Rat kills all of her pups?

[Zoe]

One of my rats had her first litter today, of 6 or 7 pups. But she killed all of them! Why would she do this?

Zoe

[T.O-SK8TER]

Wow, I ve never heard of a mother killing her offspring, only heard of males doing this. Sorry to hear!

[crucified]

was it her first litter?
when my ex's mouse had her first litter she killed them all off.. the other ones were fine..

and same with a friends rat.. she killed (the rat) off her first litter.. the other ones turned out dandy..

also if you startle them right after birth that might cause a problem.. i think.. i really dont know... just a guess?

[Beejay]

Yikes. Well, two of mine just had their first litters and each had over a dozen babies btw....and I didn't see any signs of them eating the babies even the male.

All three were left together and they shared nursing (not the male haha).

Is your cage big enough? Just a thought.

Bj

[Zoe]

eating the babies

They weren't eaten, but killed and left in a pile.
And yup, its her first litter.

The cages are pretty big - all the other rats were fine.

So I guess its because its her first litter? One of the babies wasnt quite dead - she bit it in the back but didn't kill it. I put with another female and her litter, thought it might feel better the few more minutes it was alive. Poor pup.

Zoe

[snakemann87]

Yeah I read about that when i looked into breeding my mice. Sorry to hear that Zoe I hope it doesnt happen again. If so would removing the babies and placing them with another female work im curious??

[geckoguy157]

where you handling the babys cause the mother can be protective and if they smeel the scent of your hands on the babys she will think they are intreuders on the nest and kill them thats what ive been told atleast

[Zoe]

Originally posted by geckoguy157
where you handling the babys cause the mother can be protective and if they smeel the scent of your hands on the babys she will think they are intreuders on the nest and kill them thats what ive been told atleast

Nope, I didn't touch her babies while they were alive.

Zoe

[Linds]

Sometimes if the litter is weak a female will eat them. I recently had a female eat her litter this week, it happens a few times yearly with me I would say, not often at all, but I can never be sure of the reason as I do not see the babies before they are eaten. No new member we added as well as they had ample food and water. Perhaps another member was harassing her? It's not normal for female rats to eat their first litters as it is for mice. If she makes habit of it its best to do her in Either she's jsut a horrible mom or she is throwing sick babies.

Originally posted by geckoguy157
where you handling the babys cause the mother can be protective and if they smeel the scent of your hands on the babys she will think they are intreuders on the nest and kill them thats what ive been told atleast

That's an old wives tale

[Pixie]

I'm dealing with the exact same thing with my youngest female. She gives birth to a nice litter 12+ but so far maybe 2 have survived out of each at most.

From what I see, it looks like inexperience. When they are born, they are all alive and kicking and then over the next 2-3 days, they start dropping like flies. Some don't seem to have ever gotten a chance to suckle as they look very dehydrated. Other suffer wounds that seem to happen because the mom isn't very careful with her babies. I have fuzzies with scars all over them! And they are bite marks but look like gashes from her sharp nails. Funny cause the other moms have nails as sharp and I have yet to see a booboo on any of their babies.

I'm hoping that she will get better in time!

Pixie

[Jayson]

Linds is absolutly correct. the females will eat sick babies
occasionally i will find a new litter of babies and some will be separated from the rest of the litter. If i leave these babies, they will disappear before the next day.
also it is a myth that females will eat babies that are touched by humans. I regularly pick up newborns and never had a problem. I have even had children in to see the rats and let them handle the new born rats and this also did not effect the litter one bit. I have taken newborns from one mother and given them to another mother to raise in situations where one female had 18-20 babies in one litter. (growth is much faster with smaller litters )I also do this if pinkies are not needed.
Jason

[Invictus]

In almost all rodents, the mother also knows if she is unable to wean the pups, in other words, if she does not lactate, and she can't feed the babies, she will kill them. Maybe just another possibility to think about.

first birth's have cannablism as a some what common occurance not often worried about. generally if it continues in the second birth it is considered habitual and those mothers are fed off

[Hamster of Borg]

Originally posted by Invictus
In almost all rodents, the mother also knows if she is unable to wean the pups, in other words, if she does not lactate, and she can't feed the babies, she will kill them. Maybe just another possibility to think about.

Its not just that - stress, inadequate caging, too many rats in a cage, inappropriate substrate... any number of reasons why she would kill the babies. Raising babies takes a lot out of the mother, if her environment and health aren't perfect she has to look out for herself first. The trampled/injured baby rats seems to me like too small of a cage and not enough substrate to make an adequate nest.

Ham

[mykee]

It is uncommon for a mother RAT to kill her babies, mice I've seen many times, which is why I stopped breeding mice. Too much stress. Bottom line, your female may have been a little too young to know what to do. I would give her another chance. However, give her some time off between the end of weaning, and introduction to another male. If she gets preggers too soon, without having the time to put on a little weight, it may happen again. If it does happen again, feed her off. Not worth the trouble in my opinion, she's the exception to the rule when it comes to rats.