I have a hairless rat female and I believe she is pregnant. I have had her for about 2 weeks and just in the past couple of days she has gotten rather large just around her midsection. I have had hairless rats in the past but they were male. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
hairless rat pregnant?
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babies
Thanks for the reply. She had her babies 5 days ago. She had 9 but now only has 4. I understand that there are sometimes losses but one disappeared last night should that still be an issue? We wonder if she is lactating enough and why she has lost more than half her litter. she seems to be a good mommy.
Thanks for the reply. She had her babies 5 days ago. She had 9 but now only has 4. I understand that there are sometimes losses but one disappeared last night should that still be an issue? We wonder if she is lactating enough and why she has lost more than half her litter. she seems to be a good mommy.
Sometimes rats just feel overwhelmed by large litters, especially their first time.. The first rat I had who had babies let half the litter die. She had 11 and only fed 6. Don't fret about it.. It's only her way of making sure she can handle her babies.
Edit; 5 days old and they're still dropping like flies? That's a little strange.. normally the ones who aren't going to make it die within the first day or so. There may be something else going on here. ;/
Edit; 5 days old and they're still dropping like flies? That's a little strange.. normally the ones who aren't going to make it die within the first day or so. There may be something else going on here. ;/
I thought so too. We figured out she was simply not producing enough milk. We have since taken the babies and since we could not find anyone with a nursing mother have been hand feeding them. They are almost 2 weeks now, we have 4 left, and are doing well. We started them off on a milk replacement formula and now they are enjoying some baby cereal(we mix it with the formula) and water.
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It's not uncommon for true hairless rats to have a lot of difficulty lactating and raising a litter. Since hairlessness is a lethal recessive trait in the wild, there are more problems in general with keeping hairless rats. This is one or many reasons why breeders tend not to work with them.
My hairless boys came from Georgia incidentally. I've had several health and temperament issues with them. All manageable, but noticeably more frequent than my furred rats.
As Talamos said, if this is her first litter and she's young, you may have more problems. It's sad, but expected. Especially with you supplementing the remaining kits they've got a much better chance now. They may always be a bit small, but between you and mama, they've got a good chance.
If you get survivors, you might want to consider neutering or spaying and keeping them as company for Babydoll, since you'll eventually want to get her a buddy anyway for her well being. I've got six boys and with the right space, it's not very problematic keeping several.
My hairless boys came from Georgia incidentally. I've had several health and temperament issues with them. All manageable, but noticeably more frequent than my furred rats.
As Talamos said, if this is her first litter and she's young, you may have more problems. It's sad, but expected. Especially with you supplementing the remaining kits they've got a much better chance now. They may always be a bit small, but between you and mama, they've got a good chance.
If you get survivors, you might want to consider neutering or spaying and keeping them as company for Babydoll, since you'll eventually want to get her a buddy anyway for her well being. I've got six boys and with the right space, it's not very problematic keeping several.
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