How long should I wait to clean my rat's cage after she has given birth?

Question

My rat had her babies in the early hours of this morning (will be about 15 hours ago at least). This is my first time having baby rats and I'm not sure when I should clean away the blood stained bedding, especially as the babies are all siting on it and I'm not sure whether I should touch them yet. Also taking away the bedding they are sitting on would mean destroying Jezabell's nest she has made for her babies. I don't want to cause them any harm or give Jezabell any reason to think they are unsafe, so any advice you could give me would be much appreciated. Cheers :)

Answer 1

You should not disturb her for at least 3 days after she has given birth or she may eat her pups.

hope this helps.

Answer 2

My mother rat has 7 babies,i cleaned her cage out about 3-4 days after she had her litter and it didnt bother her at all,i took her and the babies out and placed them in a little plastic carrying cage,after i cleaned the cage i set the baies in the same place she had her lil nest,she arranged the litter the way she wanted it and piled her nest back up.They are now almost 3 weeks old and i have cleaned the cage several times without any problem.

Answer 3

Wait until the pups have had there first feeding. You need to get in there to check whether all of the pups are alive. But also be careful, some mother rats are tigers when it comes to there babies. Some if they really trust you wont care but others will try to take fingers off. After they have had there first feeding and if she will let you stick your hand in the cage, pick the babies up one by one and inspect them. Do they look healthy, are they fat and so on and so forth. Get a soft blanket to put them on and cover them up as you inspect them. After you have them all out of the cage, take out the bloody bedding and replace with new bedding on that side. Dont try to do a thorough cleaning. This will stress mom out. She might not necessarily eat her babies but after having that many you dont want her stressed at all. You might want to put a box or house in the cage and put the babies under the house or inside of a box with a blanket that has no holes in it. Most of time you can just load the box with bedding and put the babies in the bedding and they will be fine. Mom will rearange them if she doesnt like how you have put them in the there. Make sure she has fresh food and water. You also need to supplement her diet now that she is feeding for all of them and is loosing all her nutrients and proteins through the babies. Baby rats are 2 cute but do grow fast. Good luck.  I have loads of experience with this. I used to breed and now I rescue. I have 7 years of experience with pet rats. Mom should be fine. And before you know it your babies will be all grown up. Ohh and make sure that you dont give any of the babies away till they are at least 5 weeks old. And if you have any males, seperate them by the time they are 6 weeks old from the females. Males will start mating at the age of 6 to 8 weeks old. And they dont discriminate. Mom could get pregnant by one of her sons. Good luck

Answer 4

The mother must be left with her babis until they are fully weaned at 4-5 weeks, but they will not be ready to go to new homes until about a week after weaning (in order for the breeder to make sure that the babies are well handled, healthy, and of good temperament). To preserve the health and condition of the mother she should be allowed a rest of at least a month after weaning one litter of babies before she is mated to produce another.

Answer 5

25-35 days. But you can use a spoon (plastic) to scoop up poops as you see them.

Answer 6

Dont touch them! She may eat them from the smell youve left on them