Rat behavior explanation needed!

[lilratsy43]

Sounds to me the girls are preggers, they appear old enough plus the weight gain...I would not treat them for mites. If the girls are preggers they will be back to their sweet selfs once babies have been born. Are the girls still living together? If they start looking really round, you will have to seperate them. Also your cages will no longer be suitable for raising babies as I am sure that the bar spacing will be wide enough for a pinkie to slip through!

How have the boys been? I have to say my boys scream sometimes too. Like others said, it maybe due to the huge change going on in their lives so they are just trying to work out dominance again, after they do this they should quiet down.

 

[vickye69]

The girls are still together, I'm not seeing any roundness yet, and I'll weigh them again this afternoon. They're still trying to snap at me through the bars though.

Boys are getting more friendly with me, and they're about the same with each other. They just spent the better part of an hour snuggling under me and in my shirt, which they've never done before. So I'm happy about that.

If babies do arrive, how long until they're up and running? The base of the girls cage is about 6 or 7 inches high so I wouldn't think that the baby rats could get up to the bars for at least a few weeks.

 

[lilratsy43]

Thats very true, the babies would not be up and running til about 2 weeks, but sometimes momma will try to move them and climb up the bars (for no reason)...if she were to drop one, it could fall through the bars and if you didn't find it in time it could die ...Maybe I am over concerned but I would rather be safe then sorry...Also you would be suprized at the difference one day can make...one day they aren't moving, the next they are running around the cage.

 

[vickye69]

That's true. I'm not going to be able to afford a true rat cage with smaller spaced bars for a while, maybe there's a way I could 'baby-proof' the cage they're in now? Like, I have grids overlapped on a portion of the cage now to make the bars half as far apart so the girls can't get out themselves, would that keep a baby from falling through? I have no idea how big baby rats are.

I weighed them again a few minutes ago, Harriet when down from 224 to 222, and the other girl (who still needs a name!) went down from 206 to 200. Not a major loss, maybe they had just eaten yesterday before I weighed them, but I don't know.

 

[lilratsy43]

:joy: Well thats good news, they aren't gaining, much. Maybe they aren't preggers, they could have been too young as others have said! That would make things much easier for you!

Honestly the ten gallon could do in a pinch if they do have babies, but if they both do they would have to be seperated so you probably will have to alter the cage there in.

 

[jorats]

Yay for the weight loss!!! :joy:

 

[vickye69]

Just weighed them again, Harriet is the same as yesterday, but the other girl gained 9 grams. It doesn't seem like theres any pattern of weight gain, but I don't know. I'm sure it could depend on whether or not they've eaten before I weigh them, but I don't know. I'll just have to wait some more and see what happens, I guess.

 

[jorats]

When they have only a few days before giving birth, they will be so big and round, you will know for sure.

 

[vickye69]

I talked to my dad yesterday and he said that my brother had all the rats together for around two months. Obviously they didn't breed while they were in that nasty fish tank, probably because the girls were too young and because of the horrible conditions.

When I got them home they were all in the same cage for a few hours before I checked them over and seperated them, so it's probably possible they could be pregnant since it doesn't take long. So I'm still on pregnancy watch for the next few weeks. I'll keep you guys updated!

Girls both gained 5 grams today. The boys gained 2 grams each, so all the weight gain could be from the fact that they have food available all the time now and they didn't before.

Oh, and the little white girl still needs a name! I'm out of ideas and more than open to suggestions.

 

[jorats]

How about Angel or Winter?

2 weeks to go right? for pregnancy watch?

 

[vickye69]

I got them on the 2nd, so... if I go 21 days from that it would be the 23rd, a little over a week left?

 

[jorats]

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[vickye69]

You and me both!

 

[vickye69]

Ok, so it's not just my hands/fingers the girls are going after. I was getting dressed this morning and I apparently I was too close to the cage. I now have bite marks on my hip. :roll: So if they're not pregnant, I don't know what their problem is. Mites could be an issue, but with my past experiences with animals with mites, they're only grumpy or nippy when touched, not when I'm just walking by the cage.

They're also fighting with each other, I hear them scream at night, the cage is always torn apart when I get up, and the white girl has a scab on her ear. -sigh-

They're still gaining weight like crazy though. I didn't get a chance to weigh them yesterday or the day before, but today Harriet is 251 grams and the other girl is 230 grams, that's an addition of 24 and 17 grams, which is crazy.

 

[jorats]

That is a big weight gain!
The girls are able to nip you through the cage?
Screaming in the cage is not necessarily fighting, they will squeak when playing too. A nip on the ear is not a sign of any aggression more like rough play.

 

[vickye69]

I thought that was a huge gain too. It works out to an average of 8 grams a day for the past three days, and that's more than they've gained per day so far.

And yes, apparently the bars are wide enough that they can get their mouths through far enough to bite me. They can't put their whole head through, but their mouths definetly fit.

 

[jorats]

If it's not pregnancy doing this to them, I would think the girls are extremely territorial and worried about losing their home again.

 

[vickye69]

Well, they've got at least another week until I can be sure they're not pregnant. If they're not, I'll have to figure out how to make them not so territorial, I don't want to spend the rest of their lives not being able to go near their cage.

 

[NezumiNeko]

Good luck.

 

[vickye69]

Ok, so... Harriet is fat. She was climbing up on the cage a few minutes ago, and she just looked bigger. Weighed her, she gained 9 grams from yesterday. She just looks rounder and her nipples are very prominent, when we got her I had to search for them.

So I'm assuming that means she IS pregnant, and I've only got a few days before the babies show up. I know I need to seperate the girls.

My question is, would it be better to try to figure out how to split the cage they're in now in half and baby-rat proof it, or put them each into a ten-gallon tank?