Oldest rat had a bad litter...suggestions?

[Gorelith]

My oldest breeder rat is a female, she's given me several great litters over the passed 2 years. Last night she had another long anticipated litter although she only had 6 pups, 3 of them were D.O.A. She wasn't line bred, she was hand selected from premium stock, I always gave her a minimum of 1-2 months recovery time (without a male present) after every litter. Is she just getting old and passed her prime? Is it time for her to become a feeder and not a breeder? She's alone now with her 3 live pups. I've never had D.O.A. rats or mice before, did I do something wrong or is she just getting old? Any and all help would be appreciated.

[Dom]

2 years to me is getting very old .. for litters anyway .. ussually I replace my bredding rats after about 10 to 15 litters simply because litters become smaller and less babies survive...

I would suggest either a pet or a feeder ..

[sSNAKESs.com]

I second the notion! send her in live! woo

[Linds]

standard breeding life of female breeder rats is 6-8 months. After that feed em off, or if retire them :)

[Gorelith]

Jeff, that sounds like a plan to me, lol :)

[patricia]

At two years old, this old girl has certainly earned her retirement. She's got very little time left, so make a pet of her for those few months. She deserves some kindness and loving.

:sun:

[Gorelith]

if i just feed her to one of my snakes, i don't have to keep feeding her, maintaining her and it's a free meal for one of my ball pythons. I never got into mouse and rat breeding to have pets, I know this may sound kinda cruel but she's earned her keep as a breeder now it's time for her to earn her keep as a feeder.

[marisa]

I always tell my mice....."Do your duty!"

Because the way I see it, if they aren't getting females pregnant, or they aren't having babies, or they aren't meant to be feeders as they get bigger, they are just wasted space for more feeders and eating food others could eat!

It does sound cruel but its not. Not if you keep your mice/rats in clean conditions, with good food and fresh water. As long as healthy animals are treated humainly, as well as sick ones I don't find it cruel. Even though my mice are for FOOD ONLY they get treated with the same respect that my reptiles do on a daily basis.

Hey I even hold the little buggers sometimes!

marisa

[Gorelith]

that is all in all what they're for....feeders that is. I hold mine too, and I pamper the heck out of them because I only want my snakes eating the best. I'm giving them Nutriphase rodent diet, fresh water everyday, i even change their bedding every 2 days.
I buy the 2 cubic feet of bedding at $6.88 it usually lasts me about 2 months. The rats love it, I have to clean them cause I can't stand the smell if I don't.

[patricia]

I've no difficulty at all in using the majority of my breeders as feeders once I decide to withdraw them from breeding. But, oce in a while, I find myself feeling that an individual truly has earned a quiet retirment. I think that applies in this case. He's talking about a rat that has been consistently reproducing for him for two years, and I think that's a phenomenal span of time.

BTW, when I do decide to consign them to the feed inventory, I humanely kill them. Under no circumstances would I consider putting her into the cage live. That is just plain unnecessaryt cruelty, besides being fraught with risks for the diner. I'm amazed that anyone still thinks that's "cool'. It isn't, it's just mean. If you've got a snake that under no circumstances will eat pre-killed, then at least don't chosse this venerable old lady as its next meal. Show her a little respect as a reward for her unstinting generosity to you.

[Gorelith]

the mother wasn't producing any milk. I got her some alfalfa hay and I'll probably give her for a couple more weeks. Either way she's going to be used as food.

[rattekonigin]

I realize this thread is a little old, but I figured I'd add my 2 cents in...a rat at 2 years old is equivalent to a person at 73 (got this from a rat book), so age definitely would be a reason she's not giving you lots of good babies.

[patricia]

Ratte:

Thanks for this information. My own eldest doe is presently aged about 20 months, and has been retired from breeding for about four months already. What is the name and ISBN of the book that you refer to? I'd like to see if I can obtain it through interlibrary loan.

[rattekonigin]

I'll have to go dig it out to get the ISBN, I'll go do that and post back here later tonight...it's actually called "Training Your Pet Rat" but it contains mostly general care stuff...Anyway, I'll get back to you.

[rattekonigin]

ISBN for "Training Your Pet Rat" by Gery Bucsis and Barbara Somerville : 0-7641-1208-2
And it's published by Barron's

[Dom]

Im very interested in the age thing .. How old is the eldest rat ever?? So I imagine a 3 yo rat is over 100?

Just to put my 2 cents ..

I only have Owned one pet rat .. his name is Algernon .. a big 2+ yo male that has been enpregnating females everyday! I had him as a pet before i even decided to breed my rats .. he now has the fun job of playing with the girls all his life! lol - lucky man!

When he dies, believe it or not .. I will burry him - sounds stupid but I really am too attached to him and could not feed him even if he died of old age ..

But except for him - all my other rats are food - once done reproducing .. or too old .. feeders the are!

[rattekonigin]

I'm pretty sure the oldest rat ever was 6 years old...I don't know exactly where I got that fact, but it was on some fancy rat breeder's web site. Needless to say, I'm quite the rat buff and before my more recent interest in herps I spent much of my time reading up on the little fur-balls.

[patricia]

Almost all of my breeders are also pets.

My eldest male is Horace. He's now a little over two years, and still siring babies. Horace is a ruby-eyed beige. The eldest female is his sister, Lady-Rat, also a ruby-eyed beige, as are all of their children: Swifty & Fidget (girls), Benjamin (boy) and Buddy (neuter). Swifty bred back to Horace produced Honey.

My younger foundation male is a black hooded, named Simon. His kids from Swifty & Fidget are all black (with little patches of white on their bellies, and white toes), and include: Cornelius, Tar-baby, and Tessa. Tessa bred back to Simon produced George, Thomas & Lucy (all black hoodeds, like Simon), and the Albino Twins (identical pink-eyed white females).

Cornelius & Tar-baby have produced one litter in which the babies were 75% blacks, and 25% black hoodeds. The Albino Twins are presently expecting babies sired by Benjamin. Honey has a ten-day-old litter of babies sired by Horace.

I always give names to the ones that I'm keeping as breeders. Those that end up as dinner (about 97% of the progeny) never get names.

[Gorelith]

I did name one of my rats but I fed him to Orion last week, was debating keeping him as a pet but thought about vet bills and it was time to feed the balls. All in all, that's all I keep them for. May sound cold but I can't risk getting attached to a rodent, my snakes could end up starving, can't have that.

[rattekonigin]

Not getting attached is probably the best way to go, even if I wanted to raise feeder rats I wouldn't be able to kill them, 2+ years of keeping them as pets has caused me to go soft...I probably wouldn't even be able to kill mice (though I have a much lower opinion of those stinkers)

[patricia]

Well, one has to draw a line as to how attached one is willing to become. A rat isn't a dog. Where I'd spend plenty for vet care of my dog, I'm not prepared to spend that money on a rat. If a rat has lived over two years, and been healthy and happy for all that time, and then its health starts seriously deteriorating, it surely isn't going to live for more than a few additional weeks no matter how much vet care it is given. That is the point at which I humanely kill it.

Horace is by far my favourite rat, and I'll certainly be sad to see him go. But one has to be realistic. Snakes can live for decades, rats can only live lives that are a fraction of that time. So, even the most-loved rats eventually wind up as dinner. But they do get to live as long and as well as possible until that point is reached.

I'm not saying that it is easy. But it is necessary and practical.

[marisa]

I would also be 100% ready to spend quite a large amount of money to get vet care for my dogs or iguana, or snakes, buit I'd be less willing, if willing at all to spend a large amount on a rat or mouse favorite I might have.

I dunno. sounds mean but it doesnt feel mean.

marisa