when is too soon for babies?

[raspberry_]

I was woundering when it is too soon to let your baby rats to the adopters? mine are about 3 weeks old . I found homes for all But the one that wasacadentaly bitten by the mother a couple days after birth and I belive that he is blind in one eye . so my e-mail is : dittzellskid@yahoo.com if you are interested.you can also PM me

[scout]

Most breeders wait until the rats are 5 weeks old. At that age, they should be fully weaned and on solid food. They're no longer dependent on mom for their needs. You should also separate the males from the females by this date so the brothers don't get the sisters pregnant!

[Heather]

Since 4 weeks is alittle soon, and 5 weeks runs the risk of the males impregnating the females, I'd seperate 4 1/2 weeks just to be safe.

[BabyBlue]

Separate the babies before 5 weeks, but I would feel more comfortable keeping all the babies until they're at least 6 weeks old. I just don't like to see them go so early, when they benefit so much from being around their mom/other adults and learning everything.

[stodda29]

Hm...this seems to be turning into two questions:  when to separate the babies, and when to adopt them out.

I think anywhere around 4 weeks is good to separate, just to be sure to get the boys out of the way before they start getting ideas--I've seen rats weaned as early as three weeks without any apparent ill effects.  So long as they're kept with their littermates, they'll still have company and other rats with which to cuddle up, and they can be given some extra protein in their diet (cat food, etc) just to be sure they're getting adequate nutrition.

When you choose to adopt them out is really up to you.  Five weeks seems to be the most common.

[copperfieldmemory]

i seperated mine for short periods of times at 3 weeks say for 2 hours with solid food and moved up till they were completely weaned

[hyper_muse]

I agree with the 4 1/2 weeks to seperate and the 6 weeks to send them off to their loving little homes