My 8 week old rat may be pregnant, if we remove her to give birth will her mate get depressed?

Question

We have just brought home two beautiful 8 week old female rats from a pet shop. They were in a cage with both sexes and one of our girls is a little larger than the other. We are suspicious of her being pregnant. I have heard that you have to remove the pregnant female from the other female rat due to behaviour issues. I have also heard that if one rat gets removed the other may suffer depression due to being seperated from her friend. My question is are these scenarios true and what is the best way to avoid depression in the rat that has been left in the cage by herself? Also what are the tell tale signs of a pregnant rat at 8 weeks of age and how long after birth can i put the two girls and possibly the babies back in the cage together? Help!

Answer 1

Yes, you should separate the female for birthing and raising. The best way to prevent depression is to spend a lot of time with them both and let them have outside play time while mom is rearing the babies.

Mom will really enjoy a break from the kiddoes to go socialize with her friend. Just don't let the sessions go too long as mom does need to nurse her babies.

Babies need to be separated by gender by five weeks of age and at that time all the females can go into one cage providing it's adequate size. The males can go in another.

Here's more information:

http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/ratin...