[Genah530]

Got two babies but idk how old they are. Any tricks to knowing their age and how old are theyou mature and at what age can they breed? I have a male/female pair and need to find a vet to neuter the male but wanna know how long I have.

 

[Amph]

you have no time.. keep them separately now. Rats can breed before most people think they are old enough to be sold.

 

[Binky]

Though not likely because the little guys don't know what they're doing quite yet, rats can breed as early as 5 weeks. So yes, keep them separated until you can get him neutered. And 10 days after the surgery, they can safely be caged together.

 

[RatEmporiumToronto]

As everyone else said, separate them ASAP. Young pregnancy can be very unpleasant and harmful! If you post some pictures we can help give the babies an age! Unfortunately most vets will not neuter ratties before around 5 months, if this is the case in your area possibly a backup plan is in order! Hopefully they do though and the pair isn't pregnant ^.^ give your babies some extra Christmas kisses for me!

 

[Minky]

I recommend spaying the girl as well. She will be happier and healthier.

 

[Rat Daddy]

There's some debate as to what age female rats can become pregnant and/or at what age male rats become sexually mature. And in fact some pretty experienced rat people would set the age quite a bit higher that 5 weeks in same age group rats. But I suspect that 5 weeks would be a pretty safe age to separate the girls from the boys.

In any case as you don't know your rats precise age there's no sense putting too fine a point on it. And guessing a precise age is difficult. We are currently adopting from a breeder that breeds "small" rats. At about 5 weeks old his rats look like the 3 week old feeders we used to adopt. And it's anyone's guess when they get reproductively mature.

So if you aren't looking forward to pups it might make sense separating the pups. As to spaying and/or neutering I'm thinking to some degree it depends on what your vet's experience level is, but there might be more health benefits to spaying the girl when it comes to mammary tumors.

Best luck.