# new rat owner and she is pregnant please help



## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

2 months ago i got our first female rat from my brother and a couple days ago i got her sister to keep her company. he now tells me that he thinks she got pregnant from her brother.


my worries are she is only 3 months old and her brother got her pregnant.


what should i look for and be worried about im freking out here i dont know how far along she is but she is real lazy and pear shaped???


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

2 months? Rat gestation is between 21 and 24 days, so 3 weeks. Was she still with her brother After you go her?

3 months old while a month younger then the minimum a rat should be bred she should do just fine if she has a litter. if her weight is good she will do just fine. Inbreeding doesn't Cause genetic issues, it just brings out the bad genes that cause these issues. That's why it is used along with Line breeding (Mother to Son, Cousion to Cousion, ect) are used to maintain good health in a line. So you could end up having a litter where some have naturally weaker immuin systems but its just from bad genes the parents carried not from the Inbreeding it's self. I'm assuming that's what you were asking about.

If you can post pictures of her we can help. But if she is pear shape she is probably a few days from giving birth.


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

well she has not given birth i am starting to think she is not pregnant thank god im not ready to be a grandpa just yet. today how ever i went to pet her and she bite my finger and she dont want to leave her cage. i have had her now for 1 week and she is 3 months old. she is smaller than her sister but rounder in the tummy. my wife says she can see her nipples. i have a pic on my page she has a stripe on her head


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Can you maybe get a clearer picture? maybe holding her up so We can see her belly.

From the pictures it looks like she is not pregnant, but instead might be having constipation/bloat.


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## Kelsey514 (Sep 20, 2012)

I can't see the picture because I'm on my iPhone (i think thats why...) but you said she has a stripe on her head. Is it white? If so, there's a trait called high white that has a strong link to megacolon. This is probably not what she has and it's the worst case scenario, but I thought I should bring it up just in case. It can cause bloat, laziness, aggression due to pain etc. What are her poops like? 


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

She doesn't have a blaze, its a headspot/star with is not High white related. 

Even if she had a blaze, it would of killed her by now since Megacolon causes the colon to never form, meaning that once moving to solid foods she would of died of bloat, meaning she would be dead by now. (There is a condition in older rats that is not the same thing but can cause similar symptoms due to old age I believe, some people call it Late on set Megacolon but its caused by completely different factors)


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

here is a picture 2 days ago of bandits belly i know she looks tiny but i have huge hands lol. i figured if she got preg. on the same day i got her as a latest her due date will be before oct 21st


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## IOVERATS (Aug 25, 2012)

I'm not experienced with pregnant rats, but I sent this to my cousin on my iPad and she said she doesn't look pregnant and I had to admit she doesn't really look pregnant to me. But neither me or my cousin can be sure because she can only really tell if a rat is pregnant by examining it (she took some courses on rat care along side her dog ones). I'm sure someone else will be able to help you better than I can. Good luck, I hope she isn't pregnant because I doubt you want a pregnant rat...


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

she is starting to get real aggresive i put my hand in the cage for her to climb on like they both do and she lunged at my hand and bite me and drew blood


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

i posted a pic


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## Kelsey514 (Sep 20, 2012)

Good, I'm glad to hear that's not the issue. My girl Misty was high white and had what a few rat experts agreed was megacolon. She didn't have symptoms til she was 12 months old and lived another 3 months on the Woody diet. She was also unexpectedly pregnant by her brother at 3 months old when I adopted her and acted the way the OP described, so this thread is particularly interesting to me. Smartest rat I've ever known! 

I saw the new pic. Her nipples do look more obvious to me than my girls did. But does her rectum look swollen to anyone else? Are you sure she's not constipated? 


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

her poops are normal from what i can see. i have a second rat and i would say their movements are of equal size and equal daiily amount


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

her poop does comes out a lighter color than our other rat but then darkens my other rat just poops dark. both is a solid color


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Her nipples are showing a bit so she Could be pregnant, not a 100% guarantee.

Has she gone into heat in the last 5 or 7 days? signs are wiggling ears, arching back when touch, often cage mates will mount her, if you flip her over sometimes her parts will be swollen and pink. Anything like this? if not she is most likely pregnant. if she has, then she is not pregnant and she might have other issues.


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

her cage mate went in to heat 3 days ago for the night. but she really wont let me get close, she is very stand offish and i dont know if this is normal behavor for her because i have only had her since sept 29th. she was warming up to us and play ful after the first few days now she is getting aggersive to us but not her cagemate she is the beta


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

in a couple days i will take another picture of her tummy and post it


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## BlackCat99 (Oct 9, 2012)

it can be hard to tell pregnancy just from the size of the belly, It has been my experience that many mommas don't show much until the last week or even last few days of their pregnancy. Her aggression could be related to many things as well not just pregnancy. Do your hands smell like food or other animals? Some rats do not like it when you smell like cats etc, and will lung at you to defend their space.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Typically females will go in heat around the same time, so if she hasn't gone into heat yet you can still have a number of issues on your hand. This Saturday would be the 3rd week if September 29th was the last time she was with a male rat. I would be prepare this weekend for some rat babies. If not by next Wednesday then I would take her to a vet and see if she could have any other issues if possible.


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

UPDATE:
she has doubled in size in the last 2 days her nipples are almost reaching her neck and really noticable and has been rearranging the cage and made a nest at the bottom of the cage and is throwing paper out of the bars


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

when the babies come i will post pics


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

the babies are hear i see 4 so far but mama still looks fat super excited


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

got a total of 6


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## Kelsey514 (Sep 20, 2012)

So how are they?! 


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

the babies are doing good we have a total of 6 we got 3 boys and 3 girls










































<---Girls.......Boys----->


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## Kelsey514 (Sep 20, 2012)

Aww! Glad to hear it. I love how the solid black boy is always trying to hide his head under someone else! Lol 


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## Cocoriggs89 (Sep 11, 2012)

Awe the little boys with the black hoods are so cute 


Luna and Isis mom


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

momma still does not want us any where around the baaies and is still biting the babies are 1 week and 4 days old and are getting so big so fast. momma still keeps them covered and out of sight. we are able to get nanny and momma out of the cage and when momma is out she is not agrasive just when she is in the cage. when we have nanny and momma out of the cage we hold and love all the babies then put them back in the same spot before momma comes home


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## clamperlsd (Oct 2, 2012)

so we kept the girls. two of the babies and aunt buster. Buster mini B and Stormy.


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## lilprincess1026 (Feb 10, 2013)

she may just be cage agressive. I had a gerbil who couldnt really see and would bite if you put your hand into the cage or through the bars but i used a cup to get him out and once he was out he was fine.


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