerned about the 5 weeks rule. i've read this on many different websites (some even said 4 or 6 weeks) but i'm still worried that they may become sexually active sooner. is there any way to tell other than age that they need to be separated? i'd be really upset with myself if there was another accidental litter because, say, they matured at 4 weeks and 5 days instead of 5 weeks on the nose.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

as far as i know they become active around 5 weeks but aren't really interested in reproducing until around 6-7. 

i adopted 4 week old babies from a byb a while back, 4 females and a male, and i kept them together until 5 weeks on the dot, and had no pregnancies.

while a week may not seem like much, it is crucial for babies to stay with mom as long as possible for health, growth, and mental development.


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## mamatank (Jul 9, 2011)

thank you, that's really helpful  now i just need to find homes for all of these little guys haha.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

5 weeks is the general guideline, its actually a bit early "just in case" so as Jaguar said, leave the boys with their mom and sisters until 5 weeks. I have even separated some rescue litters at 5.5 weeks with no issues, but 5 weeks is a good guideline.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

That was a random pic from google


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

and that was a spam bot xD


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Jaguar said:


> and that was a spam bot xD


Ooh they talk now?? :


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## RatMama13 (Aug 20, 2011)

Boys do not become sexually mature until closer to 6 or even 7 weeks. So five weeks is a good guidline like said above. Although girls can get pregnant at this age their brothers are not yet mature enough so it's a good time to separate without cutting time off with mom


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