• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

How many litters can a Rat have?

I'm not sure. Just breed them and take mental or real notes of how many litters they average after their 2nd or 3rd litter (one of my girls first and second litter was about 7 pups, then she had 19!) and keep breeding until the production goes down.
 
In my experience rats are usually good for about 6-8 litters before you start seeing a decrease in pups being born.

I usually keep a breeding pair together for about a year. I try not to breed the females until they are about 3 months old (12 weeks), and roughly 8 litters later they are about a year old. Just the way I do it, it does mean they wont have litters past a year and if they have breaks between litters I could see them going longer.
 
I have a trio of rats that i keep together 100% of the time, both females have litters of 14 pups, they have both had 7 litters since i have had them(10 mths).....
 
Also once a female has a litter she immediately goes into heat. So if kept with a willing male she can become pregnant right away again.
 
All very useful info! I'm adding a 3rd female to the colony now. Shes one of the pups that I let live =D. I also kept two other females that aren't the same color. One is white and one is white and black
 
albinoscooby said:
All very useful info! I'm adding a 3rd female to the colony now. Shes one of the pups that I let live =D. I also kept two other females that aren't the same color. One is white and one is white and black
Click to expand...

I know they are so hard to feed off sometimes.... I have some siamese rats and if I dont cull down before they get fur, it doesnt happen. Luckily I have found homes for all but my pick of the litters....

How could I euthanize this..

IMG_1883.jpg
 
^^*agree* I'm having a hard time culling the ones you gave me Buzzard.... Not to mention I have one picked out to bring inside and become a house rat soon LOL! She's too sweet and gives me kisses.
 
Airidies said:
^^*agree* I'm having a hard time culling the ones you gave me Buzzard.... Not to mention I have one picked out to bring inside and become a house rat soon LOL! She's too sweet and gives me kisses.
Click to expand...

Just so you know, ratties are very social and if you do have a sweet lil girl picked out as a pet, they (unlike snakes lol) do so much better with a buddy! Maybe pick out just one more to show a little love? (I keep them as pets only, myself. I couldn't bring myself to cull even the ugliest pink eyed white....). They tend to get very attached to their people, and their cagemates and I have seen them mourn a cagemate's death.
 
starsevol said:
Just so you know, ratties are very social and if you do have a sweet lil girl picked out as a pet, they (unlike snakes lol) do so much better with a buddy! Maybe pick out just one more to show a little love? (I keep them as pets only, myself. I couldn't bring myself to cull even the ugliest pink eyed white....). They tend to get very attached to their people, and their cagemates and I have seen them mourn a cagemate's death.
Click to expand...

Beth, I so agree, if they have been socialized. Solo rats do okay to, as long as they get a descent amount of attention, but I do like keeping pairs or trios together because I dont always have the time to spend with them.


Morgan which one? One of the adults or the babies? The smaller siamese adult I kept solo for a while due to her runtiness(?). Was going to work on the smaller pup project, Just like my extra small pinkie project.....
 
Buzzard said:
Beth, I so agree, if they have been socialized. Solo rats do okay to, as long as they get a descent amount of attention, but I do like keeping pairs or trios together because I dont always have the time to spend with them.


Morgan which one? One of the adults or the babies? The smaller siamese adult I kept solo for a while due to her runtiness(?). Was going to work on the smaller pup project, Just like my extra small pinkie project.....
Click to expand...

I tend to get mine in pairs when they are 4-5 weeks old. They are usually just feeders so they are terrified and poopy when I handle them. With patience and treats and just a little time (usually a week) they run to me instead of away from me.
I had an elderly male that had lost his buddy, and everyday you could see him going more and more downhill. I introduced him to a pair of babies that I had gotten just for him and he LOVED them! I put them together and watched for any sign of aggression, and they cuddled right up to him and you could see him give them a quick kiss on the back when they walked by him. You could almost see him coming back to his old happy self. He was only with them a month before he passed away but I like to think it was a good month. (Remember, a month to them is like 3 years to us so to him it was a long time) He spent it in a hammock with his little buds :)
(Yes, I am a dork)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top