Possible Pregnant Rat

Candlelight · Oct 30, 2012

I am fostering a 7 week old rat (named Daisy) who was housed with a male when she was 5 weeks old. Pregnancy isn't for certain, but the shelter workers and I think there's a pretty high chance she's pregnant. I've been doing some research on Google since this will be my first rat litter (my first animal litter ever actually) and on this forum but still have a few questions.

1. She's currently housed alone in a Critter Nation. Are there any precautions I should take? Do I need to worry about her making her nest in an unsafe place like in one of the hammocks? Right now she's sleeping in a cube that's hanging from the ceiling but resting on the shelf of the cage. Is that okay?

2. How important is it that I handle the babies and how soon/often should I?

3. Any other important information/tips?

Thanks for any help! :mrgreen:

Cinderwolf · Oct 30, 2012

I would be weighing her daily to see if there are any weight gains ( weigh at the same time each day) Also post some photos. I would say if she was with the male 2 weeks ago she would probably be showing if she was pregnant. Once you figure out if she is pregnant or not, I would put her in a smaller cage ( a single level with just soft bedding ( paper towel) and a cardboard box for a nest). If she has the babies in a can she could hurt them if she has them on a hammock or a shelf and they fall or something heavy like a plastic igloo lands on them. A small cage is much safer.

If she does have babies I would say start handling them from day one. the more socialization, the friendlier they will be as adults.

Keep us posted : ) We love to watch babies grow :d I have never raised a litter so I just know what I have read, maybe someone else could chime in. If she doesnt have any babies remember to get her a friend : ) I am sure the rescue will let you foster more then one at a time.

Candlelight · Oct 30, 2012

I'll try to snatch some photos of her tomorrow... I've only had her since Saturday (the 27th) and she's very skittish. So I'm working on being able to handle her. I was told she was originally a feeder rat which I'm guessing is why she's so timid around me.

From my understanding, she was with the male up to about the time she was almost six weeks old. But so far I'm not seeing any big belly. I'll begin weighing and perhaps taking a photo of her everyday just to use as comparisons.

I *may* be able to borrow a single floor wired cage from my friend, but that's a slim chance. I've read some sites where people kept their pregnant rats in an aquarium. I have access to a friend's 20 gallon aquarium. Would that work? I've used it for hamsters before but I feel like it would get smelly really fast if a rat (plus her babies) were to live in it.

Unfortunately, she is the only female rat at the shelter.

If she doesn't have any babies I am to return her by Novemeber 15th and I hope by then there will be another girl at the shelter to keep her company. I'm not holding hopes though since, before her, I hadn't seen a female rat for a month or two.

jorats · Oct 30, 2012

Do you know how old the male was?

Candlelight · Oct 31, 2012

Her age. I think they were brother and sister.

jorats · Oct 31, 2012

If the brother was equally as young, I highly doubt she's pregnant. Although rats are sexually mature at 5 weeks, they really don't "know" to do it until the "need" kicks in. If she was with an older male, then I'd say your chances of pregnancy was quite high. Same as having an older female with a young male. The older rat will try to mate with the young one. But two young ones really won't.