# Posting on behalf of friend: Rats may be pregnant.



## Lyon209 (Apr 12, 2011)

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend who recently bought two female rats. She didn't know they were female when she bought them and put them in the cage with her two male rats. It was only spotted they were female when I visited her earlier. The girls are about 4 months and the boys are five months old.

Are they likely to be pregnant?

What is required to safely bring up two litters maximum?

Is a tank absolutely necessary for babies or can a cage with narrow bars be used?

Is there any other tips beyond the ones in the thread for her?

Thank you in advance.


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## Bananana (Aug 1, 2011)

It is very likely that they are pregnant if they were in with the males. They'll have their litters a little over three weeks after they were first put in with the males. 

My only experience with raising a litter happened when I was 10 and accidentally got an already-pregnant rat from a pet store, so I'm not 100% on any of this, but I've read a bit about the topic on forums, so I'll try my best. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable on the topic will jump in too. 

Okay, so I know that mama rat needs more protein and she needs nesting materials, like fleece scraps. You'll want to put her in a nursery cage that the babies won't be able to escape from, which precludes bars (though I've heard of some people using one-level wire cages with deep plastic litter pans on the bottom, like some of the Superpet cages). You can also make a bin cage out of a plastic storage bin and some hardware cloth and zip ties. 

If your friend gets a gram scale, she can track her rats' weight to keep track of how the pregnancy is progressing.


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## Lyon209 (Apr 12, 2011)

So its highly likely at least one of them is pregnant?

I told her to seperate them in case she lucked out but she refuses too because she says she dislikes the other cage :/

She can be stupid sometimes.


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## Bananana (Aug 1, 2011)

Rats go into heat every 4 days or so, so it's extremely likely that they are both pregnant. They still need to be separated, though. If she's reluctant to separate them, she's going to have a lot of problems down the road. Rat's can get pregnant again almost immediately after giving birth. 

What doesn't she like about the other cage?


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## Lyon209 (Apr 12, 2011)

The cage has several smallish openings dotted around rather than on large one and one medium one like mine. She can barely fit her males through now. I told her to put the females in but she is stubborn. I will try and persuade her more today when I visit her.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Lyon209 said:


> So its highly likely at least one of them is pregnant?
> 
> I told her to seperate them in case she lucked out but she refuses too because she says she dislikes the other cage :/
> 
> She can be stupid sometimes.


Not noticing the difference in sexes at that age...and then not separating because she doesn't like a cage? How long have they been together now? Girls go into heat every 4-5 days, and if they have been in there that long then its likely both will have litters. The litters for girls that age can be 8-13 babies each. What does she plan on doing with the pregnant females...keep them all together because she doesn't like the other cages? Ugh, some people just don't deserve to have rats in their lives...I pity ALL her rats.


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## Lyon209 (Apr 12, 2011)

That's going a little far 

Its not as if she's cruel to them, she just doesn't consider her actions. The mistake with the sexes can hardly be considered her fault. She was told they were male by someone she trusted and she doesn't have much experience with rats.

Whilst I admit the cage thing is ridiculous she will be moving them into a seperate because I spoke to her today and had her set it up.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Most people once discovering their mistake in the sexes will RUSH to separate them. Her ignorance and not wanting to "bother" just potentially brought another 25 more unwanted babies into the world. Is she the type who's going to screen for good homes or is she just going to dump them? She may be your friend but that shouldn't mean much. I took a rat from a family member who lived in a teeny cage feeding seed mix, etc, etc...they didn't want to learn either.


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## Lyon209 (Apr 12, 2011)

Of course she is going to screen them. She isn't that stupid. I shall make sure of it. 

At least she is bothering to check how to help the rats through the pregnancy and buying books and such so she doesn't make mistakes. There are worse owners of rats out there.


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## A.ngelF.eathers (Jul 6, 2011)

Unless she is a child, I doubt somebody wouldn't be able to tell the different between what testicles look like and what they don't. It's pretty unmistakable in rats unless they're neutered, which is a low possible from store-bought rats. 

Bad news bears for her, she needs to separate them or they WILL get pregnant, if they're not already. And if they are already, she'll have to put both females in separate cages. Then in a couple weeks after the babies are born, she will have to separate them by sex, of course unless her other cages aren't aesthetically pleasing enough. 

Ignorance can sometimes be excused but just blatantly ignoring what you *have* to do to remedy your ignorance *is* cruel. She's getting ready to potentially have 20+ babies on her hands plus the adults. Knowingly letting them breed with one another, whether purposely intending litters or not, is cruel.


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## Lyon209 (Apr 12, 2011)

Like I said, its not the aesthetical differences she disliked about her old cage. She literally can not retrieve her rats from inside because the cage doors are too small. 

And my friend, stupidly I will admit, did not check the sex of the rats because like I said someone she trusted told her they were males. They were not store bought. She has seperated them now into her spare cage but its difficult to retrieve the rats once they are in there. She did not knowingly breed the rats either. She isn't some BYB looking to make some money off of them. She's a kid that made a mistake.

Listen, all I wanted was some advice for her. She's had rats for like two months. She's pretty young and she's not really had a pet to look after before by herself. I'm not making excuses for her, I'm just saying, doesn't everyone make mistakes at some point in their lives? Are you genuinely telling me that you've never made a mistake with your pets and you've instantly known how to handle every single scenario that's come your way?

When I first got my rats I made mistakes too, granted none of mine ended up potentially pregnant.

Judging her from her those mistakes and saying things like her rats should be pity'd and she doesn't deserve them is going way over the top.

She genuinely loves her rats and she has tried to remedy her mistakes, even if she has been a little slow about it.

Which is why I thought I'd post on here to help her out in finding out some tips about how to help her rats and keep them comfortable. Not to have her ripped into.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Chill everyone, this is getting heated.

Guys just give advice, and constructive criticism.

OP, understand that no one wants your friend, who you claim to be young and inexperienced to end up with potentially 20 plus rats when she is having issues with the ones she has  
it can be frustrating when something has a very simple solution, and is blatantly put off, which I am sure you can understand, no one is trying to be rude.

Those potential mommas need to be weighed daily to track weight gain to see if they ARE pregnant...


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

A couple of E-spays could be just the answer she needs. Especially if they happen in the next few days, because that way there will be less complication from the spaying than if the babies develop more.


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