Not sure if my girl is pregnant??

[ambearpig]

Okay, so I had a friend rat-sit for me a few weeks ago, now i'm a little concerned I may have a pregnant girl.
I've marked the last possible date for when the girls and boys would have been together, and if my counting is correct she would be just starting her third week if she IS pregnant.

I've also read that lots of rats don't show their pregnancy, so if you don't see it happen then it's really just a waiting game!
I've done a TON of reading and researching on what to do if she IS indeed pregnant, so i'm very prepared just incase!

Here's the low down:
My girl, Ford is her name (names after Harrison Ford haha), she's still going through trust training with me, but has be making awesome progress. So she is still a little skitish of hands comming towards her and what not, doesn't really like being held or pet but loves taking treats and will ocasionally groom me She is a few months under a year, so may 8-ish months.
I've attempted checking her for her heat, but as she's rather skittish it's somewhat hard to do. But I don't THINK she's shown any tell tale signs. My boyfriend thinks that her behavior has changed, she's a bit more docile. however that could be due to the trust training as well. I think i've noticed a bit of a chub on her tummy (i'll post pic's at the end) but she hasn't ballooned up like other pregnant rat pics i've seen. She's started sleeping outside of the houses alot more often and curling up and sleeping on her head alot as well. She's still just as active as usual.
So alot of things point to saying she isn't pregnant, but I cant help but worry!
Anyway here are some pics of her, tried for tummy pics


^These two are most recent, taken a couple of days ago

^This one would be from about a week ago.
I believe she would be 17 days in.
Any opinons?????

 

[patchesboo]

it looks like she could possibly be pregnant. I've never had a pregnant rat before, but I have had pregnant mice. hard to tell for sure. what is the gestation period for a rat? some point, you should be able to feel the babies. could you take her to a vet and have her examined?

so I take it your friend had her in with un-neutered males. I'm just wondering why.

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[ambearpig]

Yeah she did mix the genders. I assume she just didn't know :s I have informed her now though XD She has rats of her own, the boys, she lives a ways away and doesnt drive we descided it may be easiest if we just temporarily move my ratties over to her place. She wasn't really having it any other way, they did have seperate cages. by the sounds of it she took them out together during play time kinda thing.

i unfortunatly don't have the money for a vet visit I've started putting some money away incase there is a problem. And e-spays i believe are super expensive in my area.

A rat gestation people is 21-23 days i think, about three weeks.

 

[lilspaz68]

IF she's pregnant she doesn't look like she'll have a big litter but the last week is definitely when she will gain weight. So the last time your friend had his males "playtime" with your girls was 14-15 days ago?

if you really want to know, pick up a digital scale, and weigh her daily at the same time each day. Record the weights, and let us know. We can help you determine pregnancy.

She may just be settling down and getting a more adult figure *fingers crossed*

 

[Joanne]

She does look like she may be developing a baby belly. Did your friend skip health class when they talked about the birds and the bees?
The more reading you can do, the better. There is an off-chance that she may need emergency care if something goes wrong during the birthing process. The older the rat is, the more risky it is. Keep a close eye on her. Hopefully everything will be OK. Perhaps your friend would like to pay for any vet visits necessary since she is the cause......
Do you have a baby-safe cage available? Or an aquarium for the first couple of weeks?

 

[ambearpig]

She's new to owning rats or small animals, i think maybe she was mostly unaware how often and quickly they go into heat etc perhaps was expecting them to bleed like dogs do? I dunno. She's helping out here and there, and is willing to take in some babbies if the need be. i may request vet visit money or at least some, but it was a mistake.

I have made a bin cage in the mean time (luckily i had storage totes and most of the hardware already), untill the babies start wandering etc i'll keep an eye out for a better cage.

We've also managed to find family and friends who are interested in adopting if it does turn out that way.

I've been watching her behaviour everyday. She's fairly inactive today so far (though it is daytime where I am at the moment) she's awake but has only poked her head out of her house. She hasn't done any nesting of the sort. And a few days ago she was really restless seeming, running around the cage.

I'll try to pick up a scale soon hopefully before it's to late. It should be about 18 days ago that I picked the rats up from her, so that would be the last possible day. i think she only had the two genders together for play time, thinking that it's not enough time for anything to go down.

 

[dspch911]

:gaah: Its not a mistake - its completely preventable!!! You don't put intake males and females together !!!!!

 

[Joanne]

When I adopted my girl Jazzy, we knew that the previous owner had put her in with her brother. We still weren't sure she was pregnant but I became suspicious and put her in a cage by herself when she seemed extra bulgy and restless. She had her babies that night! So you might not really know until she pops. If you make it past 25 or 26 days, you're probably safe.