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Two Pregnant By Wild Male

10K views 50 replies 10 participants last post by  keenkitty 
#1 ·
Hello, this is my first time having female rats and their names are Queen and Alice. I got them from a friend that had babies about two months ago when they were five weeks old. Both of my girls are clearly pregnant as I saw a wild (I'm guessing male) rat in my rat room while the girls were out. It has been about 20 days since then and I can't get my girls to separate. Both are HUGE and even though I gave two nesting boxes they both nested in only one. They are both laying together and wont let me pick up one without the other. I tried separating them but they both stressed out and Alice chewed through the plastic of her cage to try to get to her sister. When together they do perfectly fine and I noticed they are not leaving the box but to eat, drink, and potty. I haven't had babies before and I'm terrified. I've been up all night since their bellies seem to have gotten larger, more rounded, and are sitting lower then they were yesterday.

What should I look for as far as labor signs and how could I separate them without them stressing out?

Thank you!
 
#32 ·
Peppermint essential oil is supposed to be good at deterring rats and mice. Peppermint extract, as in baking peppermint won't work. Put some on a cotton and at various places in, around and under the house.

I had some mice in my closet last year. I found out where they were getting and put peppermint there. So far, I haven't seen evidence again in any area of the house since then. It might be worth noting that when we moved in last year, a person would have to be blind not to see all the mouse dropping around the house. I know that there were mice at one time. They are apparently gone now. Hoping I'm not jinxing the situation by saying that!:eek:
 
#34 ·
I'm trying to get pictures of the moms nursing together but they seem to think that anytime I enter the room it's time to play and beg for love. I got to see babies individually while moms got some free time for a good 15 min. One babie has a wound on its tail that I noticed after birth, mom is keeping it clean and it looks better. Well here's the final count:

25 total
13 boys
12 girls
Everyone is very well feed with little milk bellies. Nice and pink and warm though a few look darker than the others. Both moms are looking really good and are eating/drinking well. Two babies look like they will have ruby eyes.
 

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#39 ·
That is a lot of half wild rats to socialize! If any go feral, your life will be a living nightmare. Expect to put in a lot of time with them. Wild, half wild and part wild rats actually do make great furry friend if they are well bonded to you... kind of like "pet wolves".

We loved our part wild girl, she was absolutely outrageous, she was an intriguing balance of cuddly-sweet and stone cold vicious, like having two rats in one... so there's a part of me that really envies you. On the other hand, there's a part of me that would kill the part that envies you if it ever brought home a dozen or more half wild rat pups.

Best luck
 
#40 ·
After talking to some breeders we believe the male was from a domestic stock that either got out of was dumped. He had white feet and looked like some white on his belly. The babies are a mix of colors from bagie to agouti to pitch black. Most are black or agouti hooded, with two being ruby/pink eyed bagie/white and a hand full being solid black/agouti.
 

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#42 ·
Most half wild rats are supposed to be agouti, but our part wild wasn't... She lived outdoors on her own for 5 months and wasn't anything like any domestic rat I've ever known....

And she wasn't agouti...

One of the rats below was the truly amazing Fuzzy Rat and one was our part wild... Can you tell who is who?

Rat Muridae Rodent Muroidea Gerbil
Face Nose Eyebrow Cheek Head


Our neighbor couldn't tell the difference and grabbed the wrong one... and got his hand shredded for his trouble. And yes, if you can't tell by the photos, our part wild rat was a wonderful family member... She loved my daughter who could do anything with herm she got along with Fuzzy Rat and I mostly kept my fingers away from her sharp end if she started looking upset, but otherwise she napped in my lap.

If the rat that got into your house was a half wild and mated with your domestic odds are many if not most would look like a domestic rat, in which case you don't have half wilds you have part wilds like our girl. What's the difference? Like wolves in sheep's clothing part wilds don't look as terrifying as wild rats...

When you start play fighting with your pups you will be able to tell what they are. Wilds and part wilds can really jump like squirrels and they can go flat and squish under almost anything and when they play fight, they don't mock bite you... them mock tear you apart... and they like to jump at your face. They won't hurt you, but if you aren't at least a little freaked out, daddy was a domestic rat.

Just remember if you get bit once by a wild rat, you're lucky... you didn't get bitten a dozen more times. They bite hard and they don't stop until they know they really hurt you.
 
