Could my rat be pregnant???

Question

my 8 week old rat is a female and the pet store she was at had her mixed in with about 10 males. i think she still might be to young. so how old do rats have to be to be able to mate?? and is there any possible way she is pregnant? i don't think she is, but i just want to make sure. i don't want any babies right now.

thanks

Answer 1

yuck!

i HATE rats.

their not pets. their just discusting!

Answer 2

Rats can reach sexual maturity at 5 weeks of age, so yes there is an extremely high chance that she is pregnant. Different sexes are supposed to be separated at this age. Rats don’t recognize incest, so brothers and sisters and even mothers and sons must be separated. You will definitely start to see immediate changes in the abdomen area soon if she is. Agression toward you will raise as well. Please email for more questions.

I do not know the average weight of rats at 8 weeks old, but I do know that she shouldn't have packed on too much weight if she is. Weigh her right now and then monitor her weight as each day goes by. If you start noticing rather dramatic changes after week two, she is pregnant.

You won't hurt the babies as long as you gently stroke her stomach.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Rats Can start breeding at 6 weeks old! and it is very possible that she could be Pregnant! if she was in with males that's a good point that she is! if u start noticing her nipples being more Visible and she eats more looking PEAR shaped and big in the abdomen and she gets more aggressive towards u than she is! but wait a little while if she gets bigger take her to a vet and fin out 100% but most likely! good luck!

Answer 4

Rats are usually bred at about 6 months. But its possible for some rats to be bred as early as 5 weeks. The gestation period isn't long though (3-4 weeks), so keep an eye on her.

Answer 5

yup  3 weeks and shes all grown up  

Answer 6

why a rat?

Answer 7

call a vet! good luck!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 8

in a word, yes

Answer 9

well i dont think your rat is pregnant beacus a rat can only have babies in a year old.

Answer 10

Did it wear protection?

Answer 11

at that age, she would be too young to get pregnant

Pet store owners would never put animals together if they knew they could get pregnant, it would only leave a greater problem for them

Answer 12

if it is fat yeah

Answer 13

The chances are that more than likely your rat will be pregant. Don't panic as this sometimes happen when pet shops don't do their research. I work in a pet shop and i know the fight i have to convince people i know what i am doing when it comes to seperating genders as there are so many shops out there who are ignorant. If your rat is pregnant she will get fatter towards the end of her 21 day pregnancy. Keep weighing her and only handle her gently so not to make her uncomfotable. When she gets massive provide her with a hut to give birth in with lots of tissue and toilet paper to make a nest with and let her do the rest. you will notice her slimline waist and the tiny chirps of babies when you get up in the morning as she will more than likely give birth at night. As she is so young try to resist looking at the babies and dont clean out her cage for a fortnight as distrubing her may stress her enough she may harm them. When they are 2 weeks old they will come out of the nest on their own, only when they have their eyes open should you handle them. At 4 weeks you need to seperate them into boys and girls, have a look on the net to seek how to do this with pictures, it is pretty easy as males are well 'equipped' shall we say by 4 weeks. At 6 weeks you can re-home them or keep the girls with mum and boys in another cage or whatever you decide to do. Bear in mind she could have 9 on average mind so you may end up with a full house! When she is milk feeding her babies offer her some scrambled egg to keep her protein levels up and you should prehaps consider keeping one of her daughters with her for some life-long company as rats are really better off in pairs! :)

Hope this helps you x

P.S You could of course been VERY lucky and she may not be pregnant at all. Although she is young she should be fine with rasing her babies. I've had a few cases of this myself, people bringing them to the shop telling me another shop had sold them a pregnant baby rat. *rolls eyes* Just one of those annoying things sometimes :) x