# When to seperate.



## keytoaratsheart (Sep 10, 2008)

Okay, well, Mouse is pregnant. My little cousin, whom my mother was supposed to be babysitting, decided to pop Bobo, our satin blue dumbo rescue male (our only male at the time) in with my 3 girls. Of course, Bobo got my biggest girl, my champagne capped doe pregnant. She is about a year old, and her sides are popping slightly. They aren't quite bulging, but you can tell she is pregnant. 

I am planning on removing Mouse from her 8 story cage and 2 cage mates, Star & Happy Feet and putting her in a smaller guiena pig cage with a higher tray (the tray is about 3 inches high) so the babies cannot escape, and so there is no chance Star or Happy Feet will try to get the babies from Mouse.

Now, my question is, since I don't know the exact date she got pregnant OR her due date, when to put her in the seperate cage than her two other cage mates?

Any help is appreciated. Normally, I don't ask many questions about rats, but now I'm wondering.

Thank you!


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## jahwarrior72 (Aug 19, 2008)

i wouldn't worry too much about the other adult rats. one of mine shared a cage with 2 others, and they actually helped rear them. it wil also help keep mama rat from being over protective and aggressive with biting. i'd keep her in, and remove them once they start to explore the cage.

you're gona need a cage with VERY small wiring, or better yet, get an aquarium. those babies are as agile as adults, an squeeze through the eye of a needle. i once woke up to find 10 out 13 babies missing; they'd managed to escape through a tiny little space in the bars, and thought that the botom of a bookshelf would be a cool place to hang out at. luckily, they were already pretty human friendly, and they came running when they heard me with a food dish.


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## Neuroticax (May 1, 2007)

I would recommend separating her *now* so she can settle into her maternity cage. She can still have playtime with her cagemates.


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## MadCatter (Aug 12, 2008)

Posting just to reinforce Neuroticax. She can still have free range time with her friends, but it is best to separate her while before she gives birth (now would be a safe bet), and especially after the bubs are born. While some rats may help rear the young, it is also possible that your pregnant female will become aggressive towards any other rats to defend her young. Some other females will even try to steal babies, and they will get to cold, or starve to death. 

Again, she can still have free range every day so that they don't need to be re-introduced later, but the other females shouldn't be around the bubs.


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## DAZZIE (Sep 20, 2008)

yeah, put her in the smaller cage, she might hurt the babies in such a large cage by junping around to much.


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