I have a female Dumbo rat and a male Medium rat (though he's really fat and bigger than my Large rat.), and my friend and I have been trying to mate them. The male is interested, and the female is in heat, but the female does not seem interested in mating with the male. In fact she seems a bit afraid of him. She resides in a cage with another female, a Hairless rat, and she mounts her a lot when she's in heat (which is typical), but still, she seems uninterested in the male.
I was wondering why this is? If anyone can help, that would be wonderful. I want baby rats :)
And yes, I've studied up on breeding and I'm absolutely prepared for it.
I'm just stumped as to why the female seems so uninterested in the male.
I was wondering why this is? If anyone can help, that would be wonderful. I want baby rats :)
And yes, I've studied up on breeding and I'm absolutely prepared for it.
I'm just stumped as to why the female seems so uninterested in the male.
Our rodents are the cutest things ever!
:D
there are no dif,. types of rats
just colors :)
just colors :)
So you're prepared for breeding?
Do you know the health and temperament history of your rats parents? How about their grandparents? Are these pet store rats? Do you have a LOT of money saved back? What are you going to do with the babies?
What you're doing is terrible. All you're doing is adding to the problem of rats in shelters. If you're looking to make money out of this, you'll be putting more in than you'll get back.
If you really care about your rats, you'll stop now before she gets pregnant. It doesn't sound like you're a reputable breeder so in my opinion, you have no business breeding these rats at all.
Edit : I never said breeding was wrong. Its only wrong in instances like this. Its clear to me that you're not breeding rats from reputable breeders because you've called one a "medium" rat. That tells me you got it from pet store. There's no such thing as a medium rat. They're all the same. Its just older than the "small" rats and younger than the "large" and "jumbo" rats. I just hope you're prepared. I feel sorry for the rats. You could be breeding in genes for cancer, tumors and URIs.
Edit yet again : No hun. They do NOT tend to grow to that size. But fine, I'll answer your question. She's probably already pregnant so she isnt in heat any longer which would be why neither are interested in mating.
Do you know the health and temperament history of your rats parents? How about their grandparents? Are these pet store rats? Do you have a LOT of money saved back? What are you going to do with the babies?
What you're doing is terrible. All you're doing is adding to the problem of rats in shelters. If you're looking to make money out of this, you'll be putting more in than you'll get back.
If you really care about your rats, you'll stop now before she gets pregnant. It doesn't sound like you're a reputable breeder so in my opinion, you have no business breeding these rats at all.
Edit : I never said breeding was wrong. Its only wrong in instances like this. Its clear to me that you're not breeding rats from reputable breeders because you've called one a "medium" rat. That tells me you got it from pet store. There's no such thing as a medium rat. They're all the same. Its just older than the "small" rats and younger than the "large" and "jumbo" rats. I just hope you're prepared. I feel sorry for the rats. You could be breeding in genes for cancer, tumors and URIs.
Edit yet again : No hun. They do NOT tend to grow to that size. But fine, I'll answer your question. She's probably already pregnant so she isnt in heat any longer which would be why neither are interested in mating.
Rat owner for 7+ years
Just to correct you, there is no such thing as medium or large rats. Petstores that sell rats for the purpose of snake food, categorize them by size for the snake owners to know which to get. They are all the SAME rat type, just at different growth stages, and thus ages and sizes.
The dumbo rat is mounting the hairless NOT for sexual reasons, but only to display dominance. The 'humper' is telling the 'humpee' she's the boss. They also wrestle and groom each other to act out dominance as well.
Their heat cycles occur every 4-5 days. Just about the only sign that a female is in heat is if you touch her back end, she will raise it up and arch her back a bit. They do not normally hump when they are in heat, and if she is doing that, I highly doubt it has anything to do with her heat.
How old is the female? It might be that she is too young. It is safe to wait until say 3-4 months before breeding. Breeding to oearly can harm her (and her babies) and might explain her disinterest.
If she is old enough, you probably just didn't have them together at the right time, where she actually was not in heat. Unless you are able to determine when she is in heat, you should have thm copulate 5 days in a row, to ensure that her fertility perdiod was put to use for certain.
The other thing, what arrangements are they meeting under? The female needs to go into the male's cage, not vice versa, and not on a neutral ground.
The dumbo rat is mounting the hairless NOT for sexual reasons, but only to display dominance. The 'humper' is telling the 'humpee' she's the boss. They also wrestle and groom each other to act out dominance as well.
Their heat cycles occur every 4-5 days. Just about the only sign that a female is in heat is if you touch her back end, she will raise it up and arch her back a bit. They do not normally hump when they are in heat, and if she is doing that, I highly doubt it has anything to do with her heat.
How old is the female? It might be that she is too young. It is safe to wait until say 3-4 months before breeding. Breeding to oearly can harm her (and her babies) and might explain her disinterest.
If she is old enough, you probably just didn't have them together at the right time, where she actually was not in heat. Unless you are able to determine when she is in heat, you should have thm copulate 5 days in a row, to ensure that her fertility perdiod was put to use for certain.
The other thing, what arrangements are they meeting under? The female needs to go into the male's cage, not vice versa, and not on a neutral ground.
where did you get the rats at. if it was petsmart be prepared for problems. also do you have homes for 20 babies, more if you are breeding the hairless.
your female might already be pregnant. my question is why do you want babies. Trust me on this its hard. I had 5 females and 2 males. My sister put them all in the same cage while i was on a vaction and the females got pregnant. I had over 50 rats.
female rats from petsmart are not good mothers. mine abondoned her babies so i had to get another mother to raise them. ps you dont know everything about breeding otherwise you would know that breeding two females at a time is recommended because if one mother abandons her babies you have another one to watch them and take care of them. petsmart rats have not been raised properly and have been stripped away to young. they sit in the back for a month before they hit the floor.
your female might already be pregnant. my question is why do you want babies. Trust me on this its hard. I had 5 females and 2 males. My sister put them all in the same cage while i was on a vaction and the females got pregnant. I had over 50 rats.
female rats from petsmart are not good mothers. mine abondoned her babies so i had to get another mother to raise them. ps you dont know everything about breeding otherwise you would know that breeding two females at a time is recommended because if one mother abandons her babies you have another one to watch them and take care of them. petsmart rats have not been raised properly and have been stripped away to young. they sit in the back for a month before they hit the floor.