Things to Think About Before Breeding Rats: mother rat eats her young

» weensue - mother rat eats her young

Your article was so informative. I had a huge upset yesterday when one of my females (housed with another female) gave birth unexpectedly. We got her two weeks ago out of a feeder tank, and she didn't even look pregnant at all. I thought she was hurt, so I disturbed the pipe she was in in her cage, and out tumbled 7 babies. We took the other female rat out, but with all the excitement, she began eating the babies. It was so difficult. I removed the other 6 at first, but all my local vets say to "let nature take its course" and told me that I could never hand feed newborns. I had to put them back in and see what she did, and this morning they are all gone. I'm quite upset. For what other reasons do mothers do this? I know she's a young mother, so maybe that has something to do with it. Can someone please help me to understand what happened? I'm still blaming myself...

-- posted by weensue