Pregnancy

Question
Hi Sandra,
It seems my question got lost. [?]  I will post it again, many thanks in advance.

I am a small hobby breeder and was wondering if you can tell me all details you know on absorbed litters.

Among your info, please include:
How often does it happen? It seems to not be a rare occurrence. [?]
Why does it happen?  
And if this occurs, is there some length of time you should wait before trying to breed again?  

I have googled and searched and haven't found many details on this.   I'd love to know everything you do on this subject. :)

I have a doe that I believe absorbed her litter once, maybe twice.  Thanks so much.   
Mel

Answer
The most common causes of fetal resorption are inadequate hormone levels, maternal infectious disease, endometrial disorders and uterine disorders/infection.  Sometimes, oddly enough, the rat may not have been pregnant and it is only thought that the litter was resorption of the fetus, seriously. This happens even to the best of breeders. However, if it does happen, its hard to determine how often it happens or will happen.  I am unsure of how long to wait before breeding again but I would suggest if this occurs more than a few times I would just retire her and not use her for breeder in case it is some crazy genetic defect that she could pass on to her offspring. This would not make an ideal situation.

I just drove three hours to buy three little bucks that are just adorable. They were pretty young when I got them (just at 4 weeks old) but I give all of the well versed hobby rat breeders a big thumbs up for doing research.  I also wrote and asked my breeder if she has gone through this before but I didnt want to wait to long to answer you since it seems your first message was lost, but I will revise this and let you know what she has to say about it as well, if she has gone through it with her rats.  I have a few other friends that are very very good breeders also that I can ask, this way we can have more than just my opinion on the subject since they may have gone through it first hand and I have never bred rats before and am pretty limited on the subject in the first place.