Might have rescued a pregnant rat?

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Wren_theRat

New Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2022
Messages
1
Location
United States
Hey everyone, first time rat owner here and I think I might have rescued a pregnant rat. I have of course done my research on pregnant rats just in case, but I'm still not quite sure what to do. We got her and her friends a few weeks ago (Maybe 2½ ?) and these past few days she's been gaining a lot of weight, and I'm not quite sure if it's fat or babies.
I have felt her tummy a little bit and I couldn't feel much, but I've also heard that it's not safe to do that, so I'm honestly very lost on that part. I currently am feeding them strawberries, very plain rice, and the occasional unseasoned egg. My females and male are currently not separated, as I've heard and read that rats don't need to be separated unless they start to get aggressive. If the rat does happen to be pregnant, I might see if I can get the male spayed, as I only have enough room for my current rats, and 1 litter of 9 until I can rehome them. (Yes, I have done some calculations, and I have very small rats.)
Any tips and tricks to identification and care of a rat pregnancy?
 
First things first, if you have an intact male in with intact females there are good odds all your girls are now pregnant. You absolutely must separate males and females who are intact. For the potentially pregnant one you can keep an eye on her nipples and make sure that she has nesting materials in case but without a gram scale it's a guessing game. The best thing to do is to make sure they have a good rat pellet(like Oxbow) and fresh vegetables that are safe for rats, occasionally fruits too but you have to be careful with the sugar intake and if babies happen to arrive you can adjust the diet as needed.
 
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