To feed her off or not to feed her off..

[Rikki]

Marisa; I am not even a member of PETA and I wish you would stop judging someone because I dare care for an animal. Second of all MANY rodents eat their first litters, you say they dont? Please see the following links for proof.

http://www.animalhospitals-usa.com/s...roduction.html

http://www.petwebsite.com/breedp.htm

reasons which may cause a female to destroy her own litter are ill health of the babies (she will destroy sickly babies rather than waste effort trying to raise them), extremely large litter (she may reduce the litter size and only rear the number she feels she can cope with), <b>disturbance</b> (she may feel threatened by something nearby), poor condition or health of the female and interference (touching the babies and changing their scent may lead her to believe the babies are not her own but intruders to be killed).

If a female is destroying her litter it is best to leave her alone to settle and try not to disturb her too much. Feeding high protein foods such as cheese, scrambled egg, etc may help her to cope with rearing the litter. If she continues to destroy the litter fostering (see below) may have to be considered if possible.

Female rats should not be disturbed for the first few days after delivery because stressed females may destroy their pups. Excessive handling, loud noises, and even insufficient nesting material have all been implicated with this destructive behavior.

I do not like to argue, I love this community and am not trying to start anything though I cant stand it when some people act like they do. I am NOT AGAINST FEEDING RODENTS TO REPTILES, you are making like I am against it, my monitor eats rodents weekly.