I need info on a pregnant rat?

How long will she be pregnant for?
How many will she have?
Can they all stay together?(they are in a large cage with 2 females and a male.
How long do they need to nurse?
How long till I can touch them?
Anything else specail that I should know?
I have been breeding mice, Natal rats, hamsters, for a while, Is it basically the same or what should I do different?

All the info about pregnant rats you need can be found on my rat breeding website: http://www.evergreenrattery.com/careguid...

But I will give you some quick answers anyway =)

1. Rats are pregnant for 21-23 days. All of my breeders gave birth at exactly 22.

2. Rats can have anywhere from 1-25 babies, but the average litter is about 8-11.

3. NO they cannot stay together! The two females and the babies can, but the male must be removed. Rats go into a post-partum estrus, which means they can get pregnant right after they give birth. This can be very hard on the mother's body, as she would be pregnant while nursing and her second litter would be born before the first one is even weaned! So make sure you remove the male, and if you don't want any more babies, don't leave him in with the females again.

4. Rats nurse a lot, the mother will take care of all that. They stay with her for about 5 weeks, at which time they are usually fully weaned. They begin to sample food and water as soon as their eyes open at two weeks, but they still need milk til 5 weeks.

5. If your female is fine with your presence, touch them the day they are born. The more handling they get, the better bets they will be. At first be very careful and don't take them out too long, as they need to nurse. if the mother seems agitated don't bother them as she may destroy them. more about this in the link above =)

6. Everything else you need to know should be in the link I posted above. If you have any other questions please feel free to email me: info@evergreenrattery.com

Mice, rats, and hamsters are all fairly similar, reproductive-wise. Rats are generally better breeders and will take better care of their young, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Good luck with your rat babies!

she will be pregnant for 16 to 22 days.after 2 weeks.don't change the shavings until the babies get used to the smell.The website said feed her staps of fish and chicken but im not sure.After 21 days you should not let the baby hamsters nurse on the mom.DO NOT TOUCH THE BABIES UNTILTHEY ARE ABLE TO WALK AROND BY THEIR SELF IF YOU TOUCH THEM TO EARLY THE MOTHER WILL TTRY TO EAT THEM!!!she will have 16 to 17 babies so if you have a small cage you might need a large one.do not touch the mom for two weeks she might still be sore.these facts are on dwarf hamsters

About touching the pups: Be very careful if you touch them when they are very young. Only touch them for a short amount of time, and if the mother looks like she is getting stressed or aggitated you should leave them alone. Rats are much less prone to infanticide (eating their babies) than mice are, but it does happen sometimes.
Personally, I would wait for a week, then handle them daily so they get used to humans.

i have 3 female rats what all have had litters ranging from 15 to 3 babies all depends on how many she is carrying they dont normaly display any signs off pregnancy until two weeks on and then you will notice all 12 nipples becoming prominant they are easy to find.

They are pregnant normaly between 19 to 23 days max, end of the second week she should start to bulgde at the sides if you look at her from above lol and the big belly give it away lol.

When she is ready she will start nesting if you want to give bedding give her half a toilet roll, DO NOT give material cotton wool or tht shredded long paper towel type stuff the babies may get strangled... use toilet roll and that blue and white shredded discloth material she will shred it herself, she may if you have bars in you cage try to fold it into the bars as if to make a little tent/wall so you cant see in or move all bedding from one side off cage to the other or just shove everything to oneside cage mates as well lol ... as for males you could try keeping them with if you like my toffee help her own n defended herself but no off them were violent just a bit mystified all round her wide eyed some males helped and groom others dont as for other female they can stay in becuase they sometimes help rear them if theres too many if not a small nursing box til they have fur an open their eyes and reintroduce them as they will leatn how to box groom an eat of others

Feeding i gave my females cat milk or soya or kitten milk you can buy from shops in a srynge (spelling) do not give normal milk or cheese i gave them also scrabled eggs but just the eggs nothing else this is protein and nutrients. after the babies are born you can continue with the milk as it helps top up her milk and when old enough babies can have some very messy lol

When our toffee had babies she had satan my 2ft male living on the second level for about 2 days hehe.. dont do anything different with her as she will let you kno when if ur aloud a look i was lucky my females are very tame..esp nibbs had her babies she had them with me and brought them to my hand or put them down my top to look after .. give her about a day to get settled into her new role and try stroking her not babies so she knows u love her

my email is violafairy@hotmail.co.uk and i am moleogod on youtube we have lots of vids from tiny babies to them opening their eyes :)
good luck with the lil pinkies