# Possibly preg.



## AgilityCrested (Jul 14, 2008)

I obtained 2 new rats which puts me at 6. One has been a solitary rat as far as I know. The other was in a cage with a bunch of others. As they were trying to catch her I noticed a male in with the bunch. I am guessing that most likely most of the girls are preg. I brought her home anyway. For now I have these 2 together. 

My question is if she is, when it gets close to time should I move her friend out or is it OK for them to stay together since they really seem to like each other?

Also, The female is solid cream, the male is a PEW. What colors can I expect?


----------



## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

Her friend and her can't be together if she is pregnant. She will get super aggressive once she gets further along if she is pregnant. You will see her nipples and her belly will get bigger. At this point she should be moved to a nursery cage. Something with one level that she can't move the babies up and they get hurt. Sadly to say tanks and such do make good nursery cages. There is also a way to make them from a rubber maid container someone on here I'm sure has directions for that. Also, besides mom getting super aggressive the other rat could hurt or kill the new babies so yet another reason to separate. 

As for colors, that is really up in the air! You could get anything without knowing the lines of both parents.


----------



## 2boysloose (Jun 27, 2008)

What if both girls are preg? Then can they be together?


----------



## AgilityCrested (Jul 14, 2008)

Their not both preg.


----------



## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

To answer 2boys question NO! Not like you will listen to the answer though.


----------



## AgilityCrested (Jul 14, 2008)

Should I separate them now and possibly have her alone for 1 or 2 weeks? The one thats not preg gets along with my other 4 so she can go into their cage.


----------



## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

Woah.... you didn't QT the new rats??? I'm super confused now!! 

Also, I wouldn't seperate unless they are fighting, mom has given birth, or you know she is going to deliver within days (like she's building a nest). She will get lonely and that is not cool!


----------



## AgilityCrested (Jul 14, 2008)

Well, OK, I'm prob going to get yelled at. I had them separate from the other girls. The girl who isnt poss preg kept getting out of the cage sunday night and I have no idea how so I didnt know what else to do. I put her in with my girls overnight, left the other girl in the QT cage. I got a new cage yesterday and thats where the 2 girls are now, away from my 4.


----------



## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

Well QT was broken already so it doesn't matter if they are together at this point. Also, that was a seriously risky move you did there!! Proper introductions should be done for a reason. Your lucky you didn't wake up to a cage full of blood from the fighting! I don't even let my crew sleep in the same cage or be in the same cage when introing a new rat for at least a month because of a one time incident that happend several years back of a huge fight, 1 rat dead, 2 rats needing stitches and another one lost all of his toes just overnight.


----------



## AgilityCrested (Jul 14, 2008)

I do understand that but at the time, it was the lesser of two evils. I guess I figured she was in more danger from my 5 dogs, who have brought me dead mice from outside than my girls who are very laidback and never fight. While my dogs are good when I'm around, I dont know how they would react to finding a rat in the middle of the night. 
Please dont lecture me about this. I realize it wasnt the best way to go about this but I didnt know what else to do.

On a side note, she was QT before I got her as she was an owner turn in and they had her a couple of weeks before putting her up for adoption.


----------



## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

since everything else was addressed I guess I will take a stab at the genetics question

there will be no way to determine the outcome of this breeding because you don't know the genetics of the line. 

PEW doesn't equal albino. A PEW rat can carry any color since the genes that cause them to show as white only mask their appearance. Cream is a dilute color & I have to assume she has pink eyes or dark ruby. You could have any color combination & any type of markings. Expect more colors like Mom as well as PEW, black or Agouti. Hooded & Berkshire are the most common markings. What did the rest of the rats look like? I ask this because they are all most likely related since this sounds like someone who keeps a polygamist colony that constantly breeds. There appearance of the others may help sort out what to expect.


