# OMG 17 babies!!



## Jewly (Dec 19, 2008)

I woke this morning to find that my pet rat Layla had given birth to 17 babies and I couldn't believe it. It's her first litter and I was expecting about a dozen but was amazed to see so many healthy little babies. My other girl gave birth to 11 in her first litter and I thought that was pretty good.

Out of this litter I plan to leave her with about 5-6 and I will cull the rest.


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## KaaTom (Dec 19, 2008)

OMG thats heaps... my girls have only ever ha max of 13... CONGRATS


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## pythons73 (Dec 19, 2008)

The max ive ever had was 19 but 3 were dead,17 is a great size litter,depending on what size you need they do take a bit longer to grow,atm ive got 45 rat pups,im letting them grow a bit this time..


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## gozz (Dec 19, 2008)

my biggest was 19 rats mice 17


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## CHONDROS (Dec 19, 2008)

22 rats 25 mice


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## Jewly (Dec 19, 2008)

Gee...22!! I think I'd die if I saw that many.

I don't mind if they take longer to grow because I'm currently feeding my snakes on large fuzzies so it will only be a couple of weeks before I have to cull them. Poor little bubbies. :-(


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## Rhiannan (Dec 19, 2008)

mine used to have 19, ull find she'll prob cull a few her self so she has a managable size, mine used to


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## Jewly (Dec 19, 2008)

Rhiannan said:


> mine used to have 19, ull find she'll prob cull a few her self so she has a managable size, mine used to


 
Umm...what will she do? Will she kill them, eat them?

This morning I did find her removing a couple of the babies out of the hide and I wondered why she was doing this. I wonder if she is just going to stop feeding those ones?


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## Scleropages (Dec 19, 2008)

KaaTom said:


> OMG thats heaps... my girls have only ever ha max of 13... CONGRATS


 
meh! , only 17:lol::lol: don't kull , save there little lifes 

*Got about 2835682653563 mice out of this one in the vid 

YouTube - Baby mice , haha






* maybe not the true speak!( but heaps of mouse anyhow)


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## Jewly (Dec 20, 2008)

Oh my, so many baby mice. I'm assuming more than one mouse gave birth to them all...lol


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## Hetty (Dec 20, 2008)

Most I've gotten is 20, the female has the litter at the moment, but unfortunately she culled her litter back to 18.


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## centralian11 (Dec 20, 2008)

my best was 23 but i always cull pinkies down to 12 as i found that is about the most they can handle . I then cull fuzzies down to 8 and let them rear the 8 ..Bigger weaners that way .
Your girl did agreat job producing that many first litter . I have always found that the second and third litters are the best but some girls always produce heaps . They are the ones that i use as producers of my future breeders..
Barry


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## Jewly (Dec 20, 2008)

Hi Barry,

What will happen if I leave all 17 in with mum. Will some just not thrive? I'm planning on culling about half when they are about 2-3 weeks old.

Julie


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## centralian11 (Dec 21, 2008)

i find that 17 is too many for a single female / I would take 5 as pinkies as it is better to have 12 well grown weaners than 17 unhealthy ones and a mun who is completely worn out,. You just may have to buy a hatchy to eat those spare pinkies . 
Barry


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## Vixen (Dec 21, 2008)

Jewly said:


> Hi Barry,
> 
> What will happen if I leave all 17 in with mum. Will some just not thrive? I'm planning on culling about half when they are about 2-3 weeks old.
> 
> Julie


 
If she hasnt culled any herself she will probably manage, but they will grow a bit slower and a smaller litter size would - but that shouldnt really matter if they are going to be pets anyway.

One of mine looked after 18 bubs from pinky - weaner and she and all the babies turned out perfectly healthy.


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## LullabyLizard (Dec 21, 2008)

God thats allot!


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## Jewly (Dec 21, 2008)

centralian11 said:


> i find that 17 is too many for a single female / I would take 5 as pinkies as it is better to have 12 well grown weaners than 17 unhealthy ones and a mun who is completely worn out,. You just may have to buy a hatchy to eat those spare pinkies .
> Barry


 

lol...I don't need any encouragement!! I already have so many pets as it is.


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## Jewly (Dec 21, 2008)

VixenBabe said:


> If she hasnt culled any herself she will probably manage, but they will grow a bit slower and a smaller litter size would - but that shouldnt really matter if they are going to be pets anyway.
> 
> One of mine looked after 18 bubs from pinky - weaner and she and all the babies turned out perfectly healthy.


 
I've decided to leave her be for the first few days to see what she does. If she were to try and remove some of the babies and not feed them, then I would humanely kill them but if she is coping alright, then I will let her raise all the babies for the first 2-3 weeks.


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## Jewly (Dec 30, 2008)

The babies are now 11 days old and mum is coping fine with feeding so many bubs. All are a good size and doing well but the runt of the litter died a few days ago. It won't be long before I will cull probably 12 of them but I will let her raise the remaining 4 and sell them back to the pet shop.


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## sigridshurte (Dec 30, 2008)

most i have had is 18 for rats but then they steel all the other babies in the cage and they end up with like 30 or more LOL


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## Jewly (Dec 30, 2008)

Laylah (the mum) used to do that when Bella had her first babies. Sometimes they would have a little tug-o-war with the babies even. I have Laylah in a separate cage this time around but I might put her back in with the other 2 girls once she's down to just 4 babies.


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## solar 17 (Dec 30, 2008)

*rat litter [sizes]*

l believe they cope if you feed them accordingly, l feed mine twice daily with fruit,veg,bread, lucerne pellets and chicken bones...my biggest clutch is 25 [once only] but l have had several in the low 20's, my average clutch is 15-17....l firmly believe in [what you feed is what you breed]....cheers solar 17 [Baden]....ps l have 2f x 1m per 94 litre tub....


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## TWENTY B (Dec 30, 2008)

my girl seperated then into 2 groups so she could manage them easily.


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## Jewly (Jan 3, 2009)

The babies are now just over 2 weeks old and it's time for them to go to the gas chamber. 

I feel sorry for the poor little bubs cause they are so cute, but my snakey's have to eat. At least I don't have to do it myself, cause a local guy has offered to do it for me.

:cry::cry::cry:


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