My rat is lethargic, not eating. Could she be pregnant or sick?

The gestation period for a rat is normally 22 days, but can vary from 21 to 23 (and rarely to 26). A postpartum pregnancy will last 28 days. Two weeks into the pregnancy the mother's abdomen will usually start expanding, but not always. As the birth approaches, you may be able to see the pups moving inside her, or feel them if you gently feel her abdomen. Her mammary glands will also start to enlarge two weeks into the pregnancy. The birth process normally takes about an hour or two. In general, the mother rat will deliver a new pup every 5-10 minutes. In rats, the average litter size is 6-13 pups. The first sign is a bloody discharge from the vagina. Next, the contractions will cause her to stretch out while her sides suck in, in a most amazing way. Once the babies start arriving, the mother will sit up and help deliver them with her hands and teeth. Then she will clean off the birth sac and lick the newborn. The mother will usually eat each placenta and the umbilical cord. During this process a healthy baby will wiggle and squeak, which inhibits its mother from eating it too. However, if a baby is weak or dead, this inhibition may not occur. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If Chaos is housed with males, pregnancy may be changing her behavior. However, the signs you describe are pretty nonspecific, meaning that they can go along with a large number of conditions. There are a few things you can do to collect some more information - check to make sure that Chaos’s teeth align properly, check for any blood or diarrhea in the cage, and check Chaos for any swellings or masses. In the chase that Chaos has a contagious disease, I recommend keeping her separated from the other rats. There are vets in most towns/cities thatsee pocket pets, so it would be best to have Chaos evaluates as soon as possible.

Gestation in rats is only 21 days (21 days from mating to delivery of pups) so if Violet is pregnant you likely won’t have long to wait. Generally by 2 weeks after mating you will notice that their belly is distended. If so, keeping them singly housed until delivery and until the rat pups are weaned at 3 weeks is recommended. In addition, not disturbing the Mom/not changing the bedding for the first week after delivery is also recommended to prevent stress induced cannibalism of the pups. Veterinary ultrasounds are usually hundreds of dollars but call around at both traditional and exotics practices, some may offer ultrasounds at a minimal fee for a rat. In the meantime, make sure that Violet has plenty of food and water as well as nesting material like cotton nestlets/cardboard huts. Good luck!

Based on what you are describing it does sound as if Lucy is very ill. I would recommend either having her rechecked at your veterinarian or asking for a referral to an exotic capitalistic that can perform more specialized tests on small mammals like blood work, x-rays, and ultrasounds. Based on the age of your rat she may have something more serious going on like an internal infection or cancer. In the meantime, try to encourage Lucy to eat as best you can by offering her her favorite foods and/or syringe feeding her some baby food. I'm sorry to hear that she is not doing well and I hope your vet can help you find answers. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This is a quite generic but concerning presentation. Differentials are many, from gastrointestinal or respiratory diseases (infection/inflammations) to any disease that can spread systemically (causing lethargy for example) like infection, and anything that can cause pain/discomfort. A check up is needed if the signs last for more than 24hours. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

it does not mean she is pregnant, rats can sometimes be aggressive to each other without any good reason. pregnancy in rats lasts up to 24 days, you will have to wait until then to find out if she was pregnant (if she lives with a male, she probably is).

When you trimmed them at home, you may have cracked one of the teeth or made them jagged- this would cause her pain or rub on her tongue or cheeks.. Also, sometimes they have other teeth in back that grow long that you can't see. She needs to have a vet look at the back of her mouth with a scope to see what is happening in there and then give her some pain meds that are safe for rats. In the meantime, keep trying to feed her soft food like baby food, cooked egg, non dairy yogurt, oatmeal etc to coax her to eat.