My rat aren't Producing...

I've had 1.3 rats for 2+ months now and still have no babies. I have 2 medium size females in one tub and a huge female in another...I rotate the male between the two tubs. He stays in each tub for about 2+ weeks at a time. The females are easily 200g+++ I've triple checked the sexes on all of them so thats not the problem. I feed dog food with no DYES at all, and have fresh water for them every day. I don't know what I'm doing wrong??


Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Shawn

First stop rotating the male. Leave him in one cage untill they have babies. Clean both cages extreamly well then put the two females and the one male in the cage. I had a spell where I had a horrible time getting my rats to breed. I now have seprate cages and will leave the one male in with whoever just weaned a litter (one or two females). That way I have pregnant females and I have the ones that just gave birth. Females give more litters if they are not pregnant while nursing.

Offer a better diet, just dog food does not cut it! For the females, they need higher protein and vitamin content for when they are pregnant and after they deliver. You shoul dbe also offering a high pellet diet and well as a good grain diet.

@ Angela: I will do that this weekend. I plan on getting another 1.1 so I'll clean out the cages and keep 1.2 in each tub all the time.

@ Shanell: I don't have anywhere to get the good rat diet. None of the pet stores around me sell any type of thing like that. The dog food I'm using is 26% Protein, 15% Fat....

Shawn,

How warm is it in the room your rats are in? Last Summer I had a production problem this time of year. Production didnt stop, it just slowed way way down during our typical 90 plus degree July and August. I came to the conclusion that it was due to the temps being in the mid to upper 80's in my rodent room.

After the Summer heat wave ended last year my production went right back up to normal levels. This year I addressed the warmer temps in my rodent room and have maintained the temps between 70-80. I have not had any drop in production at all.

It may just be coincidence, but I am pretty convinced that the higher temps caused the slow down in breeding.

Originally Posted by shrap

Shawn,

How warm is it in the room your rats are in? Last Summer I had a production problem this time of year. Production didnt stop, it just slowed way way down during our typical 90 plus degree July and August. I came to the conclusion that it was due to the temps being in the mid to upper 80's in my rodent room.

After the Summer heat wave ended last year my production went right back up to normal levels. This year I addressed the warmer temps in my rodent room and have maintained the temps between 70-80. I have not had any drop in production at all.

It may just be coincidence, but I am pretty convinced that the higher temps caused the slow down in breeding.

Those were my first thoughts. Rats stop breeding at about 85 degrees. Cool them off and they'll be back in action in no time.

i concur, temps have to be right, and vary the food, even add human food, rice, fruits vegs, bread etc. I however rotate my males only because it adds interest when a new female arrives, no problem there. When i changed their diet to OATS for horses m ixed with different cat and dog food and veges (frozen) i had better breedings and higher number of litters., Good luck with it all and let us know.

The rats are kept in the basement and my basement is always cool. So temp's shouldn't be a problem. I just checked the temps with a temp gun and I got 68-75.

Is there anyway of telling if a female is pregnant? I just checked on the female thats with the male (who has been for the past 2 weeks) and she digs alot and is bulky.


Thanks for all the help

Shawn

Most rats get pot bellied just like humans do in the later stages of pregnancy. That is really the biggest sign.