A bit of a problem...

[Jess<3Rats]

my friend brought two 'male' rats a few weeks ago and today one of the 'males' gave birth to 3 lovely new ratties...even though she is happy with the birth her parents aren't allowing her to keep the father and she is devastated that she is losing one of her first rats...
i suggested neuter but her parents won't agree..
can anyone give any tips for her?
she is really upset about it and i want to help her

thanks
x

 

[Melissa]

Hopefully one of the babies is a girl and she can keep that one. I hope she has separated them.

 

[Jess<3Rats]

Hopefully one of the babies is a girl and she can keep that one. I hope she has separated them.

no im afraid she hasnt separated them...she had no idea that her 'male' rat was a female and pregnant! she only has one cage and has no other cages and i have no spare cages either except for really small hamster sized ones :?

 

[lilspaz68]

I take it she is very young and her parents can insist on this?

I think she should sex the babies, and see what she has first. If she rehomes the male and has 3 male babies then what? Rehome mom too? :sad-p:

Advise her to rehome her rat through forums like this one, or VERY carefully on Craigslist (we can give her advice on how to do it) not to dump him at a shelter or pet store.

 

[user 78]

The mom can get pregnant within hours of giving birth, so if she hasn't separated the male from the mom yet, the mom is likely pregnant again already. Which means she's going to go through all of this all over again. Please advise her to try and supplement the mom with high protein foods. Things like eggs, baby cereal, bits of chicken, etc.. If you do a search on the forum you can find all kinds of information. Having two litters back to back like that will be extremely stressful on the mom, and I'm assuming the mom's not all that old, either.

Your friend can make a spare cage with very little cost [or you if you're able to help her out] by using a rubbermaid tote and some hardware cloth. Full instructions on how to make one are here : http://www.dapper.com.au/articles.htm#cage

 

[groundhog593]

Even a hamster cage is better than more unwanted babies! She is lucky it was such a small litter.

Hamster cages , if you have more than one, can be adapted to be linked together.

 

[Jess<3Rats]

thanks for all your help everyone! I'll inform her straight away...
although im afraid she is shipping him off back to the pet shop tomorrow :cry:
i would gladly adopt him off her if i had boys but i have my girls :?
i hope it all turns out well for her...shes just planning on selling the dad to the pet shop and im going to help her sex the babies in about 4 weeks when they're ready and if there're any boys then they're going to the pet shop too
so unfair!

 

[SQ]

That is so very sad.
I assume that she is aware of what will likely happen to any rats she sends to the pet store ...

Rehoming would be the best option for the ratties, and for her.