Is my rat pregnant?

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Alyssapry1047

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I recently got my first two rats, Dove and Jenny from a really good breeder near me. They're both girls, around a year old and have been doing pretty well since I brought them home. However a few days ago when I was handeling Dove I noticed her belly looked a little big, I thought maybe she was just fat but now her belly seems to be bigger. And her nipples seem more prominent than her sister's. I've only had them for a week and a half and they haven't been around males so she couldn't have gotten pregnant with me. And the rattery I got them from was very responsible and definitely didn't keep non breeding females with males. I emailed the breeder but haven't heard back yet. Based on this photo does she certainly look pregnant or could she just be fat? And if she is pregnent how long do I have and what should I do to prepare?
 
She is pregnant and will give birth soon
How old is she?

Hopefully she will have a small litter and her labour will go ok.
Things usually go ok but in case something goes wrong you will want to make sure you have a good rat vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats and see if you can find a rat that will be giving birth around the same time

The breeder is not a good breeder, because this would not have happened with a good breeder.
Actually I don't know of any breeders in North America that are good breeders

Please see the Reference Thread to links re pregnancy and birth https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/
 
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She will need to be in a cage (or tank) by herself, with no levels or hammocks as babies can fall off them.
The cage will need to have very small bar spacing.
Do not use any bedding that contains threads as threads can tighten around little necks and limbs.
Give her strips of paper towel to use for nest building.

She can visit with her friend but will need to live alone for quite awhile
Please see the Reference Thread for information on diet and nutrition.

If you do not have a double critter nation cage I would suggest that you get one as you are going to need a very large cage.
 
If she's pregnant, and it sure looks like it - Definitely NOT a good breeder!
Accidents can happen even with the best pet parents, but she'd have to know the girls got near boys, so should have waited 6 wks before adopting out or notified you there was a possibility. Accidents are forgiveable, underhandedly subjecting a new parent to a pregnancy is NOT. Her not emailing you back is unforgiveable.
If she's pregnant you don't get to blow it off - and don't let the breeder either.
First - you'll need to decide if you're up for keeping mom & babies for 6 wks. You might want to return mom to the breeder before she has babies.
If you keep mom and she has babies, mom & her sister should have Frequent outings together.
2nd - If you keep mom you'll need a separate cage for sister now . I'd expect the breeder to lend one!
3rd - mom has to deliver safely, you have to have a vet & money available if she has problems.
4th - you have to be willing to look after the babies for 6 wks.
Then - You'll have to decide to give the breeder all the babies to rehome - OR - You might want to keep some - OR - rehome all or some yourself. Boys can only be with mom for 5 wks.

There's a helluva lot for you to consider. #1 That breeder should Never have put this on you, especially as you're a first-time ratparent #2 She should have answered your email right away to do all she can to help.
If your girl is pregnant that breeder better give you your money back and help you with anything else you choose to do about it. Or I think some of us would want to know her name to protect others from your current stress about a girl you love & future troubles.:mad:
 
She is pregnant and will give birth soon
How old is she?

Hopefully she will have a small litter and her labour will go ok.
Things usually go ok but in case something goes wrong you will want to make sure you have a good rat vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats and see if you can find a rat that will be giving birth around the same time

The breeder is not a good breeder, because this would not have happened with a good breeder.
Actually I don't know of any breeders in North America that are good breeders

Please see the Reference Thread to links re pregnancy and birth https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/

I talked to the breeder and she said Dove hasn't had any contact with male rats in months and definitely isn't pregnant. She said she's either fat or could have an abdominal tumor which she just now informed me runs in her family. She is an older rat about a year and 5 months so I guess that would be more likely. I made a appointment for her and my other rat Jenny, partly because of this and also because they've both been having mild respitory issues since I got them home, that I don't want to let get worse. Do you think this looks like just an overweight rat or a rat with a tumor? I agree that this breeder is starting to seem less and less good to me despite her being the best breeder I could find anywhere near me. I'm honestly really worried now, and not really sure if I should believe the breeder or not.
 
If she's pregnant, and it sure looks like it - Definitely NOT a good breeder!
Accidents can happen even with the best pet parents, but she'd have to know the girls got near boys, so should have waited 6 wks before adopting out or notified you there was a possibility. Accidents are forgiveable, underhandedly subjecting a new parent to a pregnancy is NOT. Her not emailing you back is unforgiveable.
If she's pregnant you don't get to blow it off - and don't let the breeder either.
First - you'll need to decide if you're up for keeping mom & babies for 6 wks. You might want to return mom to the breeder before she has babies.
If you keep mom and she has babies, mom & her sister should have Frequent outings together.
2nd - If you keep mom you'll need a separate cage for sister now . I'd expect the breeder to lend one!
3rd - mom has to deliver safely, you have to have a vet & money available if she has problems.
4th - you have to be willing to look after the babies for 6 wks.
Then - You'll have to decide to give the breeder all the babies to rehome - OR - You might want to keep some - OR - rehome all or some yourself. Boys can only be with mom for 5 wks.

