Do male rats ALWAYS kill offspring.....

[sapphire_moon]

Does the male rat ALWAYS kill the offspring that aren't his?

I have 2 rats that appear to be pregnant, They are the same 2 in the "Introducing new females" post a few down.

Does the male ALWAYS kill any offspring that are not his? Or is there a chance that he will just let them be?

There has been no stress, they all pile one on top of the other. and actually had one of the pregnant females sleeping on top of the mother rat (that has the babies) as she was nursing! lol, I thought one had gotten out, but I could hear the babies. She was just lounging right on top of her and her babies. lol.
The male just cuddles with who ever is over in the corner he decides to lay in, he is about the size of an x-large rat, while the others are med and 1 small (the little 4wk old female).

So what do you guys/girls think?

[Jayson]

I cant give you a straight answer to your question but i do know that if the babies are not born yet when you intrduce the male they should be fine I have never had a problem with this before.

Personally I have never tried to intrduce new males when there were babies in the bin already

[mykee]

I only keep one male per colony and never introduce new males, so I've never encountered that problem. Your solution might be to only keep one male per bin/rubbermaid/colony.

[sapphire_moon]

I only have one male, the thing is I had two 1.1(soon to be 2 as soon as the little female sexually matures) and a 1.2. I THOUGHT the male in the 1.2 bin wasn't "doing his job" so I got a 50 gal rubbermaid, put the 1.2 (with the little female) and the 2 females into it. They got/get along great. They all snuggle together in a cornor opposite of the "nest" with the babies in it.
I killed the other male and fed him to my 4ft male bp who finally started eating again (it was my first time killing ANY animal....:( )

So basicly there is only one male in there. It's just that the other "introduced females" appear to be pregnant, looking like a walking tennis ball, losing hair around their nipples, and trying to get into dominance, mainly with the small non pregnant female. The beige female seems to be the "queen". lol

The beige female is also due in about 2wks 2day, give or take a day or two.

so do you still think the male will kill the babies when they are born?

[vanderkm]

A male rat will tyipcally accept new offspring that are born after he is added to the colony as if they were his own and will not kill them. They will kill young pups that are present when they are introduced. Rats typically are great parents, very tolerant of youngsters - good luck with your new grouping,

mary v.

[mykee]

I'm in agreement. Anything introduced before the male should be alright. Also, rats are excellent parents, I bred mice for a while, and just got frustrated when I'd only see about a 25% maturity rate in my newborns. I hate mice, now I just pick them up frozen when needed.

[sapphire_moon]

lol, I don't like them either. I do the same thing. Just pick them up when needed.

Good I was worried about that. They were/are introduced before the pups were born. The only one that has babies is the beige rat, but he has been with her the entire time. I more expected the other mother rats to try and take/kill the beige rats babies. But like I said, the other females (atleast one) looks like a walking tennis ball.

Also, just in case someone else replies to this.

How long do you breed your male/female rats?

[Auskan]

What a pity, that you killed off the other male rat, only to find that he had impregnated the other two females after all. I find myself in a similar situation. I have a 1.2 colony. It started out as a 1.1 until I could add the second female. Now the introduced female looks obviously pregnant while the original female is showing no signs of pregnancy at all (she has never had a litter - the introduced female has had at least 2 that I know of). Is it possible for females to be sterile?

[mykee]

Males will breed longer than females, I've been going with the same girls now for almost a year, with time off, and I'm still getting excellent litters, so I'm guessing with some TLC you should get at least a year.

[sapphire_moon]

yes, I do believe that females can be sterile, also, some rats never even show signs of pregnancy, try taking just her and the male out and putting them together for 2 wks, they are supposed to go into heat every 5 days for like 12 hours. So if she is sterile the won't have any after that.

It is a shame, but my snake had to eat, and the girls didn't even show until like the next day after I put them in the other cage, now they have ballooned up! lol. But as long as the offspring survive, I might keep a female from one of the litters to breed.
have 4 females in there now, and if one of the little oddball black ones are a female I'm keeping it just to have variety in color! lol And am anxious to see if a white/white pairing shows any diff colors.
Ok another one mykee, how many females can a male "service" lol. I

[Auskan]

Originally posted by sapphire_moon
try taking just her and the male out and putting them together for 2 wks, they are supposed to go into heat every 5 days for like 12 hours. So if she is sterile the won't have any after that.


Initially this pair were together (alone) for a couple of weeks and one night he was showing a lot of interest in her so I figured she was ovulating then. I made note of the date and looked for signs of pregnancy during the third week. However, she should have delivered last Friday based on that timing and not only did she not deliver but she hasn't even gained any weight either (My unofficial test for pregnancy is weighing on a weekly basis. Even when they're not "showing" they will start to gain weight by the end of the first week).

Oh well, she's a sweetheart - I guess I'll keep her, especially as I have no snake capable of eating a rat of her size.

[sapphire_moon]

i do! but it would be more in gas to go get her, Lol. Just remember that if you keep her as a pet, that she needs a friend.

[Auskan]

Yeah, I know. I have all three in together right now, and I'm currently eyeing dumbos and some blue rats I saw in the pet store as well as a rex. I may end up with a huge cage of pet rats LOL!

[sapphire_moon]

Ya, just remember you need a HUGE cage, 2 cubic ft EACH rat....If YOU have some dumbos before I leave I might have to pick one up from you!

[Jayson]

Sapphire moon

I breed up to 16 female with one male. What i do is move one male between 4 bins of 4 females, he spends one week in each bin this ensures that he gets all females.
He stays in the last bin until the first bin is weaned.

This cuts the cost of feeding alot of males and the females are left with alot more room for raising their young. and the bins the males are not in stay cean longer.

I use to have 24 colonies 12 of them run as i just described and the other 12 had a male in every bin, Both colonies had close to the same # of babies over the year. (within 50 babies out of a total 4200)

[sapphire_moon]

awesome. One of my other females finally gave birth.....13! :D I'm thrilled, all of these will be raised for my BP (s). Especially since my male can take a large rat. but can't find any at the moment.