Possibly pregnant young rat?

I had recently lost a rat to surgery so we got some new cage mates for my other girl, now I fear that the girl is pregnant, but I can not tell and am not sure what to do.

We got two boys and a girl, but she has been separated since I got her home so It did not happen here, but she was not separated from the boys in her litter when I got her so maybe she was pregnant from the time I brought her home, they were babies but I am sure how many weeks they were at the time. I have pics of her tummy, it has grown really bit in this last, we have had her for about 2 1/2 weeks.




Here is a pic of her the day I got her:



Does it look like pregnancy to any of you? And if so are there some special accommodations I should be making for her?
Any help is appreciated, thanks. :3

I would say yes, she IS pregnant, and due any time now!
You will need to make sure she is in her own cage, and that the cage is 'baby-proofed'. That includes making sure you have a solid base a few inches high so her babies can't fall out between the bars, no cloth with threads (the threads can get wrapped around the baby's neck or limb causing death or necessitating amputation), no water dishes (baby can drown), no shelves or hammocks (mom can move babies up where they will fall out), etc.
Rats are generally good moms, so she will probably take care of the babies fine. She just needs a nice, safe, soft, warm place to have her babies with lots of nutritious food and water.
There are quite a few threads about babies, so get reading!!!
Good luck!

Oh wow, yes that was my words when I saw her picture. She is also a beautiful nakie and I just love nakies.... Hope she has a safe and quick delivery and only a few babies.... We'll need pictures - lots of pictures... Good luck little girl ♥

Aww its like Lilith all over again

Babies having babies.

http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=155392&postcount=26

She should of been seperated at 5 weeks old. You can see her size in your pictures of when you just got her that she is older than 5 weeks. She has to be at least 8 to 10 weeks old but I would lean towards a little more than that. Girls grow so slow compared to boys. Sad thing that it happened. Was she from a petstore?

I would get a glass tank with a lid to put her in for birth or make a bin cage which is really easy that will give you a few more weeks than a tank will plus they are healthier. The cage she is in now is far to big for her babies.
Those nipples are a sure sign usually on naked girls you can barely see them but hers are ready for feeding. I would also make sure there is a vet near by that sees rats just incase of complication. Most mommas dont have problems but some do. Just make sure you get a cage ready fast that momma is gonna pop!

Joanne - Thanks for the advice. I hope she will be alright, I was in denial until these last few days she really got big in the tummy. I have an small cage with really tiny bars so maybe I can use that for her house, or else maybe a tote. I am torn between removing her from the other cage now or letting her stay with her pal another night. I'll be reading about this all night probably. I have never had a pet have babies so it is very new to me. ><

dspch911- Thank you. :3 I love naked rats too, I wonder how her babies will look because her parents were furry and she was in a mixed naked and furry litter.

lilspaz68- Poor Lillith Looks like her tummy got big fast like that too, it is a bit sad, I feel like she is too tiny to be a mom already.

hopefloats -Thank you for the info. The shop told me they were babies, so I assumed they were much younger than that! I got her from a local exotic pet shop that breeds the rats themselves, so I figured since they know about breeding they would separate boys and girls at the right age, so the rats being together must mean they are too young to mate. Guess I was wrong! We have a vet not too far from us who has seen my other rats and stays open pretty late thankfully. But I hope it goes smoothly. I will start on her pregnancy cage asap. I did notice she loves building elaborate nests from the time I got her, so maybe that was the first sign.

I put her in this small old cage I had, do you suppose this will work for a delivery area?

Sadly most pet stores dont care about separating them at the right age. I wish a law would be passed stopping pet stores from keep sexual mature animals of any size in the same cage.

That cage doesn't look too bad - with a solid pan around the bottom edge, the babies shouldn't get pushed out. I have found a shoe box is a really great box to use for mom to nest in. That way you can take the lid off to check on the babies without really disturbing anything. Make a decent sized hole in one end, and provide her with lots of paper towels for nesting. Put that into your cage.
I'm expecting to hear she has had bubs any time now!

Still no babies yet but she is expanding! The shoebox was too big for the cage so I made her a nest from a tissue box. Hopefully its large enough, she seems to like it. We are hoping for a very small litter so that we can keep the babies and avoid the troubles of adopting them out. ><

That will depend on what your idea of "small" is. If you are thinking 4 or 6ish probably not. Most are around 15 ish or 10 at least LOL I can say that with her youth that small litter may not work on your side LOL

But babies are so much fun! Hold the daily started on day two. Give momma a break and handle the babies. Play with them when their eyes open it will make life easier to adopt them out later if needed.

Bunny said:

Still no babies yet but she is expanding! The shoebox was too big for the cage so I made her a nest from a tissue box. Hopefully its large enough, she seems to like it. We are hoping for a very small litter so that we can keep the babies and avoid the troubles of adopting them out. ><

Click to expand...

Paws crossed for a safe delivery, lots of milk bellies, an attentive mom, and a small litter.

For my rescues I don't give them a house to hide in...i just give them lots of paper towel and nesting material (strips of fleece) and they make lovely nests with the babies warm underneath. Easier to check and see how everyone is doing this way.

Thanks guys we are waiting anxiously here still and she is doing fine. Her tummy is so full I am afraid to pick her up now. Meanwhile on of the other rats seems to be developing a really bad head tilt, so off to the vet soon as I get paid. I'll see if my vet has any good baby advice while I'm there too.

I just got up and Buttercup is delivering!!! There are a ton of babies, I could not count because I didn't want to disturb her too much. She is still pulling them out now. Meanwhile all the delivered ones are not getting milk it seems. Is that normal or should I be worried? I wish I could stay with her but I'm am leaving for a few hours, I hope it all goes well, all of them were wiggly so I think it's a good sign.

Got a quick phone pic, she seems to be done delivering but not all the babies are getting milked still.

Rats are usually very good mommas. I would just leave her be for a while as she has her paws full right now. Not all babies will make it, but there is usually a reason for that, even if we don't know what that is. I know people get excited about milk bands, but when my girl Jazzy had babies, I could never see good milk bands. All ten of her babies did fine.
Good luck new momma!

:congrats: new momma!

Awww, congrats on the babies! Are they all nice and healthy? Have you had a chance to check on them yet? What is she like as a mum?

Just checked on the little ones and they are all doing well with nice plump milk bellies, the momma took a break to eat so I finally got to count them, 12 in all! So much for a small litter, we are trying to think about were we are going to place the babies since we can't possibly keep them all. Unfortunately none of our friends want any and I would prefer not to give them back to the pet store (if they would be willing to take them).

I would not take them back to the pet store as there is no guarantee that the babies won't be sold as feeders, or put together with the opposite sex and get pregnant like your momma.
Ask for an adoption fee that is more than the price of feeder rats at the pet store to discourage snake owners.
You can start advertising now to get the word out - just put that they won't be ready until a certain date (minimum five weeks).
And pictures always help sell as babies are so darned cute!