#44 · (Edited)
Towards the rear in the first photo and On your right in the second as you look at the pics. Fuzzy Rat had the smudge on her back and was a meat rat so she got a lot thicker. She wasn't a roofie, but she stayed slim all of her life. The heaviest she ever got was in the second photo right after thanksgiving and then she all but stopped eating until she was slim again. It's likely the only recorded case of a rat going on a diet voluntarily. IN any event, you would have never suspected Fluffy was a wild type rat.

We found her in a snake food bin... a customer had brought her in and she had been handled, supposedly by a little girl like mine. She looked friendly and she had a really sharp look about her... No one said anything about being part wild.... until at about 5 weeks old she jumped from my desk to my face and started mock chewing up my nose... Even my daughter became terrified of her new pet until we realized she didn't really bite. When she moved outdoors, we assumed she was dead and adopted Fuzzy Rat, until something started chasing the feral cats away. We started Joking that Fluffy was still out there... but, wild rats and part wild rats don't die outdoors, they are born with certain skills and they adapt. Having an intimate knowledge of humans is actually a survival bonus in a suburban environment. When we got her back, her tail was filthy, and she stank like pit bull terrier. but otherwise she didn't have a single hair out of place. Talk about a sleek and slick looking rat.
 
#46 ·
Actually my wife spotted a "headless" white animal in the yard one evening... we ran out and called her, but she didn't come back... it was still summer and she was very happy outdoors. When it got colder, she was apparently living with the neighbors house part of the time and possibly even in ours... This rat could literally evaporate into any shadow. She would watch your eyes from the shadows and when you looked away she would slink across the room, you sort of saw something move in the corner of your eye, but didn't know what it was... and she would make an opening into the bottom of every piece of furniture to vanish into if you looked. My neighbors spotted her eating alongside their pitbull terriers and she had tunnels through the walls in their house. He had met Fuzzy Rat and didn't know about Fluffy, so one day he spotted her in his living room and decided to catch her for us.. Which turned out to be a terrible mistake. He really got hurt bad. His wife came over and asked us if we had lost our rat, and I said no... then she showed us a pic on her phone... and there was Fluffy. When I got to my neighbors house with a live catch trap.. the fellow had his kids and dogs penned up in the bedroom and was starting to tear out the sheet rock. His arm was wrapped in a bath towel soaked in blood... He was x-special forces just back from Iraq and he was on a mission. There wasn't any time for live trapping, another special forces type showed up with implements of destruction and they were about to tear their landlords house down from the inside out. So I sat down on the floor in front of the hole in the wall and called her out, it took a while for her to calm down, but she finally came out to me... I was pretty terrified in light of what she had done to the neighbor.. so I plunked her into the travel cage and got her home... My neighbors wife had apparently recorded the attack and the recovery on her phone... I offered to take the fellow to the hospital but he declined. So as it looked like I wasn't going to get hit for a huge hospital bill and all was calm... I got the heck out of there before anyone changed their minds... I never saw the video. When I got home, I opened the travel cage and Fluffy came out and napped on my lap for a very long time... I think it seemed longer because I was still pretty terrified of her having seen what she was now capable of. My daughter came in... now about 6 years old and she took Fluffy from me and started playing rag doll with her... I think I died about a thousand deaths in the first few minutes, but Fluffy seemed happy to be home and everything went well...

A few days later she evaporated again... She could find ways into the walls. We found her nesting in the towels and when I pulled her out she turned into a ball of fangs and fur like the Tasmanian devil cartoon... she didn't bite me and I dropped her in surprise... and she evaporated again... but she came back when recalled... Lesson learned... when I call, she comes, when try to grab her she becomes unhinged and dangerous... I never tried to grab her again. On the other hand, my daughter would stuff her into doll clothes and toss her around like a rag doll. It would really have been a lot cuter, if I could breathe when she was doing it. One day I left Fluffy on a windowsill and she evaporated, when I recalled her I watched her put her back against a cabinet and walk straight up the wall, reach over and take the blind cord, and climb the cord back to the sill... She could do so many things domestic rats couldn't even dream of... like hop over 4 foot barricades I put between rooms.

Actually to hijack this thread a bit farther... One day I had Fluffy and Fuzzy Rat in my office. Fluffy was completely house safe, she never did any damage... her thing was being invisible... But Fuzzy Rat had cut some wires and I didn't want her free ranging at the time. Fluffy hopped over the barricade of computer boxes in the doorway and Fuzzy Rat couldn't follow. Then Fluffy hopped back into the room. There was a thick extension cord going from room to room draped over the boxes and Fluffy started running up and down the cord until Fuzzy Rat followed her up and over the barricade. I likely should have been thinking that teaching Fuzzy Rat to overcome a barricade was a bad thing. But I had never seen a rat actually teach another rat something before. This wasn't simply copy cat behavior... it was one rat assessing another rats situation and intentionally teaching it something to solve it's problem... Fluffy didn't need to climb the cord, she could easily jump over the barricade. But when she realized Fuzzy Rat couldn't, she taught her to solve her problem too. I was worth risking a few electrical wires to watch that.

