my first baby rats

[Lrptls]

im REALLY trying not to get too attached to these babies, but im just so excited about this. months and months ago i bought 2 little girl rats and 2 little boy rats, one being a hairless male. all were only a few months old. recently i put all of them together for about 2 weeks and then seperated the males. i put the 2 girls with 2 other girls i bought in a big wire cage. i really should have writen down when i put them with the males so i knew when they would have babies. i could tell it was going to be soon cause the girls were geting really fat and i kept telling myself i would put them in another cage soon.

today i woke up and heard something funny and looked in the cage and saw the one rat hovering over a pile of babies. i flipped out and knew i had to get them out because the cage has a wire bottom with a tray underneath. i put the 2 big girls in a small aquaruim and started taking babies out. some of them were in the wire holes, not stuck though, they were wiggling their selves out or down into the tray.

when i finally got the babies out i counted 24 babies, there was definetly more than that, the moms had already eaten some of them, hopefully just the ones that were born dead or very sick. when i put the babies with the girls they seperated them into 2 piles and started nursing. i guess they both had babies on the same day im not sure. but im so proud that they are nursing them and i cant believe they had so many babies their first time. just had to share my story, sorry it was long, enjoy the pic.

[dank7oo]

They look like candy :)

Jason

[Lrptls]

haha yeah i guess they do a little but they are definetly too cute to eat. one of the rats is being a much better mom than the other. she never leaves her babies. the other rat takes breaks and leaves her babies crying for quite a while before going back to them. the rats lay right next to each other and every once in a while start stealing each others babies. i'm not worried about it, i think they are all geting nursed, i guess ill see by tomarrow or so if the moms are really taking care of them. also if any one else is thinking about breeding rats, mommy rats can be very protective. the one rat bit me once before she had babies and this bloody pic was taken after she had them, i was not trying to touch her at all.

[snunior]

umm i have a question.... do the rats stink a much a mice and also what kindof rats did you breed?

[Lrptls]

i have 9 rats and no smell. i even clean my rat cages less than most people and no odor comes from the cage until im really cleaning the cage and got my head in there or something. older male rats get kind of oily and have quite an interesting smell to them. its kinda stinky but not any thing your going to smell unless your right up close.

the rats i bred were 1 tan male, 1 hairless male, 1 tan female and 1 hooded female with pink eyes. can not wait to see what the babies will look like. (the picture is of the moms)

[snunior]

Did you put all 4 rats together because i heard the males fight i am thinking of putting 2 females and 1 male

[Lrptls]

my males had been together sence the day i got them. male rats that grow up together love each other like brothers. i kept them together with the 2 females for about 2 weeks. there was some bickering between all 4 rats, i didnt put them in a very big cage but still not too small that it was stressful. and actually it was mostly the females, they get into lots of arguments. luckily right now they are being very nice to each other and are swaping babies left and right nursing all of them.

[scrivensgirl]

the babies are soooo cute. I have a female rat that i wont breed and is a spoiled brat,she gets whats she wants and all the fruit and vegs she wants.lol. I also have 1 male that was going to be a feeder but was a little to big and is now a very loved pet, also i had a female that again was to be a feeder but was not feed and she had babies very young as the male kept getting out of his cage so i had to put them together for the night and she ofcourse she had babies, she died about 3 weeks after having them, not sure it is was from the stress being she was young but we still have one baby and i gave him to my brother in law as a pet as he loves him so much. anyway just my 2 cents worth.

[Lrptls]

thanks for sharing that, sorry to hear your girl passed away. my mommies are still doing a good job, babies are lookin a little bigger already and no more have passed away. im probably going to keep 1 or 2 of them as pets. im sure ill want to keep all of them though haha.

[snakeboy111]

Hi i was wondering if a brazilian rainbow boa would be a good second snake? my first snake is a rosy boa..............or just what would be a good second boa or python...........

Thanks
Trevor

P.S. Send me a private message

[Lrptls]

heres a pic of the one rat i know i want to keep, its the little runt baby. all the other babies are almost exact same size, i didnt even notice this one till a few days ago. i do notice him nursing so he is eating, hes just very tiny. alot of the babies are geting more colorful and a bit more fuzzy.
quick question- when will they be old enough to take them away from their mom's and also at that age are they easy to tell male from female?

[backdraft1320]

They grow so quick I have 2.1 right now I need to get more females. I've never noticed my rats to smell but I can't keep a male mouse for more than a week they stink real bad. I also dont get a chance to keep any babies they usually get gobbled up. That did sound like you got two litters at once there Lrptls and heres a band aid lol. I would watch them closely in that wire cage they can chew through them like butter. I keep mine in aquariums right now till I get a good breeder rack.
best of luck.

[theweezel]

The babaies can be removed from mom around 4 weeks, because they should be on solid food and they technically can breed at this age( you should seperate males from females). As for telling what sex they are, it depends on how good you are at judgeing lol

[Lrptls]

well guess what, now i have even more baby rats. i had 2 other pregnant females, one was having babies one day but alot of them were dead. some of the ones that were alive i gave to the other moms. this rat was just leaving them and not cleaning them or doing any thing at all. the next day the other rat had a whole bunch of babies and is nursing them all.

i only have a few rats in wire cages and they are all males. i'm definetly never puting females in wire cages unless i know there not going to have babies. i'v offerd alot of people to have some babies if they wanted so im glad they can go as early as 4 weeks. thanks for your help every body

[scrivensgirl]

That pic is sooo cute, i love baby rats(well i love rats period), What are you doing with the babies?

[Lrptls]

i love rats too, i think they make awesome pets. some of my rats i have adopted and came from homes where they were neglected so not all of them enjoy being held but some do. none of the fathers or mothers of my rats are dumbos yet ALOT of the babies are dumbos, even with my other 2 girls that had babies. im sure some of the pet stores around here will take some of them especialy the dumbos. i have alot of people interested in taking some and im going to sell some myself. my cousin is taking one and i was going to keep only one, the runt, but im also in love with one of the dumbos with a short tail. also most of them are rex's. once these go i'm going to keep breeding my rats but mostly for pups. i'm going to raise only a few to be sold/given away as pets. once they start geting fur on them im in love and cant kill em. (though i can buy rats from the store and kill those, i guess i feel like these are my babies too. i know, im weird)

[scrivensgirl]

Your not weird at all, my husband breeds them to (for food) and i take one look at them and they become pets,i am bad for that. Even mice and i dont like mice but they are so cute and you know they came from your pet so i dont know about you but we have had lots of feeder that became pets(LOL). the pictures are soooo cute i want one.

[Lrptls]

believe me if you lived closer i'd let you have as many as you wanted. they are all running around and playing already. i'm gonna find 2 cages soon to put the males and females in and then find or buy another cage for my keepers (hopefully only 2 not including my cousins) my momma rats are still SUPER protective. when i get near the cage or especialy when i open it they flip out, i use any thing i can find to push them away cause i really dont want to get bit again. hopefully they chill the heck out next time they have babies.

[second skin]

mmmmm they all look so tasty:)

[Lrptls]

they are tastey, i had one for lunch today (jk)

[DOMI]

mmmm, Rats as pets?
will they get on well with my Burmese in the same inclosure?

[Lrptls]

thanks for the stupid coment domi. lets just hope your poor burm keeps to small mammals and doesnt try to eat you one day