I'm afraid Alice may be expecting..

[KatTheHippie]

So long story short, I adopted Alice from a pet store. I know it was a bad move, but to ease some of the tension before I get yelled at, I didn't pay for her, she was free to a good home. Her mother was dropped off pregnant, and ended up having her litter there, and all of her family were adopted besides her.

But, I'm afraid that they may not have separated the males from the females after they were old enough. Alice is around two months old, and I took her in almost two weeks ago. She's growing pretty quickly, enough for me to step back today and say "Woah" and I'm sincerely hoping that she's just filling out, and doesn't have a few extra surprises hiding in her tummy. Is there any way I can tell this early?

 

[SQ]

Have you noticed Alice going into heat? If she has gone into heat, she isn't pregnant.
Not all girls show signs when they are in heat so not seeing signs doesn't mean anything.

You will know very soon if she is pregnant as gestation is 21.5 to 22 days.
You can weigh her each day at the same time, record the weights and see if there are huge weight gains.
You can also post some pics for us to look at.
Pregnant girls develop a pear shape and the largest weight gain is in the last week before the babies are born.

 

[KatTheHippie]

I haven't noticed her going into heat, but then again you're right, she may just not show it. I'll start weighing her every day, that's a smart idea, and I'll take a daily picture of her belly. The only thing is I don't have an awesome camera.. but I'll work around it Thank you so much for the tips, I really hope she's just having a growth spurt.

 

[jorats]

Oh boy. I'm really hoping she's not pregnant, she's quite young and this will be strain on her body.

 

[lilspaz68]

You got her at 6 weeks of age? She would be 2 weeks into her pregnancy? Hmmm...start weighing daily at the same time every day, and post the weights...we should be able to help you determine pregnancy over young rat growth spurts hopefully. Praying she has that typical baby belly that can fool the best of us :cheeky:

 

[KatTheHippie]

I really, really hope she's just been growing well since I've brought her home, I'm so afraid that if she is expecting, since she's so young, she could really get hurt, or something may be wrong with the babies. But, other than that, is there any specific scale you guys think would be best to weigh her with?

 

[SQ]

I use a digital postal scale that weighs accurately to 1 gram.
Bought it at Staples office supplies.
Some people use digital kitchen scales.
A good scale is an investment as it is important to weigh rats as they age or in order to calculate meds.

 

[KatTheHippie]

Thank you so much, I know there's a Staples about a half an hour from where I live, so that's awesome news.

 

[lizmo1221]

Most larger grocery stores or any hardware/housewares stores will have digital scales. Sears, home depot, etc.

 

[KatTheHippie]

So I got a scale this afternoon, and Alice just had her first weigh in. At the current moment, she's 5.5 ounces, or 155.922 grams

 

[Joanne]

We were never sure about my Jazzie when I adopted her. I became suspicious and put her in another cage, and she had her babies that night! So you may never be totally convinced. Only when you have had her a month with no babies can you relax...

 

[KatTheHippie]

Today marks the second week we've had Alice, and so far, though she's gotten bigger overall, she doesn't have much of a belly, so I still have my fingers crossed that I'm just being paranoid. Hopefully the next two weeks will also pass by quickly and end up baby free