# naked rats



## wrinkles (Nov 2, 2007)

we have just been given 2 naked rats, and are looking for some advice. never had rats before, only hamsters. my problem is 1 week after they arrived one has produced 13 babies  any advice greatfully recieved!!! mommy is so far very happy, feeding babies ect. we've moved daddy from the cage into one on his own, can we pair him with one of the boy bubba's when they are old enough? and leave a girl bubba with mom? we are trying to learn fast! so any help is great.


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## Lavenderb (Jan 27, 2009)

Hi there, naked rats are great. I have 2 myself. When were the babies born?

I'm asking because female hairless can sometimes have problems producing milk for their babies so you need to see if the babies have milk bands in their tummies. Keep checking for this as even though she may be feeding them fine now, the hairless female's milk can dry up sometimes.

You did the right thing removing the male as he can impregnate the mother again quickly after birth.

Yes the mother should be fine with one of her daughters, and the same with the father and one of his sons although males can be sometimes harder to introduce to each other.

Have you any pictures of them?


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## wrinkles (Nov 2, 2007)

hi, thanks for the reply. i have checked there little tum's and all have the milk band you discribe  she seems to be a very good mommy, so far! they are a week old now.

when would it be safe to clean out her cage? she has had them in a very tiny house, so i brought her a bigger one but she show's no interest in moving them. do i just leave her to it? dont want to interfer and make her leave them.

so much to learn!!!!


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## Lavenderb (Jan 27, 2009)

It should be fine for you to handle the babies now. Be wary of the mother though as sometimes they can be very protective of their babies and may bite you.
You can clean out the cage if you feel it needs it as a build up of ammonia from urine will not be good for the rats.

The more you handle the babies now, the more tame and sociable they will be. I handled my babies from about 2 days old and the boys I kept are extremely tame due to this.

The babies will need to be sexed and at 5 weeks of age the males need to be removed from the mother to prevent them from breeding with her and their sisters.

Would love to see some pictures of them if you can do this.


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## wrinkles (Nov 2, 2007)

ive had a sneaky look and it seems we have black and whites, and maybe whites. mom seems fine with me looking, so ill try and get some piccys  guess i need to get on with finding some new homes  do you fancy some more naked bubba's


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

you want to put 2 babies of the same sex in with mum and dad because if you keep one baby with the mum then when mum eventually passes on your left with one younger rat on her own!

congrats on the new arrivals.
make sure you handle the babies from a couple of days old!!

5 weeks....i'd sex them at 4 weeks to be honest at 6 weeks they can reproduce so if i were you i'd sex them at 4 and seperate at 4.5 weeks old.
you can actually sex them at around 1 week old maybe younger from what i've seen of other rat web site breeders.


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## wrinkles (Nov 2, 2007)

ah good idea, didnt think of that. will keep a couple of both sex'es then  is there anywhere that is best to advertise them?


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## Lavenderb (Jan 27, 2009)

wrinkles said:


> ive had a sneaky look and it seems we have black and whites, and maybe whites. mom seems fine with me looking, so ill try and get some piccys  guess i need to get on with finding some new homes  do you fancy some more naked bubba's


Depends where you are located lol


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

fancy rats web site in the re homing section is a good start.

http://fancy-rats.co.uk/community/


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## tagalong (Jan 28, 2010)

Are they completely bald ?
this is a true hairless -they look like this from day they are born -you can get dark skin pigment markings but nil fur !









sounds like babies might be double rex if you think they are white ?
where abouts are you ?


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## wrinkles (Nov 2, 2007)

thats for the advertising tips  and yep they are true hairless


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## wrinkles (Nov 2, 2007)

oooops forgot to add, im in Rugby, Warwickshire.


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