Originally Posted by
Kitty0911
I may consider doing this, but I don't solely breed them for "scientific" purposes. Their health and the pups health are extremely important to me and the people who purchase them. Breeding a rat more than once can cause some health issues in the babies. I may consider breeding each rat twice (once on LE and once on HE diet) but I really can't do it more than that without risking the pups health. When I started breeding years ago I noticed pups born to mothers who had previously gestated had a very high risk of dying in the first weeks of life. Mothers would have the usual 8 or so pups, but I'd lose half the litter by the time the pups reached 2 weeks of age. The mothers also seem to have a harder time birthing babies when they are bred multiple times. I've had a mother die during a birth after her third breeding. Since switching to breeding only once I have not lost a mother during birth since. The babies' and mothers' health is why I made sure the rats still got their usual pellets during the weeks before mating. I wanted to make sure they were still given access to the proper vitamins and minerals to establish a healthy pregnancy and produce healthy offspring. I'm sure standard rats would do fine with being breed multiple times, but my dumbo rats don't do too well with it. :shrug:
