The Ratty Facts of Life: Sex Ed 101 for Randy Rats and Their Confused Owners
Q: What are the technical terms for male and female rats? For baby rats?
A: A male rat is called a “buck” and a female rat is called a “doe.” And,
no, they don’t grow antlers as they age, that’s for jackalopes
only. Baby rats are called kittens, pups or, fancifully, rittens (rat +
kitten = ritten.) I prefer ratlettes when being silly myself. Newborn baby
rats
before they grow in hair are called pinkies (even though they look more
like toes
to me.) A group of baby rats is called a litter. A group of baby rats learning
to eat mushy solid food is called disgusting and messy yet still strangely
cute.
Q: Do female rats go into heat like female cats and dogs? What are the
signs?
A: Yes, they do. The signs are hysterical. Females in heat will often
wiggle their ears furiously and dart around the cage. If you scratch
them on their
backs, particularly by the base of their tails, they will hunker down,
bottoms in the air, ears vibrating wildly. Flapping ears are the rat
equivalent of
fluttering eyelashes. Not all rats in heat will do this hilarious behavior,
but many will. If your girl in heat lives with other females, sometimes
they will mount each other during this period. It’s sort of the rat equivalent
of those horrid “women in prison” movies. Just look away and
try not to giggle too hard.
Q: How often does a female rat go into heat?
A: Every 5 days or so.
However, placing a female not in heat with a male can make her go into
season sooner. Big sexy boy rats can have that effect
on the
ladies. As can Barry White albums and soft candlelight.
Q: At what age do rats become fertile?
A: Rats can become pregnant
at 6 weeks of age, which is why it’s
a very good idea to separate them by gender by that time. Unlike with human
beings,
there is no stigma in the rat world against incest, so brothers and sisters
can and will mate with one another if left together longer than 6 weeks.
Q: Is it true that female rats’ pelvic
bones fuse at 7 months of age if they are not bred before then?
A: No, that’s a holdover from the world of guinea pig breeding but does
not apply to rats. Breeding a female rat over the age of year for the first
time can be problematic for other reasons. Just as human females are told that
they can have trouble conceiving or delivering after a certain age, older female
rats can have the same issues. Likewise, breeding a very young rat under 3
to 4 months of age can be problematic as she’s still growing and
maturing.
Q: What is the best age to breed a female rat?
A: There are multiple schools
of thought on this, but in my opinion from my own personal experience,
I prefer to wait until the female is at least
4 months
of age, provided she’s of good size and weight, and not to breed for
the first time once the female is older than 10 to 12 months. For a second
litter, up to 12 – 14 months seems to be safe. Again, this is from
my experience and your mileage may vary.
Q: What is the best age to breed a male rat?
A: Not unlike human males
(see Tony Randall), buck rats can produce offspring even into old age.
Personally, I often like to wait until the buck is
a year or so if I have any worries about health or temperament to see
if anything
unfortunate pops up. Also, though many males can be fertile long into
old age, they do tend to be less fertile as they age, so breeding by
the time they turn
two or so is a good way to hedge your fertility bets.
Q: How many times should a female rat be bred in her lifetime?
A: I personally feel breeding
a female more than three times is a bit taxing for her. I realize that,
in the wild, they can and do have more
litters
than that, but I prefer to take no chances with my beloved ladies.
In personal point of fact, I’ve never done more than two litters with a given doe but have
known good responsible breeders to do up to three with no ill effects to the
does’ health.
Q: How long between litters should I wait before breeding my doe for
a second or third time?
A: Personally, I like
to wait at least 6 weeks after the previous litter was weaned, which
is usually by 5 weeks or so. However, you may want
to wait longer
depending on the state of your girl if she’s not as robust as she was
pre-pregnancy. I have found that pregnancy and raising a litter tends to beef
up my does a bit (my human mom friends concur with that assessment in themselves)
so don’t be surprised if your slender young thing is a bit more robust
post-babies.
Q: How many babies does the average litter contain?
A: The average rat litter
size is between 8 and 12, though I’ve seen
litters as large as 16 to 18 and as small as 1 or 2.
Q: Should I have my girl spayed? Are there any health benefits?
A: Anecdotal evidence suggests
that spaying your females at 3 – 4
months of age can drastically reduce their chances of developing mammary
tumors
later in life. Do be certain your veterinarian is experienced with rat
spays before
having the operation performed.
Q: Should I have my boy neutered? Are there any health benefits?
A: There does not seem
to be any real health advantage to neutering male rats. However, if you
have a particularly aggressive male, neutering
can work wonders
as a hormonal attitude adjustment. In many cases, it also reduces the
amount of urine marking that males do. Do be certain your veterinarian
is experienced
with rat neuters before having the operation performed. If you are
planning to move the neutered lad in with unspayed females, wait at least
3 weeks
post-surgery to be sure that all active sperm is gone so that your
fellow doesn’t
have a “last hurrah” with your ladies.
Q: When does my female rat hit menopause?
A: Generally, females are
not fertile after 1.5 to 2 years of age. However, as with all females,
ages of menopause can vary wildly, so I find it
is very unwise to place an unspayed female of any age in with an unneutered
male of
any age unless you are quite prepared to deal with a late in life litter,
which can be riskier than litters for younger females.
Q: What questions should I ask myself before deciding to breed or not
to breed?
A: Some of the big questions
you need to ask yourself are:
1: Do I know the health background of the intended parents well enough?
Are these rats who are prone to tumors? Susceptible to myco inflammation?
Pituitary
tumors?
2: Do I have enough homes for all the babies? Given that the average
litter size is 8 to 12 babies, it’s imperative that you have some homes
lined up before you breed. There are a lot of rats languishing in shelters
or being
put to sleep or released into the wild where they die horribly, so be sure
that you do not contribute to that sad trend.
3: Do I have enough funds set aside for food and vet care as needed? You
will have multiple extra mouths to feed, not to mention vet bills should
something go amiss with delivery.
Q: This is embarrassing to ask but, uh, what does rat mating look like?
A: The receptive female
will hunker down with her hindquarters raised and the male will mount
her from the rear and wiggle about furiously.
Mating
usually
lasts only a few seconds with the female darting forward out from under
the male. She will generally go a few steps then hunker down again
to await the
male’s mounting. Mating can occur many, many times in a session.
The male will also often groom his genitals after a session of mating so
as to,
uh, freshen up before having another go at things. Hey, you asked. No,
flowers and chocolates and dinner beforehand are generally not included
in the process.
Rats are just not known to be romantics, really.
Q: What is the mucous plug?
A: The mucous plug is,
well, a little plug of mucous that forms in the female’s
vaginal canal after the male deposits his sperm during mating. It’s
not always visible with every successful mating, but it is distinctive
looking (and gross) and perfectly healthy and normal.
Q: My female has some blood on her vaginal area post-mating. Is that
normal?
A: A very small amount
of blood is normal if the mating was prolonged or very vigorous. If
the female is passing clots of blood, get her to the
vet pronto
as there
is something wrong internally that needs vet care. This is true for
does who were not mating – unlike humans, female rats do not
menstruate so any bloody vaginal discharge is the sign of something
wrong and should
receive
vet care ASAP!