Amelie's litter

Hello

On the 20th December I brought home two girls from a Clonmel breeder (not registered, obviously). Although many calls were made and many questions were asked beforehand, this morning I decided I'm almost 100% sure Amelie, one of the rats, is pregnant. I've been keeping rats for years now, rescued, bought, even from different countries - but never ever did I plan on breeding my own, therefore the little knowledge I had in the matter forced me to do a lot of research. I am going to document the pregnancy/growth here and hopefully the kittens will find good homes (we live in Limerick) because I really, really do not want to have to give them away wherever. I'd be definitely keeping 1-3, but anybody who'd like to make a front-up reservation will be warmly welcome.

The only question I'd have in the matter, for now, would be on the expected breed of the litter - Amelie is a standard Berkshire rat, while the males (from which she was supposedly meant to be separated from!!!) were all hooded, black and white. Any suggestions??

Thank you so much and regards,
svietlana

The babies will be hooded and berkshire (depending on what genes are causing the markings and what other genes are in there). What colour is the doe? It's quite possible the other one is pregnant too?

This is why we advise never to go to breeders who are not heavily involved with a fancy, and who don't know the backgrounds of their rats or breed with a waiting list in mind. Put it this way - not all registered breeders are good - but I personally feel that ONLY registered breeders are good.

xx

Zoundz-- thank you for the reply. I am aware that the other doe may also be pregnant, yet considering they are the same size and age and I only see the round belly on one of them I am hoping it's just Amelie.
I suppose there is no point in regretting anything now, what matters most at the moment is to find good homes for them.
I moved Amelie into a more suitable cage (it's wider and has a deeper plastic bottom) and separated her from Una, who stayed in the regular cage (tall, with branches and hammocks). I've only had them for 2 weeks but they both trust me a lot and are very sweet. From what I found out you can't fully tell a rat is pregnant until just a few days beforehand - is that true? Her belly is round-ish at the bottom, doesn't like it to be touched, she's quite hyper active and dragged all the paper towels and cloths into one corner of the cage. I just want to be sure...

Best of luck with the pregnancy (if that is indeed the case). Sorry to hear about the difficulties arising. If you do get any bucks, we would be happy to take them (we could probably manage two, three at most). If you find a better, closer home we understand. We just wanted to offer a forever home for them if you couldn't find another.
Wishing you the best, Jack and Ben.

Tribble-- In the worst case I would be able to keep all the does, it's the bucks that I would be having trouble with, so that's great to hear.

Post pics of any babies as they grow, that usually gets people to fall in love!

There's plenty of health and diet and handling advice on here anyway The main thing is to make sure the cages are suitable for babies/birth - not too tall, no hammocks or ledges, and very narrow bar spacing

xx

The situation is becoming kind of rough...
Since one of the girls was in heat a few days ago I know it's just one who's pregnant .Because I've only had them for so little time I am still learning to tell them apart. Now that they're in separate cages it's much easier, but it seems that AMELIE, who is already in the "pregnancy cage", is having none of it. She doesn't want to eat (I think the separation from Una was taken quite harshly), isn't building a nest, her tummy is soft and she doesn't mind me touching it.
While Una on the other hand...she's eating everything in sight, became quite frisky, sleeps a lot more and slowly starts to look like she swallowed a ping-pong ball (I propably should change the topic to "Una's litter"...) I read that a typical rat pregnancy lasts 21-23 days. I've had the girls for 14 days now, I'm assuming they have been separated from the males 2 days before I picked them up (that's when I last called the breeder), which gives us (roughly) 16 days. So I'm expecting her to give birth sometime next week. Would changing the cages again be too much stress for her, should I wait a little longer??

PS I just want to say I'm very grateful for the feedback here, I don't know what I'd do without the help so far

I would keep them separate, even being in heat isn't 100% guarantee that the doe isn't pregnant - but it is likely that she's not. I know the one is miserable, is that the one you think is pregnant or the one you think isn't? Take them out together to play every day is what I would do, and they could give birth up to about 25 days from when you got them. It's not likely to ever be more than that - but in very very very rare cases, it's been known for them to hold babies until quite a bit later than that.

I would be sending a very cross message to the person you got them from since they are clearly not separating the bucks and does young enough   

xx

They've been separated since four days .I'm now absolutely sure which one of them is pregnant, and thankfully she looks like she knows what she's doing. She has a big, tall nest that she build herself in the corner of the cage. I've tried letting her out for a run but she got really scared, so I won't be taking her out that much over the next few days. I'm trying out different things for her to eat -- hard-boiled eggs, yogurts, pasta and of course veg and fruit. I'm not looking to update on the forum until she gives birth (there will definitely be photos), so if anybody's interested just send me a private message. Thank you Zoundz for the support

If you want to keep in touch with me I can help you with the birth and raising the litter I can offer advice and support I do have a lot of experience!

zoundzy@hotmail.com

xx