2 more rats!!! Not good!!!

Question
QUESTION: Hi Sandra, I knew I would need you again!
I purchased 2 more rats finally due to me receiving quite a bit of birthday
money!
I got 1 black rat and a grey spotted one.
2 males named Ziggy(I had too after Dexter's stuffy that I found covered in
pee and wet) and Bruno. They are all 4 moths old!
Ziggy is teaming up with Bruno and hurting Dexter, I let them get to know
each other in my bathtub they seemed okay, then I changed the cage litter
and took out Dexter's things. Now Bruno has scented himself everywhere and
Ziggy is attacking Dexter.
I left because I had a huge horse jumping competition in Sudbury, keeping
my fingers crossed that everything would be okay!
I came back and all 3 rats are on there platform sleeping!
My friend then purchased 3 FEMALE RATS!!! Same age as my 3 boys, I kept
them in a separate cage and I came in the room to finding all my rats were
going to soon be... PARENTS!!!!!!!
Don't ask me how they escaped!
The females are 3 months old.
Molly, Elsa, Kita.
I took all female rats to the vet and all are pregnant!!!
Help me!!!
I am so new to baby rats!
When should I expect baby ratties, and what should I do, anything I should
watch for???
My parents are furious but have organized me a rat room and suprisingly
have let me keep them all!
I am so scared, and I knew I could trust you to help me with this one!!!
:( :)


Part of the rat room   ANSWER: Oh no.....thats ALOT of rats you may end up with....each rat has the potential to have up to 18 rats.  The only good news about this is that since the girls are young, they may have smaller litters.  

Gestation is 21 days.  When were the boys with the girls?  You will need to keep all three females in their own cages so there is no jealousy over the pups. THe cages need tiny bar spacing so the babies cant escape when they start roaming around.  The girls wont start to show they are pregnant till about a week before. This is when they need put in their own cages and given a nice igloo or some kind of house to make a nest in.  Give them soft white paper towels to make a nest, but change them out daily because they may urinate on them. Once the pups are born you cant change it for a while.  They will make fabulous nests!
Make sure they are eating the right foods and you can also add some soy formula, scrambled eggs twice a week, canned oysters or beef livers every day too for good protein.  no peanuts etc....

You can read all about having babies by checking out this website here, it has all kinds of great information.

http://ratguide.com/breeding/


I would also take the aggressive boys out of Dexters cage and this way, now you know you will at least have new baby boys to introduce to Dexter once they get older.   

You will need to have the boys out of the girls cage when they are 5 weeks old. The mother can get pregnant soon as she has the babies so you need to find out how they got out and go into the male cage so it doesnt happen again or your parents will have strokes!

Right now I estimate your going to end up with anywhere from 28 to 50 rats total, with 28 being on the low side and 50 on the high side. This includes the rats you have now.  You should house no more than 4 males per cage and no more than 6 females per cage and this is if the cage is LARGE.   I think you may need to find homes for some of these babies.  You are going to have to socialize the babies so they like people which means holding the newborn babies a few days after they are born. Feeding them, keeping all the cages clean...and you may have up to 12 cages in that room alone.  The most I have had at once was 24 rats and it was hectic.  Here is a photo of the rat room when I had that many ratties at once:


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How long will my females carry the babies?
I have read and studied for hours forgeting my school work!
I will sell at least 3-5 babies per litter.
My females are acting normal, but I did find that Kita has a slight behavior
change she bit my friend and only is letting me hold her. This is making me
nervous. She has never done this before.
All of my rats are from successful breeders so they all have good history.
None are ill, but Dexter's little myco problem, but I cleared that up with good
news.
I found out how they escaped, My younger sister would leave the cage open
when Dexter lived alone, and he would never run away so that became a
routine.
She must have thought she could do the same with all, as they were all on the
floor in a row.
I am shocked that Dexter, Bruno and Ziggy each got a female to mate. I am
not sure wich mated wich but I saw them all mating, but as quick as it started
it stopped and they scattered.
I know for a fact I will be getting an grey agouti, and have to keep that one
for more breeding.
Rats have become an obsession and I will continue with this.
Thanks again.  

Answer
Behavior changes are normal.  I had my girl, Charlotte, who was so sweet but when she had the babies she turned into a nightmare. She jumped at me and bit my lip and HUNG THERE! I couldnt move...I couldnt yank her off my lip so I just stood there saying :OW!! Um....rat? Um...OW!"
I swelled up like someone punched me in the mouth.  She never ever did that before but she was scared for her pups.  Most females do get nippy so becareful.  They dont mean to hurt you, they are just moody.

Their gestation is about 21 days.  When did you catch them mating?