Rat weight/growth charts

[breakthenight]

As I got my youngest rats in quite some time, I have been very careful to weigh them for proper growth, etc, and have constantly wondered what is considered "normal"for rat growth and gains at certain ages. I had a litter before and since I was able to compare them to each other I never really worried at all, because I could tell just by looking who was thriving and who wasn't. Independently and having a male and female made it harder to judge. Anyway, I thought it might be helpful if anyone else is curious, nervous or for whatever reason interested if I posted a chart of my rats growth here. I got my babies at three months, so it does not begin from six or eight weeks(when many people get their babies).
Faren is a spayed female, 6 months old. Fionn is a neutered male, 6 months. They are litter-mates.

If anyone else has this information I would be really interested in seeing it! (Still a paranoid momma) and I think it could be helpful to see the normal variances to help predict normal health and growth ranges and help to rule out illness. If you don't know how to graph your rats information you can do it on this site(intended for kids, so very easy to navigate-choose line graph) http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx

I plan on continuing with this graph indefinitely and will update periodically with new information.

 

[Godmother]

Interesting! Wish I had kept track of the ones I adopted young.

 

[jorats]

A long time ago, I used to weigh my rats on a regular basis and then didn't feel the need to.
But you are right, it's good to have because a lot of people ask what's normal and what's not healthy.

 

[Unepuce]

My gosh... I started weighing all my rats from the start and keep adding to the same spreadsheet, only hiding columns of those that pass away. My chart would be a nightmare to look at if I showed everything! :laugh4:

 

[breakthenight]

LOL! Unepuce, you should definitely put up a graph with at least a couple of your ratties data. I bet, even though you might not have thought it, that the information you've been keeping could be really helpful for a lot of rat owners(I would love to see it!)

I keep my data in a "rattie log" that Joanne(My babies foster mom) gave me when I adopted them. It has a list of all their important medical information and details, which includes all the weigh-ins my ratties get. I don't have an actual schedule, but I tend to weigh them every week, or less if it seems as though growth has slowed down. At six months tomorrow, the babies have only gained a couple of grams, unlike the weeks that they had some major growth spurts.

(Also I see that you have piggies too! I have the sweetest, fattest, most beautiful blind pig named Kato )

 

[hprats]

My rats only get weighed when they go to the vet. My baby boys at ten weeks were pretty much right where your boy was at at 10 weeks though.

 

[hprats]

Also, my older boys were all around 400 and 6 months.

 

[Unepuce]

LOL! Unepuce, you should definitely put up a graph with at least a couple of your ratties data. I bet, even though you might not have thought it, that the information you've been keeping could be really helpful for a lot of rat owners(I would love to see it!)

I keep my data in a "rattie log" that Joanne(My babies foster mom) gave me when I adopted them. It has a list of all their important medical information and details, which includes all the weigh-ins my ratties get. I don't have an actual schedule, but I tend to weigh them every week, or less if it seems as though growth has slowed down. At six months tomorrow, the babies have only gained a couple of grams, unlike the weeks that they had some major growth spurts.

(Also I see that you have piggies too! I have the sweetest, fattest, most beautiful blind pig named Kato )

I'll see what I can do about posting it. It's only a spreadsheet with weights and comments on what happened that week (in French :giggle: )

And I saw your thread about Kato... beautiful adn brave piggy indeed! :heart:

 

[breakthenight]

Here is the updated graph (7 months).

I've decided to include monthly weight gain as opposed to biweekly as they have passed the six month major weight gain period of babyhood. That being said, it seems their growths are speeding up again, as they are having another small growth spurt. Interesting, as according to everything I've ever read females reach adult weight at about 6 months, but my girl is still growing. I still expect Fionn (Male) to put on a lot of weight for the next 5 months so no surprise there. I wonder if there is any difference between unaltered rat growth and my spayed and neutered babies?

 

[breakthenight]

Growth really slowed down between 7 and 8 months, but seems to have picked up a little bit between 8 and 9. Neither rat has any excess body weight though both are very muscular due to a large cage and a LOT of wheel running.