----------



## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

you're right, that was certainly the lesser of two evils. sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. please excuse some of our members here. there was an issue with another member not too long ago and it would seem the feathers haven't all settled down yet. you did the best you could in that situation, that's all anyone could do. 

just to clarify, the poss preg rat is now in her nursery alone? 

if this is the case or when you do have to put her there you could leave the cage near the others if she is showing signs of being lonely.most of rat's vocalizations are well below that of human hearing so though we may not hear they can be talking up a storm. being near the other rats she will be able to take comfort in their smell and their voice. this is of course, only if she wants that. some pregnant moms or new moms don't want anything to do with other rats until the babies are older, normally when they start to open their eyes is when most moms settle down. you'll have to gauge by her behavior on what she would like, being near by or further away from the others. 

i'm not sure how much you researched but i will give you a few tidbits of information just in case you didn't know you needed them. 

gestation lasts 21-24 days. 

a litter size can be from 1-20, the average being 12. 

pregnant and nursing mothers need more protein in their diets so pieces of cooked chicken and some scrambled eggs would be helpful here. some owners have opted to feed a kitten chow during pregnancy and while the mother was nursing to ensure this extra protein. 

signs of getting too much protein is excessive scratching and hair loss. 

correction of too much protein is to offer less protein. 

if the mother allows it you can handle the babies from day one and it is recommended in order to have the best socialized rat babies possible. the mother will not kill or neglect the babies simply because they smell human on them, even mothers that did not want their babies handled will not harm their babies if they have been handled. 

milk bands are a white patch on the belly of a pinkie. what you are seeing is their stomach and the milk they ingested. big milk bands=happy healthy pinkies

eyes open around 13-15 days

males and females NEED to be separated by 5 weeks of age at the latest. the females can get pregnant from their brothers at this age. 

there is nothing cuter then a fuzzy ritten!


please do not hesitate to ask questions. we are here to help. i am sorry for the aggressive position some members have taken in this matter. please understand that they only have the rats best interests at heart and everyone has some bad days where they just can't seem to say what they want to say as nicely as they would like. 

good luck with the bubs, please keep us posted


----------



## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

As I said before, it really doesn't matter much if she is in the big cage with the girls or not as QT was already broken. There isn't much of a point in keeping her separated from them anymore. I wasn't yelling at you, tons and tons of people on this board break QT for one reason or another and while sometimes it doesn't turn out so great, most of the time all ends up well. I've heard of people breaking QT by having the new rat on their shoulder and walking over to the old rats cage on accident, by forgetting to wash up between cages, ect. It happens, don't kick yourself for it, just move on and hope for the best. 

Twitch gave you some awesome tips, and if you read more on this board and online you will get a fairly good idea about how to handle babies once they are born. What kind of cage do you have your possibly pregnant female in? Does it have a deep tray? Are there levels in the cage? If so you should take the levels out, if it has a really deep tray you can just leave her in there to give birth.


----------



## AgilityCrested (Jul 14, 2008)

Right now she is in the smaller cage with the other new girl I got. Every time I check in on them they are curled up in a basket together. The cage only has about an inch or so deep pan so I will move her to an appropriate cage in a week or when I start seeing signs. Shes really shy but does let me pick her up. I dont know how long she was in with the boy so I guess if she doesnt have babies by Sept 11 I'm in the clear.

Most the rats were PEWS in the cage with her. I think 2 black and white. She was the only cream. No hooded.

Thanks for your help.


----------



## AgilityCrested (Jul 14, 2008)

Were 21 days out and no signs my girl is preg. I have her separate but she is doing everything possible to get back in with the other girls. The other night I was sleeping and felt something run across my leg. I thought it was my imagination and went back to sleep. When I got up she was on top of the other girls cage. I am going to keep her in her own cage for another week to be sure.


----------



## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

is she ballooned out & obviously pregnant?

If not, let her join the group.

At 21 days you would know for sure whether she was pregnant or not.

gestation is only 21 to 23 days unless it is a nursing Mom that was impregnated immediately after delivery of the babies.... at that point the gestation may go as much as 28 days


----------



## AgilityCrested (Jul 14, 2008)

No babies! 28 days out so we are safe. She rejoined her group last week. I have no boys so I wont have to worry about this again.


----------



## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

Congrats on the no-prego, and on successful intros. 

Rejoicing in the day,
-Mary


----------

