congrats! i'm happy for you. i've had experience with both types (and at the same time though from different mothers). i only keep females and at the time i couldn't find a breeder and there were no rescues near me. so i brought home two girls from a pet store. 3 weeks later i had 24 more. spider was an absolute doll with her babies. by the second day she was putting the babies right IN my hand then going out to play when i put my hand in to check on everyone. it was so cute. she'd let me take them on the bed to cuddle and interact and she'd run about the room having fun while i baby sat. she'd come and check on them every so often but other then getting in the way of some photos was never a bother. her sister on the other hand who had 11 babies the day after spider would bite my hand (and quite hard too) if it went any further in then the door and food dish, andeven then i got warning nips. once the babies started crawling around at about 2 weeks she'd let me hold them but would get quite anxious if i took them out of the cage. by the time they opened their eyes though she couldn't have cared less what i did with them. i think it has all to do on trust and the rat's own personality. spider was always more trusting then her sister snicketts and has always had a much more laid back personality. snicketts was very easily aggitated and HATED change. heck, she'd get grumpy if the temperature was off in the room by only a few degrees. cage cleaning day was just horrible on her and she'd sulk for hours after the deed. she had a daughter with a simliar personality though not quite to the same degree. gloria would always let you know she wasn't pleased though, very vocal about EVERYTHING! anyway, i should stop ranting. i'm glad topaz is doing so well with the babies and her human. it'l make socailizing the little fuzzbutts so much easier. you'll have to keep us updated on their progress and we demand lots and lots of baby pictures. *grins*