Pregnant female

Question
Hi Sandra,

We have exchanged emails before and you always laugh when I write that I am an adult that loves rats!!  I have 6 rats, 3 boys and 3 girls in two separate cages, but in the same room , my home office.  Ok, here is the short version...I took my parents on a little weekend trip while hubby took care of the ratties at home.  He was playing with them and the phone rang...and one of my girls visited the boys! Two of my girls have been spayed to prevent mammary tumors, but my newest little addition has not yet been spayed.  She's very young.

I have been weighing her and she seems to be gaining 2 ounces over the past three days...so I'm still not sure if she is pregnant.  If she is pregnant, should I leave her with her two older female cage mates or remove her to a cage by herself?

Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,

Heidi Nale

Answer
Hi Heidi

Well I do share your love of rats. Many years ago when I purchased two rats for my sons Christmas gift, they instantly became MINE and the rest is history, so I am just another adult that loves rats too....along with thousands of other adults! :)

As for the little wanderer...although a 2 oz gain in a few days is not that much for a growing girl, the chance it was her hours of heat when she went to visit the males is higher than I would like it to be.

However...how old is she? Normally, the ideal age to spay a female to prevent growth of estrogen fueled mammary or pituitary tumors is between 3 to 4 months old.  As much as some folks may not like this, you can always spay her now even if there is a chance of pregnancy but of course the pregnancy would be terminated...

Back to the original question: I would not move her to a new cage until right before birth if she is indeed pregnant. When your certain she is, of course you will know for sure by the shape of her abdomen right around the final week of gestation and a trained person can feel for pups although only recommended by a professional to do this to avoid injury of the pups, and when she starts to nest like mad, all around the final week of gestation, which is 21 days but can go up to 23 days. At this time I would move her to a cage that has small bar spacing so pups cannot get out once they start to move around and also provide her with a nesting box and plenty of white paper towels and even cardboard rolls to gnaw up. She will make a fantastic nest in case you have never seen a pregnant rat prepare for her birth. Its amazing.  You will also want to increase her protein too and I would do that soon just in case she is. TO do this means the other rats will also get added protein so be sure to decrease their protein intake once she is on her own but continue to keep her protein levels up to around 18 percent during lactation as well.  Adding white chicken meat and cooked beef livers are a good source of animal protein for her too.

One reason for taking her from her cagemates is to avoid conflict.  Often the other females try to also mother the pups which could be a real headache. The pups may even be injured from the other rats during any type of intervention by the rats.  They will have strong motherly instincts they cannot control and a fight may even break out!!
Some people keep them together but I do not advise it if you have other options.

Good luck!