Wild and part wild rats are smart and they are born with survival skills... and they are faster and more agile than domestic rats times ten... They have a deep and wide vicious streak, if pushed too far, they hunt and kill small animals (another story) but they are just like our pet rats in that they are pack animals and love their families, even if they don't generally learn to trust humans in general. When people say that wild rats are like wolves and domestic rats are like dogs, they are right. Pet wild rats are like pet wolves. I suppose I would adopt another one, if I got it as a very young pup and really had the time to work with it. They are friendly and furry little hand grenades they aren't likely to go off as long as you treat them properly.. on the other hand I'm thinking I might not want to be in a house with lots of super agile furry little hand grenades romping around me that might not be completely socialized. In any event keep them away from people they don't know or bad things can happen fast.
 
#47 ·
Okay, I had to reread all three posts to realize you were talking about another rat that wasn't Fuzzy Rat. I thought you've said that Fuzzy was part wild.

I've never seen you mention Fluffy. Haven't you also said that Fuzzy Rat was part wild also??

Anga was scaling the sheer metal leg of a table in my studio earlier today. Can domestic rats do that?

I seriously don't think there is a single place in this house she hasn't managed to get to yet. I'm grateful that she clearly understands it's not okay to chew cords or I'd be in a lot of trouble. She's actually pretty good about not chewing on things in general. At least not that I've seen anyway!

I think she is a weirdo rat! She would rather play with the cats and dogs. She taunts the German Shepherd. She'll run up behind him too get his attention. When he turns to go after her, she darts under something, sitting just out of his reach! She does this to him over and over all day long!

Last night, I was giving a slice of cheese to my cat Mia. Like a flash of light, Anga pulled it out of my cats mouth and pounced off with it! My cat had the strangest look of surprise on her face! I wish I could have caught that on film!
 
#48 ·
Fuzzy Rat was a bred-for-meat rat from a rat mill most likely in upstate NY. She reached a size of 21 oz before she got tumors and was buried in a shoe box that she barely fit into... She could never jump to save her life, but she could run long distances and climb very well.

All rats have some abilities to climb and jump and squish themselves flat. But over time domestic rats have lost some of them or some of them to some point. Natural selection keeps wild rats lean and mean. The smartest, the fastest and those with the most energy, and highest sensitivity levels survive.

What's desirable in a wild rat is not so good in a pet rat... At the slightest unexplained sound Fluffy would evaporate into thin air, she wouldn't eat foods she didn't know, she was fast and high strung and if she lost her cool she was dangerous... these are not good pet rat traits.

A good pet rat is docile, calm and squishy. A little inactive is desirable for most people. Rats that bite are bad, but those that tear flesh with a vengeance are really unpopular in our fancy. Wild rats are great hunters, but pet rats that stalk and kill your gerbils or other small animals... well they're not what most people are looking for.

We've had several rats... they range form our part wild to super docile, most were somewhere in between. Just because breeders have worked for generations to breed out the wild traits doesn't mean they are all gone. Some domestic rats are still picky eaters, some are good jumpers or good climbers, some are still high strung and skittish. Think of this like in dogs... there are attack dogs and there are lap dogs... there are hounds and work dogs, but all of the traits that a line of dog is bred for came from the original wild wolf. Nothing was actually added to wolves to make dogs.. mostly certain traits were just bred out, but if they were all gone, there wouldn't be much left that could be called a dog.

Wild rats have all of the great traits we cherish in our pet rats.. they are loyal and bond with their packs. They are social animals that want to be part of a family and they can really love us, but they also have the traits we don't want in our pets... like a killer instinct or a strong aversion to animals and people they don't know.

Many domestic rats still have some wild traits left, but overall wild rats are like wolves while domestic ones are like dogs... And I suppose even among wild rats, some are going to be more docile than others so the sword cuts both ways.

I don't often talk about Fluffy, because most of the things we learned from her just don't apply to domestic rats. People shouldn't get the wrong idea about their furry friends... But on a thread about half wild rats, I think it's important that people know what they are getting into. Wild rats and part wild rats are great! But they come with a lot of responsibility and more than a few hazards.

I'm dying to know how this thread progresses.
 
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