# Accidental litter... And possible breeding in the future?



## Salem and Raven (May 3, 2021)

Ok, so I had no intention whatsoever on having a litter of rats! Not yet at least. And definitely not in this way! Just pls keep that in mind.

So, I have two older male rats who are about a year old. I figured this would be a good time to get another set of males to coincide with the two I already have. But I was given a rambunctious little boy, and a sweet as could be little girl. 

So of course not knowing there would be babies, as you could imagine, I was shocked to find 6 baby rats. Unfortunately, one little one did not make it. But I took the mom and the babies and placed them in a tank for a nursery. 

The babies are now 3 weeks old exactly and I now have two little boys, and three girls. They are all very healthy, happy, and sweet babies thankfully! What would be the best way to rehome them? 

Also, I have been thinking about trying to breed rats anyway, I was just not ready for it yet! But how should I go about that? I only have the best interest in breeding then only for the sole purpose of healthy, happy, and good tempered rats. I am not quite ready yet, at I'm still trying to fill my head with as much information as possible I just want to go about this in the absolute best way possible! Please help!!


----------



## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

You'll want to separate the babies by sex in a week or week and a half. The little girls can stay with mom, you can see about introducing the boys to your adults. You can rehome them sometime after the 5 week mark but waiting until they're 6 to 8 weeks old would be better for them developmentally. 

If you plan on keeping the mother, I'd suggest keeping at least one of the baby females to keep mom company. 

You may be able to surrender the babies to a local animal rescue organization. You may even have a rat or small pet specific rescue organization in your area. It would be worth looking into. If you'd prefer to find homes for them yourself, you could post on rat forums and facebook groups to see if anyone's interested. Places like craigslist would be a last resort. 

Don't let anyone take a solo rat and don't leave any one rat alone. If someone only wants one of the boys, too bad. You'll find someone else willing to take both. If someone wants two girls but you don't plan on keeping the third, too bad. You'll find someone willing to take all three. 

The AFRMA and RMCA websites have loads of information about breeding. The IsamuRats.co.uk website and the Isamu Rat Care youtube channel are also fantastic sources of info. If you have any reputable breeders in your area, reach out to them to see if they have any suggestions for getting started in breeding!


----------



## Salem and Raven (May 3, 2021)

Thank you! I know about all of the age separation stuff because after I discovered them I knew I had to start reading more into it. I already knew some because of prior research. The part I was most worried about was how I would re-home them. I know I want to find a good owner myself just not what to do if someone wanted only two of the girls because there are three. I may keep one because I do plan on keeping the mother so hopefully it shouldn't be to hard to find someone who has the right information and right tools to take care of them if there are only two? But none the less I would never give only one out. I would feel way to bad for the poor thing. 

And as to the breeding information, thank you so much for the examples! I just want to make sure I do it right and for all of the right reasons, not just because they're cute or for fun.


----------

