[BunBun]

So about two weeks ago a wild rat started showing up at my house. There is a big opening outside that he comes through that is impossible to close up. I have seen this rat once and he was huge so I assumed it was a male rat. Obviously I didn't set any rat traps cos I would never kill a ratty! (we named him Ben)

Anyways this weekend I went on a vacation and asked a neighbor to watch over my place and to feed my animal friends. He somehow left the door to my girls' cage open and Five of my girlies were loose!!! I found every single one of them where the wild rat hangs out. There was no sign of the wild rat when I got home but who knows what could have happened! I haven't seen any physical damage on any of my girls but I haven't been able to check them very well because they are till shooken up and excited. I'm not quite sure what to do! Any advice? Articles I should read or even pregnancy guides? They have never had periods that I was able to track so is it just a wait game now?

 

[moonkissed]

Eek that sucks. I am glad you found them all and they are all ok. Sucks trusting people and something like that happens.

It is possible that one or more were pregnant. How long were you gone and do you know how long they were out? Mating is quick but it is possible that they were not in heat.

Rats do not have periods but they do go into a heat cycle every 4-5 days all year round.

I would weigh them all. You can get a very very cheap kitchen scale at walmart. Keep track of their weights to see if they are gaining. It is pretty much a wait and see thing. You can also take them to the vet and have them checked over and given something to terminate the pregnancy if they are. This may be ideal as half wild babies may be harder to place, if several or all of them are pregnant you could have a crazy amount of babies to deal with, rats have good sized litters (8-20 each give or take), and depending on their age it could be very difficult for them and you could have to deal with some heartbreak or even death of your moms/babies. Not to scare you! But it can be bad

On rats pregnancy.
http://www.curiousv.com/curiosityrats/files/infobreed.html
http://ratguide.com/breeding/figures/determining_pregnancy_figure_3.php (weight chart)

Some helpful links for the babies development & sexing:
http://www.afrma.org/babyratdevdaily.htm
http://tigertailrattery.weebly.com/growth-picture-journal.html
http://ratguide.com/breeding/baby_development/birth_to_weaning.php
http://www.onceuponamischief.com/p/sexing-and.html
http://mainelyratrescue.org/rattieblog2/?p=42

 

[BunBun]

All of my girls are around a year of age so they should be able to give healthy births if it comes to that. Thank you so much for all of the information! they have been out for a max of two days but I really don't know.