# 2 new mothers



## Sask91 (Jun 22, 2013)

Hi, my fiance and I adopted 2 little girl rats 16 days ago. He had rats when he was younger and really wanted another one. 

On Thursday we came home and found 15 babies in the cage. 2 were already dead when we found them so we removed the 2 dead ones and the other female who also looked pregnant. We did some research and read that the females can live together with the babies so we put them back together. Today our other one started giving birth and we would go in and check on them and make sure everything was going alright, we thought it was odd that the number of babies seemed the same when we went in and checked on them so we looked at the other rats nest and found that she took 5 of the others rats babies and put them with hers. We separated them as soon as we found this out and put the babies back with the right mother. 

Should we keep them separated or should we put them back and they will work it out themselves? The two girls are sisters and have been together since birth. 

thanks,
Amy & Will


----------



## TJ'sGirl2012 (Apr 22, 2013)

I have heard that if one rat is "stealing" babies from another even if both moms are used to always being together it is safer to separate them with their perspective offspring to avoid fights over the babies and potential trampling/accidental killing of them should a scuffle occur. I imagine this also prevents stressing the moms out as well however females have also been known to do fine together and will even co-rear each others litters which can be a blessing if one litter is to big for the mom to properly feed/care for at least the babies are being well cared for but my personal opinion is keep an eye on them if you feel it's becoming an issue or a potential problem separate them right away to avoid any accidents. Best of luck to you the new moms and all the little ones.


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

It is always recommended to keep them separated. Best of luck and let us know if you have any other questions.


----------



## Sask91 (Jun 22, 2013)

Thank you for the advice. Both mothers are in seperate cages and both are doing well. It didnt seem like they were hurting each others litters. lulu (mother that was doing the stealing) was also moving material into lala's nesting area and taking food in also. 

Should we keep them seperate till the kittens are weaned or could we reunite them before? 

Picture 1 is of Lulu's litter that were born on Thursday afternoon. She has 13 kittens. Picture 2 is of Lala's litter that were born Saturday morning. Not sure of the litter size yet as we didn't want to disturb her to much. Looks like 11-13 from a quick look.


----------



## TJ'sGirl2012 (Apr 22, 2013)

yes I would keep them separate till weaning glad all is going well always better to be safe then sorry. Babies of both litters look great congrats and best of luck to you all.


----------



## Flora (Aug 30, 2012)

oohhh! Little Eepers! Keep posting photos we all love to see the fuzzies!


----------



## Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

My goodness so many babies.

And yes, some times the mothers can live together and will raise each other's young as well as their own. Other times one mother will grab a baby from the other mother's nest. The mother of the baby grabs the baby being pulled, and gruesome things happen that result in dead babies. Most people are reasonably unwilling to take the chance.. When it works it is magical, when it doesn't it is gruesome. 

Are you already lining up homes?


----------



## FamilyRatters1 (Jun 22, 2013)

If you live in the Northern Illinois area, I can take 3 females from you once they're fully weaned.


----------



## Sask91 (Jun 22, 2013)

Hi,Unfortunately we don't live anywhere close. We live is Saskatchewan Canada. We are trying to find homes for them but we are finding it kinda difficult. We have 4 maybe 5 of the 27 babies spoken for and we are thinking of keeping 2 so that leaves 20 babies still needing homes. 

Pic 1 is of two of Lulu's babies (7 days old)
Pic 2 is of all 14 of Lala's babies (5 days old)


----------



## nattybrown (Jun 26, 2013)

Holy cow, that's a lot of babies! They're certainly adorable...best of luck in finding them new homes!


----------



## Flora (Aug 30, 2012)

OH!!! I love that blue wedge one in the first photo! Such cuties!!


----------



## Sask91 (Jun 22, 2013)

She is one of the girls we are keeping.I have a question about when the males should be removed from the mothers. I have read places that say 4 weeks and others that say 5-6 weeks. We want to make sure that we don't end up with anymore accidental babies. And what age can they be rehomed?


----------



## evander (Jun 30, 2013)

They are all so cute!!!

The girls can become pregnant at 5 weeks - so they will need to be separated right around then - it will be difficult with so many to see which babies are eating ok on their own, but hopefully you can figure it out.

I wonder if you could put the boy babies with one mom and the girls with another?


----------



## Sask91 (Jun 22, 2013)

All babies are doing good and we can't put the boys with one mom cuz they could impregnate her. We are just gonna keep them seperate and then move all the boys together when they are 4 1/2 weeks old and put the girls with the moms. We have 10 or 11 spoken for so we are getting close to half of them rehomed.


----------



## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

Oh my gosh they are absolutely precious

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------

