Rats giving birth!

[NetBSD]

omg im so excited, my first litter ever. ill post pics when shes all done!

[infernalis]

Congrats....

[reptile3]

Congrats!!! Must be exciting!!

I got that way when a stray cat I was feeding for a month, ended up having 5 babies on my back porch!!! I actually teared up!

[NetBSD]

well she finally stopped carring for them for about 5 mins so i got a pic, i only counted 8 in the image and didnt wanna disturb her too much.


anyway heres mommy
http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Rats/S6300044-1024.jpg

she loves to sit like that, dunny who


and heres her lil ones

http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Rats/s6300052.jpg


i no longer have the mice next to the rats, i fed odd all my mice and seperated the female and male rat once i found out she was pregnant last week.

[reptile3]

OMG! i love the way she is sitting that is just too cute:)

the babies, awwww

[Aundrea]

awwwwwwwwww congrats on the babies!!! They are just soooo cute!!! I like how momma is sitting lol thats cute :D

[NetBSD]

mommy is a weirdo, she has to be the weirdest rat i have ever seen but shes a sweetheart. first litter she gave me and has yet to nip at me, she just nudges my hand when i had it in the tank spot cleaning the blood

[jitami]

Aw, mommy is too cute :) Congrats on your first litter!

[Charlet_2007]

sorry i don't see cuteness lol i see how many mouths can i feed with those?? Cute faces just don't get me anymore not even rabbits.. You all that have big reptiles understand what i mean...

[NetBSD]

sorry i don't see cuteness lol i see how many mouths can i feed with those?? Cute faces just don't get me anymore not even rabbits.. You all that have big reptiles understand what i mean...



they are snake food, prolly keep a male and female outa this litter to breed later on. the price of rats is just friggen crazy for me not to breed my own, $2.99 for small all the way to $5.99 for XXL. well lets say they are snake food until my daughter starts keeping them as pets when she gets older, lol

[Charlet_2007]

lol that's how i started lol breeding for snake food then i got in to the colors pattens and all that started with 5 then ended with 70+ till our house burned down.. :( now i cant get them to breed for nothing.. its like they HATE me.. my kids are 4 and 2 they know that all the fuzzies are food for the snakes they love reptiles more then the fuzzies.. :D but my daughter named the live rabbits we did have cocoa and freckels.. but she was like WHEN ARE WE GOING TO FEED COCOA OR FRECKELS MOMMY? lol

[Loren]

I have had streaks like that with mice- where they just wont breed. It's frustrating when that happens. Thats part of why I do rats and mice- hopefully at least one of them is doing well at all times.

Talking cost- I cant even imagine paying that much for rats- I would have to rehome all my animals. I go through a dozen or two rats sometimes halfway through the week just giving some of the hungrier snakes a midweek snack! I must go through 100+ rodents a week sometimes when everyone is eating full tilt. My current rat colony is about 18 females and 6 males. My mouse colony is about 18 females and 3 males.

[NetBSD]

some updates....


the mother finally started biting, she even drew blood tonight. im hoping its just from her protecting her young but i had to clean the cage.

anyway heres some pics


6 days old

http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Rats/s6300096.jpg
http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Rats/s6300097.jpg


12 days old

http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Rats/s6300102.jpg
http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Rats/s6300103.jpg

they are all black, one has a white spot on its head. outof 8 i have 6 left and all are doing real well and growing like weeds :eek:

[Aundrea]

OMG HOW CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That second pic is just SO DAMN CUTE!!!!! I love the 12 day one also.. :D

[reptile3]

Awwwwwwww soooo cute!! I too love the second picture!!! me want!!:D

[Charlet_2007]

at my house if it's a rat and it bites it gets fed.. :D

[NetBSD]

at my house if it's a rat and it bites it gets fed.. :D


you gotta think tho, if a huge hand ripped the roof off yer house and picked up yer newborn wouldnt you attack? lol

[Charlet_2007]

lol well yeah lmao great way of looking at it lol..

but rats are suppose to be as smart as a 3 year old.. and by now she should be use to it..

[Lori P]

I learned real quick that the only way I can deal with using rats for feeders is to take the pinkies... once they get bigger I just can't whack 'em!!!! So I gather them up over the first 2-5 days for different size pinks. And I've learned to lure mommy away with treats and snatch the babies quick, lol.

[NetBSD]

well the baby rats are 5 weeks old and eyes are open and they are eating solid foods and drinking from the water bottle. think its safe to remove them from the mother?


http://imnotmark.zapto.org:3030/Pics/Rats/s6300003.jpg

[Charlet_2007]

yeah you can move them.. The funny thing is 5 days after she had them little buggers you could have put the male in with her and she'd be pregnant again..

[NetBSD]

yeah you can move them.. The funny thing is 5 days after she had them little buggers you could have put the male in with her and she'd be pregnant again..


thats ok, i dont wanna over work them and dont want a million rats, lol. i figure if i keep 2 females breeding and giving them a 5 week break between births i should have enough to feed my 2 BP's plus some.