removing young form dam

Question
Hello I breed my female rat "bisket" (father "luke")for my advanced animal care course she only gave birth to one pup who is a male called "razzle" (hes so cute)he is now three weeks old and eating baby food and has began eating rat food and cat biskets i have read that males should be removed at 4,5,6 weeks old so i was woundering what the correct age is to remove him from mum? "razzle" has a home already as i am keeping him.

Answer
Hi Corrina

How old is the mother rat?  One pup is a small litter!

To answer your question, 4 and 5 weeks of age is the right time to remove the males from the females but 6 weeks is taking a chance.  
Me, I am right down the middle and don't say 4 weeks nor do I say 5 weeks.  I keep it civil and just say four and a half weeks. :-)   Now nobody will debate that.  LOL

Hope this helps...and also please let me know how old the Doe is. I am just curious as to why her litter was so terribly small. Her body could have reabsorbed them...did any pass away?  Did you witness the birth?  If not, there may have been some still born pups that she took care of herself.  Hope you don't mind me asking. The more info we can share with each other the more we know about these vermin!

thanks

Sandy