Pets such as decorative rats have long been a favorite of many people. Experts say that rats have a special intelligence. Breeding these animals is fun.
Instructions
Step 1
These decorative rodents belong to mammals, that is, the rat feeds its offspring with its own milk. Decorative rats do not live long: 2-3 years. For reproduction, it is better to take a sexually mature animal, 6-8 months of age. It is during this period that the body is fully ready to bear offspring. The male must be selected of the same breed or similar color. The age of the male should be older than the female.
Step 2
The heat in rats passes every 4–9 days, during this period the female should willingly let the male approach her. The gestation period lasts 22–26 days. It is impossible to allow interrelated mating of rats, since in this case the offspring is born with genetic abnormalities. Such rats can suffer from cancer, developmental disorders of internal organs or infertility. There are nurseries where breeders strictly monitor the health of their pets. They keep all the documentation for breeding. Such rat pups have their own pedigree up to 4 generations.
Step 3
Caring for a pregnant rat is simple. It is better to transplant the male during pregnancy into a separate cage. If the female is worried, he can be carried away to another room altogether. All objects with sharp edges must be removed from the cage.
Step 4
It is necessary to revise the diet for your rat, because a large amount of vitamins and minerals is required for the growth and development of the fetus. If you feed animals with ready-made formula, it is enough to buy vitamins for rodents. If the diet consists of natural products, you can add cottage cheese, boiled eggs, herbs, sprouted grass to the rat's bowl. Clean drinking water should be in the cage at all times.
Step 5
Rats are burrowing animals, so they need a nest for babies. A week before giving birth, you can put a house in a cage, where the animal will give birth. The building material for the nest will be long strips of soft cloth or sheets of blank paper.
Step 6
There is no need to disturb the animal during the prenatal and postnatal period. If there are small children in the house, it is necessary to explain to them that you cannot play with the rat and take it in your arms. You can remove the cage with the animal out of the reach of children. Remove food debris from the cage daily, they can provoke poisoning of a pregnant female.
Step 7
Once the pups are born, do not pick them up or try to look at them. Under any stress, the mother rat can simply eat its offspring or abandon it. In this case, the little rats may die. Wait for the moment until the kids themselves start leaving the house.
