[chrisstrikeagain]

I'm so excited. so i got to work saturday and go feed the hairless rats...
i notice a nest. and got so excited. i saw a little hairless thing walking. babies! they were probally born friday.
later on i noticed a rat in the cage eating one...it upset me but i guess it was deformed or just didnt make it. i dont know why else because theres only one male in the cage.

anyway NOW i have to wait 4-6 weeks til i can take one home. they are precious. but it is complete torture to feed them and not touch the babies...but i cant touch them yet, or momma will get mad.
=]

 

[Forensic]

Is Momma well socialized? Friendly? Some rats allow you to handle the babies immediately, which is good for their socialization.

 

[Poppyseed]

Yarg, is there any way to get them to seperate momma and babies from the other rats? it really is horrible having mom in with other adults D: Not to mention if there is a male in there mom is probably pregnant again D:

 

[Forensic]

Whoa, I didn't read the part about the male! 8O Why are the males with the females? Especially with babies?!

And hairless rats can sometimes be poor mothers, are you prepared to feed them instead of her?

 

[chrisstrikeagain]

oh man, i know a good bit about rats but not all that...i heard they can be bad moms.

males with females b/c we were tryin to breed them.
were keepin a close eye. everyone is good except for the one baby they ate.

male has been removed since then...and the babies seem fine so far. she is bein a good mom. hopefully she'll stick with itt. if not, my boss is gonna hand feed them. shes a pro with that. right now shes handfeedin baby bunnies..

i guess i should mention im the main person with rats there but deffff not when it comes to breeding.

she is a nice mom. very well socialized...i just dont wanna risk it so im gonna wait a little bit more til they get over the just born hump.

 

[Forensic]

Any and all females in that cage are probably preggers, including the new mother. Poor mommy.

 

[Lise]

Watch closely for milk bans in the babies stomachs. They should appear to have a white line across their abdomen. The problem that many hairless have is that they cannot produce enough milk.

 

[reachthestars]

Hairless females generally make bad mothers, and petstore hairless have very short lifespans and are prone to many illnesses. I know of hairless from petstores that were dead at 6 months old from cancer.

Is she out front on display, or is she in a back room? What size tank is she on, and what type of bedding? How many females were in there? The mom should be completely alone.

The was really not a responsible way to breed on you or your boss's part. IMHO petstores should not be able to carry hairless rats at all. really they shouldn't have any rats, but that's a story for a different thread.

 

[OnlyOno]

also her being a bad mother depends on whether she is a true hairless or a double rex. if she's a double rex than she's no worse a mother than any other rat by nature.

and i'd have to agree that if you were really trying to breed rats you should have left *one* female with *one* male in a separate cage for a few days, not leave a male in with a group of females long enough for one to actually already have the babies! please see to it that each female gets her own cage as at this point they are probably all pregnant, and get the male his own too.

 

[chrisstrikeagain]

oh, i feel terrible. =[ =[ =[

shes doin good with the babies.

shes on carefresh and built a mini fort nest with it. shes now alone. boys got separated now. its a 10g? i think...maybe 15 or 20? but big enough. and once babies are ready to go, they all have homes to go to. and i actually risked business and told them that its safer to go to a breeder.

it all seems fine. i feel so bad!

now all i have to do is a wait the painful few worst weeks til i can quarenteen then introduce...