# REALLY NEWBIE Q BUT PLEASE HELP ANYWAY



## simbakitten (Oct 10, 2007)

i was wondering, my friends has just bought 2 female rats she thinks one is pregant. When and if the female gives birth does she seperate the two girls, if so for how long, and will it distress the other rat? she doesnt have time to regester and ask so im just doin it 4 her
thnx for any help


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

In general, I think most folks recommend separating the females before the babes are born, just in case the other female isn't very helpful or hurts the babies. I'm not sure when it's recommended to reintroduce the other girl, possibly after the babes are weaned? Rats are pregnant for three weeks, to give you a time frame. The boys need to separated from the girls at 5 weeks of age. Feed the mother and the babes good healthy food + some extra protein for growth.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

I've seen females stay together with no problems, either with one having a litter or both having litters & they shared the litter. I've also seen where it was absolutely necessary to separate either prior to or shortly after the litter was born because the mother didn't like having a cage mate during this time. 

It really depends on the rat but if you have a separate cage & you want to prevent any possible problems then separate prior to delivery. 

As for reintroducing... you have to consider not so much will the two older girls get along but how will the adult female react to the babies. 

The last litter we had here was from a female that came to us with an unexpected litter. Her behavior showed us that she didn't want a cage mate so we had to separate the girls. We were able to re-introduce Mom & the babies when they were 3 weeks old. We were fortunate... the other female was very accepting of the young babies. At right about this same time a good friend of mine was in the same boat. She to had a female come to her with babies. At around 3 weeks she tried to do intros & it didn't work well... it took her an additional month or so before the young ones were able to be fully integrated into the female colony.

THere is no one answer for this but there is lots of suggestions. 

Good Luck


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

In my experience, adult females generally don't have much problems being introduced to babies or young'ins. In fact, we've trying to reduce the number of smaller cages at RLR, and by doing so, we've had to introduce a lot of females (adult and babies, some of the same bloodlines, some not) together. We haven't had one problem (we've done multiple cages of setups this way). I've actually found that we've had no problems with intros of females to other females at all. (Males, on the other hand... oy.)

As far as separating the females when one (or more) are pregnant, I recommend it. Moms like their own peace and quiet, and to be able to nest where they want and to be left alone. Leaving another female with a new mom who happens to be maternal can cause problems - fights over the babies, etc. I figure it's best not to risk any injuries to mom, the other female, or the babies.


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## simbakitten (Oct 10, 2007)

ok thnx for all your help. il pass it on


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