My first breeding experience.
I bred my first (planned) litter of rats in 2001. I thought I would write about my experience good and bad, to help anyone who is thinking about doing the same.
The Introduction and Mating.
I brought Seal home in his tank and was told that it was probably best if I wanted some action soon rather then later to leave him in his tank and introduce Luna to him there. So that’s exactly what I did. He was VERY interested in her and did all the typical bum sniffing etc. But she was more interested in trying to get out of his tank, as she hadn’t been in one for a long time (since she was 6 weeks old). I then left them in a quite room together as I had decided that my presence was making her want to come out even more so I closed the door and left them too it ;o)
Luna and Seal sniffing each other before being introduced.
That evening when I went to feed them he was chasing her around the tank and then cornering her to mate, he did this quite often. I’m not sure that she liked this because she would get under the platform in the tank to stop him from being able to get her. I thought it might be best if I put a little house in the tank, which she could get into to have a little rest from him now and then. The next morning this had been toughly chewed! I left the couple together for about two weeks in the end as I wasn't sure she had conceived. They were separated at this point, because Seal got a little rough with her, however I have read that bucks can be left with the doe up until the birth, however after this time they will mate again which is a very unhealthy option.
The gestation.
During Luna's gestation which typically lasts 20-22 days in rats. She was kept on her own in a specially bought tank type cage. I bought this as I thought it would prevent escaping babies! (although Esmay proved me wrong). However I did allow Luna to talk to the other rats out of her cage ( I didn't want them invading her space) and I watched her carefully to make sure the others didn't play too roughly with her.
I kept her well fed, I gave her a large bowl full of her normal food and loads of extras such as dog food, bread sops, vegetables etc.
I was very skeptical that she was pregnant as she didn't get at all big like photos of other rats I have seen, however when handling I was very careful to not accidentally grab her etc.
The birth.
No one was at home for the birth so no one actually witnessed it. I was away at Reading festival and had forewarned my parents that she was due this weekend. My mum took over responsibility for feeding while I was away. It was August 26th 2001 and my parents left to visit relatives at 3 and returned at 9 that evening to hear these little squeaks coming from the cage! They texted me straight away.
My dad said Luna came out of her nest box with a big smile on her face as if to say look how clever I am!
I returned the following day, my Mum was anxious to see how many there were and so was I. She thought there could only be 5 or so as Luna was so small but being a rat! she had 10! 2 does and 8 bucks.
To view the babies I let Luna sniff my hand first of all to see how she would react. As she was fine I gave her a bit of biscuit and put her in a little cage near by, I then quickly had a peek at the babies and took a couple of photos.
One of the first photos of the kittens at 1.5 days old.
The kittens.
The kittens grew so fast and changed so much from week to week it really was a natural miracle! (see kitten growth article).
I tried to handle them as much as possible, with out stressing Luna too much. They were almost fully furred at the end of 2 weeks and there eyes opened between 2 and 3 weeks. I also notice some behavioral changes in them as well as physical, while still very young they were quite and still when handled (maybe a survival technique) but then they got used to this and became wriggly! When they got a bit older and there eyes were open they were incredibly curious and would love to chew and investigate my hands, However at 5 weeks when the bucks were separated from their sisters and mother they became incredibly shy. I think this was because before they had always had mummy to run to when something scared them! I think next time I separate the kittens in a litter I will leave them near by so they can still smell their mum thought the bars.
The kittens going mad for a cuddle at 29 days.
As for feeding and looking after the kittens they started eating solids at about 3 weeks and they lived on a diet of rat mix, various cereals in milk, Rusk's dry or in milk, bread and Dog food. Typically in a day I would feed them twice, once in the morning with some cereal in milk or some Rusk and In the evening I would give them a full bowl of rat mix and some dog food and maybe some more cereal or bread. Luna was also providing them with milk at the start, until they were weaned at approx 4 weeks old. With all this food the cage needed cleaning about twice a week as well as uneaten food being removed every day. The were also given fresh water every day. As for looking after them Luna did all this! she fed and cleaned them for the first few weeks.
Towards the end when the bucks were separated there cage had to be cleaned out three times a week as it got dirty so quickly, they were fed similarly to when they were younger as there was allot of them in one cage and they need food to "grow on".
Finding new homes!
This is the moral part....
Firstly I didn't realize that there would be 3 striped roan litters (including mine) all in the Reading area and so the market was saturated! Which made it very hard for me to find homes for the kittens. Secondly the litter was mainly bucks and I found that most people wanted does! Also my litter was all mismarked apart from one. So there was more complications there.
In hindsight if I had know that many litters would have been in the area then I wouldn't have bred the litter. It caused me allot of heart ach as I ended up still having 7 bucks at 8weeks old and my parents had started to go on about sending them to a pet shop which is against my morals! Anyway at the last moment when I decided that if I couldn't find homes for them they would stay with me, allot of people became interested and I found homes for all the bucks! that was a bit hard as well as I had started to get attached to them, although it was better in the long run as I knew I wouldn't be able to give them all individual attention.
On a rather bitter note I would like to add a warning about timewasters to anyone who is planning to breed a litter! During the time I had this litter and was advertising them I had many timewasters, bleary eyed people who fell in love with the photos on the web site and then suddenly realized nearer the time that they didn't want to travel that far or that they actually wanted does!!!! I had one lady reserve 2 bucks from about 3 weeks old and who then sent me an email on the day she was coming to collect them saying she had found some pet shop rats instead.... she was very lucky I got her email as I don't normally check my mail on that day at college. I also had a man phoning up for his son, he arranged to come and see them the next day and asked if I could keep them while he went on holiday (I said yes), later that evening he phoned again saying how he had spoken to his son who had said he would rather have does and that he would look for some when he came back from holiday!!! - Why the hell did he phone in the first place then??? and surely if the rats were for his son why didn't they talk about all this first ??? (Sorry this subject gets me a tad mad, However I was not rude to any off the customers, just hugely disappointed).
Conclusion...
Breeding has its ups and downs, it is a wonderful experience and is and amazing thing to take part in and witness. If you keep kittens from the litter then you can also proudly watch them grow up, and be able to say to anyone who asks "I bred him/her!".
However as discussed above it has some major responsibilities as at the end of the day its not just about "getting rid" of them once 6 weeks is up, but its about finding the best homes for little lives and entrusting people you don't know with progeny of you much loved doe.
Three precautions I will be using in the future when breeding rats are getting new owners to sign some sort of contract so that they can not pass on the kitten without me knowing and so that the keep me informed of their progress and secondly I will check the market to see how popular the colour is I want to breed and how easily I can find homes for the young and also if I have room to keep and kitten that don't find new homes, finally I may enforce some kind of deposit system which will hopefully curb any timewasters.
Finally I would like to say please don't go and make the mistakes I did, although everything turned out well in the end and I had no bad consequences of my actions, just a major learning experience, YOU could end up in a different situation e.g. with 17 kittens on your hands and no homes for them!!!!! Think about the rats first and the experience second.
Em.
p.s. To see the following kittens from Luna's litter as they are now click on the following links:
Last updated 24th December 2001.
All photo's and some art work are produced by me, unless stated otherwise. Please do not take any of my art work or photos as allot of work has gone into them. If you do wish to use some of my art/gifs/photos then please email me for permission first.
Copyright Podels 2001-2002.
Disclaimer = I do not claim to be an authority on rodents or rats and any information on this page is just opinions and advice and is by no means a substitute for good books or veterinary advice. All the toys on the toys page are just ideas and may not have been tried out so it is up to you to implement them and judge there safety.