# I think one of my rats is pregnant



## Cate (Nov 12, 2007)

3 weeks ago I adopted 2 female rats. Tonight I've noticed one of them has a rounder than usual stomach. I looked through some other topics on this forum about suspected pregnancies and it's been said that a pregnant doe loses fur around her nipples; I think this has happened to my rat, (if anyone has any pics of the difference in nipple-prominence pre- and post- conceivement, or even just a pic of a dark-brown doe who's not pregnant that would be really helpful. I tried comparing the two girls I have but they are both so squirmy its hard to tell).
If she is pregnant I think it probably happened before I bought her, though in the first week I had them both girls escaped for about 5 - 10 minutes while my male rat was free-range in the same room. 
However, I am a bit of a hypochondriac where my pets are concerned, which is why I need some kind of verification either way.


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

can you list her weight, pictures of a while ago and pics of now?

heres ozzy when i thought she was preggers at 6 weeks, she wasnt

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i like this one cuz she looks lika a ballerina with a see through tail and foot


















sorry she isnt brown :c

and how old did you say your girlie was? cuz these pics are at 6 weeks so may not help you much


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## Cate (Nov 12, 2007)

I don't have any scales at the moment but I'll buy some tomorrow - I suppose I could weigh her every day and see if she puts on more weight. As I have only had her for 3 weeks I haven't got any pictures of her that aren't blurred. I just asked my mum if i could use her digital camera to take a photo of the doe and she wouldn't let me because apparently it's obvious she's pregnant and my mum started knitting tiny little bootees days ago...so, that's cleared that up 
Thanks for the pics though rat_ratscal, ozzy is gorgeous. 
Is there anything I should be doing during the next few days to make her more comfortable?


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

well you said youve had her for 3 weeks? rats are only preggers for 3 weeks, so she should be huge and have very noticible nipples now. remember, rats can have up to 20 babies in one litter! she should be moved into a tank 10 gallon is a great size, no smaller because she will get claustrophobic and wouldnt like it, no bigger because she might lose a baby :c feed her high protien foods (egg whites are good) and dont aplly pressure to her belly, she shouldnt have hammocks or ramps, im sure if you look around this section you will see lots of pictures of the cages people use with pregger rats, good luck!!!


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## CaptainFlow (May 16, 2007)

She said that there's an unaltered male in the house, and that she's worried the two may have met and done the deed. 

Watch her carefully. Rat don't really start showing until there's about a week or less left in the pregnancy, but weight is a good way to go. When did this happen?

Move her into a home without shelves or ramps (an aquarium would be fine for a short time as long as you change the bedding often, but as big as you can get it! She won't LOSE a baby, she'll know exactly where they all are all the time!).

Like Rat_Rascal said, give her extra protein, but make sure you don't overdo it and cause her to get itchy! 

And be sure to give her LOTS of nesting material.

As another idea, consider an e-spay, especially if she's too young to be a mother. A litter usually costs more than the e-spay, so costs are justified, and then you don't have to worry about the mother's health, finding homes for all the babies, and all that. And THEN she'd be spayed, which you should really think about doing if you're going to keep males and females in the same house, let alone the same room!

Welcome, hope to see some pics of your rats soon!


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

ive read they will misplace a baby (when they start moving around) and then it may starve


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## jaded12 (Jul 5, 2007)

When my girl fiona was preggers she showed no signs except a wee bit of hair loss around the nipples, I have no clue if she was pregnant or not until she popped out 7 beautiful babies. So some females dont give any signs at all, and its always better to be safe then sorry


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## Cate (Nov 12, 2007)

The babies were born in the early hours of this morning. From what I can see they all look healthy and are all being fed, cleaned and kept warm by their mum (Pepper). I know she needs time away from them, but how soon will that be? Is there anything I should check with the babies/Pepper? Or is it best just to leave them to it for a bit? So many questions, I know, but I'm so worried something will go wrong. I tried looking on websites that had breeding information and have followed all of it, but really only covers the basics.


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## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

pictures? pweez?


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## Cate (Nov 12, 2007)

I will get some pics of them on here as soon as Pepper finally stops fussing over them and lets me see them properly. At the moment I don't even know how many there are!


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

i'd leave them to it for the first day, let mom get some rest and relax a bit before you start fussing over everyone. tomorrow try handling the babies for a few minutes, see how many there are and double check that everyone has milkbands. depending on how mom takes to this you may be able to start to handling them each for a few minutes a few times a day, which is ideal if you want these babies to be the best pets that they can be. even if pepper is against letting you handle them now you'll want to make sure to handle them at least once a day. pepper will not hurt the babies because you handle them either so don't worry about that. as time passes and the babies get older pepper will naturally want more time away from them, that's normal. just make sure none of the babies get cold, they can't regulate their body temperatures yet. 

other then that, don't hesitate to ask questions. we love talking rats and most of us have been in a similar situation at some point in rat care.


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## Cate (Nov 12, 2007)

there is a picture of all the babies in the photo gallery.


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## ledzepgirl16 (Oct 29, 2007)

rat_ratscal said:


> ive read they will misplace a baby (when they start moving around) and then it may starve


hmmm...actually, Rat Rascal, that _did_ happen with scout's litter a couple months ago, so apparently it's not unheard of. :wink: We had her in a very roomy tank, and she apparently did lose track of a baby. Seemed to be unintentional, because once we found her (I was counting the babies and noticed she was missing), she was buried under bedding about a foot from the nest and very, very cold. I thought she was a goner, but we warmed her and put her back, and Scout immediately started nursing her. Incidentally, she turned out to be the sweetest and most affectionate baby out of the litter!


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