There's a helluva lot for you to consider. #1 That breeder should Never have put this on you, especially as you're a first-time ratparent #2 She should have answered your email right away to do all she can to help.
If your girl is pregnant that breeder better give you your money back and help you with anything else you choose to do about it. Or I think some of us would want to know her name to protect others from your current stress about a girl you love & future troubles.:mad:
The breeder did end up returning my email and she said that it is absolutely impossible for her to be pregnant as she hasn't had any contact with male rats in many months. She told me she's either fat or could possibly have an abdominal tumor which she just now told me runs in her family. I honestly don't know what to believe and I'm really anxious about this whole situation. Neither outcome is good here. I made a vet appointment for next week (I was going to anyways because of minor respitory issues) but if she is really pregnant she will probably have given birth by then.
 
Did she become huge in the last week?

Mammary tumours grow fast but that is not a mammary tumour (unsprayed girls have more then a 85% chance of developing mammary tumours)/.
Other tumours do not normally grow that fast

Can you get her into the vet now?
If she is not pregnant, then this is an emergency situation!

Does she have any discharge? can you smell infection/pus?
 
BTW …. rats need solid floors, if you do not have pans, you can order replacement pans
In the USA people buy a cement pan that will fit (with a bit of trimming the edge) into the CN, (from home hardware I think)
you can also use a sheet of coroplast cut to fit in the top section if you want the hole so they can use the entire cage

You should look at a cement pan that fits snuggly for both levels if you are going to have babies (and pull up the ladder to divide the cage
 
Reasons to develop bellies like that are;

1) pregnancy. Get a digital scale and weigh your girl daily at the same time. Pregnancy weight will continue to increase daily (for eg. 5 g, then 7 g, then 10 grams, with stalls and occasional drops being normal). A scale is a fantastic thing for a rat owner to have for lots of reasons so you might want to get one anyways.

2) Internal mass. You could gently palpate her abdomen feeling for big lumps inside with the flats of your fingers. A vet is more likely to get a better feel and understand what they are feeling.

3) Closed pyometra. A uterine infection that doesn't have any discharge leaking out, which is much more dangerous than an infection that leaks. These rats blow up and become very round. If its a real pyo, a spay is possibly the only thing to save her life.

4) Very rarely a former breeder can have an irritated uterus and no serious issue but I've only experienced this once in 100's of rescued rats.
 
When you are looking for a digital scale buy one that weighs accurately to 1 gram and has a tare function.

If you feel her belly be extremely careful because if she is pregnant you could kill the babies and cause her to die from the resulting infection
 
Did she become huge in the last week?

Mammary tumours grow fast but that is not a mammary tumour (unsprayed girls have more then a 85% chance of developing mammary tumours)/.
Other tumours do not normally grow that fast

Can you get her into the vet now?
If she is not pregnant, then this is an emergency situation!

Does she have any discharge? can you smell infection/pus?

Her belly didn't seem large when I got her so it seems to have happened in the last week, I wish I had weighed her when I got her but I didn't. She's currently 450 grams so I can check if she gains more weight. I setup a vet appointment for her and Jenny next week (jenny has been sneezing a few times a day so I wanted to have her checked out just i case, Dove was too before but it stopped a few days ago) there's no discharge or smell. She doesn't seem to be in any pain but seems more uncomfortable being held and pet than around when I got her, but she hadn't really had time to get used to me before this all happened. And I do have pans. I got the cage used so the corners of the pans are a little bit chewed but usually the fleece liners I use cover up the corners. I was cleaning the cage when I took that photo so it was exposed. I noticed today that Dove has started nesting and she wasn't doing that before despite having nesting materials so I think pregnancy is looking more likely. I actually already have cement tubs from when I used my double critter nation as a hamster cage. I decided not to use them with my rats because I prefer how it looks with the shallow pans. But i put one in the top to block off the connection between the cages so if she gives birth I can move jenny out easily and Dove can safely care for her babies in the one with the tub. The The breeder told me the type of tumor her mother and grandmother had were slow growing which really wouldn't explain this, even if I just didn't notice her belly looking like this the breeder certainly would of she since she had experience with this.
I'm just gonna keep a close eye on her for the next few days and if she doesn't give birth then the vet will be able to see if she has a tumor or something else going on.
 
She looks pregnant to me and ready to pop in a day or too. Here is a photo of my girl the day before she gave birth. They usually don’t start to even show until the last couple of days. Hopefully it isn’t a tumor but having vet appointments set up was a great idea! I hope everything goes well!! If you search this forum I think you’ll find several other threads with advice for mommas and babies. I also used a cement tub in my CN. I took it out and put all the goodies back once the babies were all walking/climbing, around 3 weeks.
 

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