When should a female rat have babies.?..She is acting weird!

Question

About 2-3 weeks about I bought a rat and she was in the same cage as about 10 other rats I told the lady she looked preg. and she said she might be. Ans she is!..Her stomach is getting huge and today she moved all her bedding and everything to one side of the cage. and she is sitting in one part of a clean cage. Can anyone tell me how long it takes a rat to have babies??? Or what is going on???

Answer 1

Rats are pregnant for about 21-23 days, so if she looked pregnant when you got her, it's probably getting pretty close.  (Though, usually they don't start showing til they're at least a week along, so if you got her 3 weeks ago, she wouldn't be pregnant still.. But that theory.)

They usually start nesting a few hours before birth.  If she's stretching a lot, and just looks uncomfortable, labor could be starting.  Babies are born typically one every 5-15 minutes, and once she's done she'll lay down and nurse them.  Just give her some privacy, and I'm sure it will all go fine. :)

If for some reason, she is bleeding from her hind end, and there are no babies and she appears in distress, it's important to get into the vet ASAP or you could risk losing her and the babies.  Occasionally a baby can get stuck in a rats' uterus (Which is kind of Y shaped) and you can feel it if you gently rub on her belly.  You can try rubbing her belly gently to help it get moving again, but it's best to just have a vet see her.

Answer 2

Like a month.

Answer 3

It can take 7 to 10 days but here is an article about breeding behavior you may need

Good Luck