# Rat depressed after babies have left?



## kerolie (Jan 24, 2013)

I recently bred my rats (had already got homes for babies before I bred and intended to keep one though in the end I didn't), there are 2 males left from a litter of 15, these 2 are 6 weeks old and so are separated from their mum to prevent them mating her, they are being picked up at the end of the month. Mummy rat is back in her old cage with her sister

Since I took her from the babies cage a few days ago she seems to have been sulking in her new cage. Just sitting in a corner and staring out, she won't come up to me or take food from me or play with her sister. I've seen her eating and drinking though but she won't take treats that I offer, she's normally nearly biting my hand off for one!

Can rats get depressed after their babies leave them? She had been with them all for 5 weeks so I expect she will miss them and had gotten used to being with them all. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Shall I move baby rats cage near to hers until they leave so she can smell them or something?


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## blade100 (Aug 24, 2009)

At what age did you sell the babies?
And what was the reason for you to breed your rats?


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

I have done some research for you and can not find anything.
I think you should get her a vet appointment, she might just be sad that she doesn't have her babies or it might be more serious.

Hope she is back to her normal self soon.


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## kodakkuki (Aug 8, 2011)

if you have sold them all at 6 weeks then that could well be a factor- none of mine left until after 8 weeks, and the mommas stayed with the girls until the last ones left- i kept 3 in total myself, so the mommas had some of their babies going into the big cage with them, so can't help on that front.
what i will tell you is that yes, rats can and do suffer depression- very seriously at times. when Reid (one of my original pair) died, his brother became depressed to the point of self mutilation- he was tearing chunks of his hair out so hard it was removing skin as well.
you need to speak to a vet anyway- if it is that she is pinning after the babies i'm not sure what to suggest, but if there is an underlying issue then the sooner it is fixed the better!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Rats are very sociable animals, and I would guess that if all the babies have been taken away from her - yes, she is depressed. I would be


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## kodakkuki (Aug 8, 2011)

Lurcherlad said:


> Rats are very sociable animals, and I would guess that if all the babies have been taken away from her - yes, she is depressed. I would be


one of my 1yr old babies has been separated to recover from a tumor removal... her mom is upset about her being away even at a year old! lol. but my girls are all weirdos! :lol:


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## kerolie (Jan 24, 2013)

Eeek Koda, that sounds bad with your rat hurting himself, poor thing  luckily mine still looks healthy and just appears to be in a sulk, but I'll take her to the vet anyway for a once over

Blade I sold the babies at 6 weeks, they all left between Saturday and today except this last pair who are going at the end of the month since the new owner lives far away. I had read lots of different things about selling anywhere between 5 and 8 weeks, depending on the website. Since they were split from mother at 5 weeks anyway to prevent more breeding I left them another week to check how they were doing away from mum, then let people collect them. Mum did stay with the girls until the last one was taken then she moved back in with her own sister. 

I decided to breed because I've owned rats on and off through my life and wanted some new additions, I have 2 males and 2 females in huge (different) cages built for 8 rats, it felt a shame to waste the space and I had time for more. I couldn't find anybody selling rats near to me (can't drive) unless they were quite old or poorly looking, or from pet shops where they aren't tamed. All the ones I saw in rescues websites were "must live alone" which would defeat the point of getting it. I would much prefer to know where the rat came from and know how tame it is, so decided to breed. I advertised the spare babies that I didn't plan on keeping for sale before I bred and had been talking to people interested for months, I've made a few friends through it actually! When they were born they were all already reserved.

The mother had 15 babies and after sending people picture updates and letting them pick ones they wanted, they chose maybe 3 or 4 instead of 1 or 2. So I gave up the spare ones that I'd keep and let them all go since I knew they'd be going to great homes and staying together (which was harder than I thought it would be after getting attached to them all!) 

I will probably breed again in future if the mum is up to it, or use her sister and I will keep girls for sure this time to stay with her. She seems a bit more active tonight and has taken some cat food from me, but I'll book her in the vet tomorrow as well just to make sure, I am feeling quite sad that the babies have gone so I dread to think how she feels, bless her! Just have never seen a sad looking rat before so wasn't sure if it existed


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