housing for rat babies

Question
Hi, I have three female rats. I just got one of the rats about two weeks ago, and she had babies this morning. Big surprise! I've never cared for rat babies before and I'm trying to figure out what is best for them. My question is this-- can I leave mom and the babies in the main cage with the other two females? Or do they need a separate home? I have a nice big cage that my three females live in, but I'm not sure where to put the mom and babies if they need their own place. Help!

Answer
 Whether or not to separate them is up to you and depends on how well the females get along.  Since you've only had the one for two weeks, she may feel more defensive and not as safe, and therefore may be more protective of her babies and more prone to fight the other females if she feels they are a threat.  Sometimes what happens is the other females will try to mother the babies which can result in a tug-of-war over the babies or they end up kicking the mother off of the nest and trying to raise the babies themselves, which of course they cannot do.

 As a general rule, I separate the nesting female and her babies, especially if the cage bars are wide enough that the babies will be able to escape when they start wandering around at about 2 weeks of age.  If your cage bars are narrow and the females are all getting along well together then you can leave them, but just keep an eye out for any fighting.  In the wild rats raise their babies together, taking turns caring for them, and this can sometimes hold true in captivity as well.  So basically it is up to you and how they get along =)  Good luck with the babies!


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