does she appear pregnant?

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I subscribed to your channel :p and ya she defiently looks a big pregnant, have you tried feeling her belly for movement?
 
i'm not sure what to feel for! i looked on google images, and it seems like the babies are located on the ventral side of her lower tummy, correct? so would i need to be feeling in that location? how would i tell the difference between fetal movement, and just her breathing? i've gently touched the protruding area of her tummy, and it does feel 'hard' and not squishy like the fat on my male rats. haha i'm sorry for all the questions! this is quite the learning experience.

and thanks for subscribing to my channel! :D
 
Ya I'm no expert on this i kinda just assumed you can feel little kicks with a rat like a human mom to be :giggle: but no its probably WAY different lol, I will never know I don't plan on having babies ever :giggle:
 
She does look preggers...

I am wondering if she might be considered "high white". If she is, then there is a chance the babies may have a problem with megacolon. This is something you might like to look into as well.

Here's hoping everything goes smoothly!
 
Yeah, I did a ton of research on megacolon and high white. Its not clear to me whether or not shes high white or not because of the silvering and lack of clear borders on many of her facial markings. Either way, I did do lots of research and I'm prepared to deal with whatever happens...thanks though for the tip - I really hope it all works out ok.
 
We had a boy with megacolon and he was a black hooded. It will be apparent fast if something is wrong with the babies. Ours was so much smaller than the rest of them. Here is to hoping for a small litter.
 
I'm hoping for a small litter too! In the meantime, here is a happy picture of her snoozing on my bed! :)

2sBE6SK.jpg
 
I just hate not knowing for sure! It's killing me. I can't wait till my scale gets here tomorrow!

She's not 'very' round (especially compared to some pictures I've looked at of obviously pregnant rats), but her nipples are showing still, she does have a pear shape, and seems to eat more frequently than my males and other two females. I feel like shes getting lonely being in the baby-safe cage by herself, so I try to put her on the couch with me as much as possible, and I also gave her free roam of one of my rat-proofed rooms this morning for about an hour. My 'rat palace' where the boys live is also in that room, so the boys were able to sniff her between the cage bars. My youngest buck got a little squirrelly when he smelled her through the bars, but she wasn't phased and just moved on to explore the rest of the room. I've been watching for her to go into heat, but she hasn't shown any of the usual outward signs of it - even when she was exposed to the scent and presence of the boys, she didn't seem interested in them or what they were doing.

My understanding is that pregnant rats will cease to cycle through heat, and normally a non-pregnant rat can be put into heat by exposing her to males (even if its just their scent). Can the fact that she didn't respond at all, or even seem interested be another sign that shes pregnant?
 
It could be, but it just dawned on me, wouldn't it be easier just to take her to vet and let them help you to tell for sure? They could listen to fetal heartbeats more likely i would think, or an xray
 
I would definitely not expose a pregant animal to x-rays! I think that taking her to the vet would be expensive compared to just waiting -- it's free!
Every day I check this thread, expecting babies... :D
 
I can't thank you guys enough for all this help and advice! I did give my vet a call on Friday when I suspected her pregnancy (I don't remember if I mentioned this or not so sorry if I'm repeating myself), and the vet gave me her cell phone number in case there are any issues with delivery or the babies during non-business hours. To be honest, I'm not sure if my vet is a 'small animal specialist', because she does treat dogs and cats - but I've brought two rats into her before and shes been very knowledgeable and helpful - so I am comfortable with continuing to use her. She said based on my description, it does sound like shes pregnant. I'm scared to bring her into the vet (as long as she continues to be healthy at least) because I think it would be really stressful. She just seems to be coming out of her shell finally as well and adjusting to her new home!

I checked the amazon order, and the expected date for my kitchen scale is Monday (tomorrow).

You guys are going to be the first to know if she gives birth, I promise :)
 
Minor update: I have no idea whats going on with this rat, but I'm watching her now and she seems very restless and busy grooming her tummy (shes spending a lot of time grooming her nipples especially) and her bottom. I'm probably going to jinx myself, but shes acting a like a total busy body and cant seem to sit still (even though she had over an hour out of the cage today to roam).Shes been digging at the bedding and paper towels on and off, but hasn't made a nest or seem too overly interested in the nesting material since I first gave them to her on Friday. I don't know what to think!

This is her preferred position to sit in tonight - back on her butt instead of her hind legs.
sGiPJks.jpg
 

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