# New rats one pregnant and one possibly pregnant 😳



## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

My newest two girls came off of craigslist, when I picked up Vesta (tan dumbo) and Rayo (white dumbo with a grey face) they were originally posted as three rats but one was already sold. The person I got them from said they were 4-5 months old. Rayo is pregnant and vesta might be. When I picked them up I asked about the third rat, he said that someone had only wanted a male and not the female. Rayo looked fine when we picked her up but in the week that we have had her she has gotten very round. I asked the guy if there was any chance she was pregnant and he said no, but did say they were in the same cage together. I didn't know this as they came with a cage and he said the male had went with a cage also! Should I separate Vesta and Rayo? I tried putting Rayo in a clear tub made into a cage and also her own cage but it seemed to stress her out.Does anyone have any idea of when Rayo might be having her babies? I got her last week and earlier this week was when her stomach got really round. The picture is from yesterday. I did get a scale to weigh her today she is 285g Vesta is 349.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

If they are both pregnant and about to give birth, they could be left together in a large enough nursing cage like a bin cage- I read about many people going that with great success, the rats nurse the babies together. It seems that you are only sure about 1 rat being pregnant though, in that case I would separate before she gives birth. Usually rat pregnancy really shows the last week before giving birth, so she might give birth in the next 2-4 days. Good luck


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

They both do look a bit preggers from the pics. 

I would separate them. Rats don't really show being pregnant until usually the last week of their pregnancy. 

Yes some people do keep their girls together but it is very risky. Even more so with new moms. They often will fight over babies, even literally pulling them apart or injuring them. But what often happens is they will steal the babies. So a baby or so get passed back and forth between them..this often leads to babies not being properly fed. You also have to worry about if one of them is stressed or just not well and decides to kill the babies, it is not that common but always a possibility. Even if they love each other and are well bonded it can still stress some moms out as well.

The moms will likey be a bit meh about being separated but they will also start being busy with nesting and then busy with the babies. Give them play time together. If everything goes well and they are not stressed and are being good moms, you can put them all together at 2.5-3 weeks. 

Some helpful links for the babies development & sexing:
http://www.afrma.org/babyratdevdaily.htm
http://tigertailrattery.weebly.com/growth-picture-journal.html
http://ratguide.com/breeding/baby_development/birth_to_weaning.php
http://www.onceuponamischief.com/p/sexing-and.html
http://mainelyratrescue.org/rattieblog2/?p=42


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

Rayo has been building a nest all day today so I put her in the tub again with lots of paper towels for her to nest in. She still doesn't seem that happy but I am hoping she will calm down, I was reading through the other posts and someone said that the moms don't usually like their new cages at first but you just have to stick with it. Thank you guys for your responses and the links!Yes I am not 100% sure with Vesta so hopefully having the scale will help determine if she is pregnant. And even though she's looking rounder I am going to keep my fingers crossed that she is not pregnant as one unexpected pregnant rat is enough! Vesta is much bigger then Rayo, looking at my sisters huge tan dumbo I wonder if that's a tan rat thing lol


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Good luck to you and Vesta. Keep us updated


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

*And we have babie!*

I am glad we moved Rayo last night! Sometime between midnight and 7:00am little Rayo gave birth to at least 5 squeekers. They seem healthy and she was ok with us petting her head, though I haven't tried to move her nest around yet to check. Everyone has little milk bands ☺


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

Im glad everyone was ok and there was only 5. Imagine 20 that would be a rat overload.


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

Yes! There are actually 6 but still I was imagining her having 15 and Vesta having 15 then we would have 30 little quys .

I am going to weigh vesta later today. What amount of weight gain would indicate she's pregnant?


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

Mamma and babies are sleeping now, but when she moved to get some food we got a picture.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

congrats on healthy momma and babies


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Congrats! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask- it can be stressful to care for a first litter! It is great she only had 6 babies.


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

Thank you! So far Rayo seems like a great attentive mom, she let us feed her and even climbed out for a few minutes to be held before going back to the babies. I don't want to stress her out too much, when is a good time to take the dirty nesting material out and should we weigh the babies?Any thoughts on what they might look like? I am so curious now that the scary part is done and over with lol I let the guy we got her from know that yes she was definetely pregnant (he said no way she was pregnant even though she was with a male) and that she had her babies. He said the male was an albino dumbo.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

Greyday said:


> Thank you! So far Rayo seems like a great attentive mom, she let us feed her and even climbed out for a few minutes to be held before going back to the babies. I don't want to stress her out too much, when is a good time to take the dirty nesting material out and should we weigh the babies?Any thoughts on what they might look like? I am so curious now that the scary part is done and over with lol I let the guy we got her from know that yes she was definetely pregnant (he said no way she was pregnant even though she was with a male) and that she had her babies. He said the male was an albino dumbo.


I usually wait around 3 days before changing the bedding and leave just alittle dirty stuff in. I wouldn't worry about weighing the babies. Just make sure they have milk bands and it will be fine. I'd take mom out and let her run around and play then remove the babies somewhere safe, clean, put the babies back, then put mom back & give her a treat.

The guy probably didn't want to let u know she was pregnant so u would take her. 

The mom looks poor black to me and not grey but it may just be the lighting. If the dad was dumbo for sure then all the babies will be dumbo. I'd bet they all look similar to mom but it will depend on what they carry as well.


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

Thank you! I hope they are little dumbos but I don't have much faith in his rat knowledge! We had done some research on it yesterday and we took her and the babies out to weigh them once she was already off the nest and check that they were all healthy. Mom was eating some veggies while we weighed the babies, she was very calm. The babies weights were, one 6g, two 7g, and three 8gs. I don't know much about the colors, I know she looks like a dark grey? I have a blue and white hooded patchwork rat that is much lighter.


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

This was Vesta this morning


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

Ok so it has to be soon! Any guesses as to what these babies will look like? The dad is the same one as Rayo's so an albino.


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

No babies but a lot of nesting!


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

Finally we have some babies!


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## JAnimal (Jul 23, 2014)

Do they all have milk bands?


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

She hasn't moved from her nest, should we move her to look at them?


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

In the picture the one definitely does, I'm not sure when she had them.


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

15! 😬😳 Everyone with a milk band right now, there was a lot of blood so we cleaned it out. She was eating a carrot and drinking some protein shake while we looked at them.


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

We gave her a chinchilla house just because of how cool and damp it's been, that house stays warm.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

This litter is already a double handful. Such a comfy looking rat pile. It's fun to watch the development in your pics.


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## SaberKatt (Mar 14, 2016)

Aww, babies! They're so precious!


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Whoa 15, that's a lot. If you need to supplement them, I read that a NEW small soft brush was a great way to give extra liquid food, avoiding easy food aspiration. Never tried it though. Good luck I'm jealous in a way, must be awesome- but again I would keep them all If you have a kitchen scale you can weigh them every other day and put the smallest with mom for an extra 10 mins a couple times a day. You can mark them with some food coloring or safe marker.


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## Greyday (Apr 25, 2016)

Thanks for the suggestions! I will try to check them again later this evening to make sure everyone is getting some food and to weigh them! It is a lot of fun to watch them grow and be a part of something we wouldn't have if we hadn't brought these guys home BUT that being said I am definitely glad that we don't have any more pregnant ratties! 21 extra rats in two weeks, 23 if your count Rayo and Vesta 😄😬😳 lol


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