stingy Rats...

[snowliz]

I have 20 rats, 2 gerbils and 12 asf. Out of all of them I have one litter of rat pups and one litter of gerbils.
all of the rats have been with males for plenty of time that I should have 20 litters of rat pups right now. They all look pg and have for a while now. Whats the deal with that?

WHY AREN'T MY RATS AND ASF RATS HAVING BABIES.......:moodmad2:

[Tama]

All I can say is be patient. Once they start producing you'll be very busy.

[Chandler Rep]

Just hot enough for the rats not to breed and just cool enough for the ASF's to breed and the gerbils are fighting right now...

[snowliz]

To hot for the rats, gerbils are fine and the ASFs are just retarted......

[Tama]

Your rats will have large bulges on each side just before they give birth. So if they are just 'plump' it will be another week or so.

[snowliz]

Really many of them have had large bulges for about a week now. They need to have their babies cuz I am just about out of feeders now.

On a good note...I got Daisy mae, my pastel girl, to eat ASFs today. I put a couple in the old gerbil bedding for a few hours after cleaning cages. AND she ate two.....Hopefully she will keep it up now.

[snowliz]

Oh and I think maybe all of my rats are over weight. Diet time. That could be part of the problem. Good chow I guess.

[Chandler Rep]

I have never heard of an overweight rat...I don't think there is such a thing...still want to know how they make those XXXL frozen ones since I have never owned a rat as large as some of the ones I get for some of my bigger stuff...they must be at least 15 years old....lol

[snowliz]

A girl dropped off some rats yesterday that are supposed to be a year old. They are as small as my two month old babies. I'm not sure if I should breed them or just feed them off to someone. I can't believe how small they are.

[HognosedCornSnake]

be patient with the rats, are they all in their own cages?

have you seen them actually mate with the male?

[snowliz]

They are with the male until they start to get pudgy. Then i seperate them only because I have a few girls that will kill another rats babies.

I have three males that are breeding and they keep themselves quite busy. The little white male in the picture is one I'm raising up to replace Simon who is three years old and has developed a tumor under his chin. The hoody is the girl that is supposed to be a year old.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj241/snowliz/115.jpg

[MrsWTownsend]

Watch~ when they finally pop they'll drop like 50 per litter! LOL

[HognosedCornSnake]

i had one i never thought would pop,
then we had a nice rain storm and BAM i got 16 babies...

lol

[sputnik]

I have never heard of an overweight rat...I don't think there is such a thing...still want to know how they make those XXXL frozen ones since I have never owned a rat as large as some of the ones I get for some of my bigger stuff...they must be at least 15 years old....lol

I have seen the obese rats, in medical testing.... that might be where the huge XXXXXXXXXLLLLLLLL ones come from, but don't quote me on that!

Although I wouldn't feed a lab rat to anything!

[Tama]

As for the moms eating their babies two things could be happening...not enough protein in their diet or they are new moms and are eating their first litter because they don't know what they are to do with them yet.

[snowliz]

A couple of these girls are just mean when they have babies. They are older rats and I am raising up younger girls to replace them. Their food has 21% protien and 7% fat so that shouldn't be the problem. I have two girls that are in labor this morning so figures crossed for big litters. The one is a problem with delivery and so If she hasn't had them when I get home this evening I will be giving her a dose of oxytocin and delivering babies. She tends to bleed alot but not push the babies out. Maybe this being her second litter it will go better. If not she is one that will be replaced.

[SNSnakes]

I've read about guinea pigs having difficult labor and/or dying because they were bred at an older age...the female's pelic bones fuse and makes delivery very difficult. Perhaps this happens to rats also? I have a freedom breeder rack with 21 tubs and 1.2 rats per tub. It works fantastic! It seems to work better with 2 females per tub....they share the litters...lol. I have no problems with the males disturbing the babies...they get along fine. Yeah, I have 21 big fat male rats eating $$$$$ chow when I could get by with 3-4 and rotate them, but I use the big males as jumbo feeders when I need to feed my Argentines!

Also, when it's time to "retire" a breeding trio, they get replaced by a trio of small/medium rats that were residing together in the "holding" tank (last stop to gain weight before the gas chamber...lol). That way, they already "know" one another and get along fine. Because, they're still slightly small, it's usually 2-3 months before they have their first litters.

[SNSnakes]

They are with the male until they start to get pudgy. Then i seperate them only because I have a few girls that will kill another rats babies.

I have three males that are breeding and they keep themselves quite busy. The little white male in the picture is one I'm raising up to replace Simon who is three years old and has developed a tumor under his chin. The hoody is the girl that is supposed to be a year old.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj241/snowliz/115.jpg

Maybe I'm not seeing it correctly, but does your "girl" hoody have balls? That could be part of the problem...LOL!

[kare]

I've read about guinea pigs having difficult labor and/or dying because they were bred at an older age...the female's pelic bones fuse and makes delivery very difficult. Perhaps this happens to rats also? I have a freedom breeder rack with 21 tubs and 1.2 rats per tub. It works fantastic! It seems to work better with 2 females per tub....they share the litters...lol. I have no problems with the males disturbing the babies...they get along fine. Yeah, I have 21 big fat male rats eating $$$$$ chow when I could get by with 3-4 and rotate them, but I use the big males as jumbo feeders when I need to feed my Argentines!

Also, when it's time to "retire" a breeding trio, they get replaced by a trio of small/medium rats that were residing together in the "holding" tank (last stop to gain weight before the gas chamber...lol). That way, they already "know" one another and get along fine. Because, they're still slightly small, it's usually 2-3 months before they have their first litters.


All the rats are in a freedom breeder plus we have breeding mouse colonies in about a dozen 10 gallon aquariums. (I use alot of litter on cleaning daze!) I have found if I supplement their chow with some generic milk bones (or sometimes I make a version of cornbread with vegies and minerall, etc. added) about every 3 days or so, I get bigger litters and not the cannabalism that I used to see. I just toss a few in on cleaning day and one other time during the week.

[TekWarren]

I have so many ASF rats right now that I shut down ALL of my breeding groups LOL. I sold a couple at a show last month and was hoping to try again this month but looks like I won't make it:frusty: Right now if I don't get rid of any more I probably won't have to think about breeding again until fall!

[snowliz]

Maybe I'm not seeing it correctly, but does your "girl" hoody have balls? That could be part of the problem...LOL!

Nope....She actually just had a litter of 11.

[MrsWTownsend]

All I can say is be patient. Once they start producing you'll be very busy.

Tama was right this whole time!

Glad your ratties are no longer with holding!

This reminds me of the 'Reality Bites Back' episode I just watched today on Comedy Central...

[kare]

I actually counted all the pre-weanling baby rats in the breeder....116 with about 6 cages expecting right now....no shortage of rat pinks here...just wish all the new ball pythons would eat them instead of mice.(picky snakes)...the mice have not been so prolific.

[snowliz]

My last picky one is starting to come around to ASFs. Its a pain in the butt keeping gerbils and mice for one snake.

One litter isn't going to last for one feeding with Oscar around....lol
The rest are still holding out.