Two Litters of Rat Babies!

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oof! I'm sorry for your loss, it's hard seeing them so tiny and vulnerable and then nature taking over. Rough!!

Do y'all think it would be okay to start letting the two litters play together? I don't know why I haven't though of this before! I'm sure I will end up keeping a few so it would be nice if they were all socialized.
 
In my situation i had both mommies and both litters in the same cage from day one. Both moms, even begore the second gave birth, took care of the babies keeping them warm. Once the second lotter was born they both shared the feeding and caring for the babies. In my case there were and are no issues with the litters being together. There are even two other female rats in the cage with them.

In your case it would be a matter of introducing the litters to each other. As for the babies i doubt you would have issues but the moms might be a different story. Just like introducing any other rats to each other, keep an eye on them and be ready to act fast. The moms might feel threatened by another mom or the different babies. At the babies age, them by themselves might be fine meeting other babies but still be ready for anything.
 
If they've been separate, I'd be more worried about the moms than the babies. How old are they now? Are they close to being weaned? If so, then you could intro the moms to the other litters in a neutral place. The babies should be fine to put together as long as the moms are OK with each litter.
 
Just going to insert my two cents here: I had one accidental litter several years ago. There were ten babies, and only one failed to thrive. The mother did not consume the deceased baby, so I had to remove it from the cage myself.

In any case, one thing I felt I should note: While I've only raised the one litter (albeit, a large one), I can't help but wonder if the mothers' in the Kay O's case were/are simply stressed out, resulting in the infanticide. I had my rat for two weeks before she gave birth; she had ample time to settle in before the babies came along. By that point, she had bonded pretty well to me and was very comfortable in my presence and in her habitat. I think that made a huge difference in her behavior, and why nothing gruesome occurred.

I'm so sorry you had to deal with all this, Kay! What you experienced was definitely not an enjoyable introduction to rat breeding. :(
 
Most like what happened is the babies passed away and moms do clean up the mess and area, this is highly instinctual with rats in the wild not leaving anything for predators.
 
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