When to seporate babies!!!!!!??????

[ejpratz]

I read a website that said that it was best to keep a litter of rats together for 6 weeks because it helped them socilise and develope but it also said that males become fertile at 5 weeks and can make the females pregnant. Should i seporate them at 5 weeks or at 6 weeks?

[BadRattitude]

I separate at 5 weeks.  Some do it earlier and some do it later.  Sometimes it can depend on the maturity of the litter, some small litters with big babies mature rather quickly and I've had to separate a litter at 4 1/2 week because of that.  I would not wait until 6, I've seen adult behavior in some larger mature babies at 4 1/2 weeks and that is just a risk I'm not willing to take.  I would not separate earlier than 4 1/2 weeks though.

[Sunilata]

I agree with BadRattitude, but if your babies are six weeks already and you are just separating them, I wouldn't panic. While he may be the exception, the guy who I got my first two rats from (he had an accidental litter out of a Petco rat) didn't separate the babies until 6 weeks and a few days of age. He didn't end up with a single pregnant rat in the bunch, including the mother, and some of those boys were BIG. I wouldn't recommend what he did or anything, but it's just FYI.

[TheChicagoCrew]

The babies should be separated no later than five weeks of age. Personally, I like to be on the safe side and separate just after 4 wks (30 days) and never later than 5wks (35 days) of age.

-Melina

[Sorraia]

I read a website that said that it was best to keep a litter of rats together for 6 weeks because it helped them socilise and develope but it also said that males become fertile at 5 weeks and can make the females pregnant. Should i seporate them at 5 weeks or at 6 weeks?

Both five or six weeks are equally good. I know several breeders who do not separate until six weeks, and they have never had an accidental pregnancy. I personally separate between five and six weeks, depending on how mature/developed the babies are, and have never had an accidental pregnancy either.

[VegetarianPetLuvR]

From what I've read and heard (no first-hand experience here!) I'd go with 4 1/2 weeks, just to be safe.