anyone got photos of a prenant rat about mid term or so?

[Petunia]

got 3 foster girls on maternity watch

according to what I was told, the last time they were with males was Aug 6th

that would mean that they'd be 15 days along IF they mated and are pregnant
My feeling is that none of them are pregnant, but I've never had a pregnant rat so what do I know LOL

they don't have big bellies. I just started weighing them and in a single day, the gains are only +4, +4 and +8 grams
The +8 grams girl is the only one who has a wee bit of a roundness to her belly but not much.

from what I've been reading, rats often don't look pregnant until the week before they give birth, SO I"m guessing if they are, they will start to show it soon.......?

I hope for their sake that they are not pregnant but since I've never fostered babies it would be interesting for sure

 

[SQ]

Weigh them at the same time each day and record each girl's weight so you can track their weights.
That way you can see if there is a pattern of steady weight gain
Yes, if pregnant they should start to show soon they would be in their final week of pregnancy - unless they are having a back to back litter
but if a girl is having an extremely small litter she might not look pregnant …… they can have 2 to 26 babies with 12 to 14 being average size litters
But the only rattie girl I personally know that had a litter of 2 babies was quite young

 

[Petunia]

OK I got them on Sunday and started weighing yesterday

How important is it to get the time exact? Today I was 2 1/2 hrs earlier to weigh them (10 am yesterday, 7:30 am today)


there is the possibility that one of these girls had a litter already. The shelter that had these girls found a couple of babies and did not know who the mom was. They ended up trying to hand feed them and lost most of them partly because they didn't know what they were doing. They also didn't know that they could have put them in with one of the other nursing moms who had babies the same age.

We don't know how old these girls are, they are small- with initial wts of 226, 246 and 252

they are now 230, 254 and 256

The one that's gained the 8 grams is the only one who does not have a flat belly. The other two do not look the least bit pregnant to me.

they would probably at least have a bit of belly by now, wouldn't they?

 

[SQ]

The time is important, but wouldn't stress about it … lilspaz68 always says the same time, I expect because eating, activity etc will alter weight

The normally balloon up in the last week ….. but not necessarily if it is a tiny litter
You will definitely know in about 6 days

How horrible!! Those poor babies and their poor mama

 

[mvZD]

It really is hard to tell until those last few days! The first pic was my girl 4 days before she gave birth. That was when she first started to show. And the second pic was the night before she gave birth.

 

[Petunia]

oh wow that's a big belly!
I don't think any of my foster girls are pregnant, they'd be at least 16 days along now and no big jumps in wt. When they are climbing the bars, their bellies look too flat.
They 're not even chubby, let alone preggers LOL

But they are manic, skittish, super fast nutballs, this is going to be a huge challenge, trying to socialize them.
I don't know how I'm going to get them out for play time, I'm pretty sure they will jump off a table, or climb out of the tub, and my bed is no good because the boys are in my bedroom

yep I've got my work cut out for me LOL
Just getting the girls out to weigh them requires the kind of quickness and reflexes I'm not sure I've got at my age LOL

I hope they settle down. Going to make a bonding pouch with a good sturdy closure so I don't lose these ones