How to ensure that domestic rats do not breed. Reproduction of domestic rats

diets 18.09.2019

diets

Instruction

Rats with incredible ease and speed. Their sexual maturity occurs in the fifth week of life, so separate the males from the females in advance. Rats are not alien to incest, so separate relatives of different sexes as well.

In reproductive age, the female repeats every 4-5 days. The estrus schedule for each female is purely individual, so as not to get confused, mark it on the calendar. Usually estrus begins in the evening and lasts all night.

At the age of 18 months, females enter menopause, although individual specimens may continue to produce offspring, be careful. The best time for the first birth is 4-5 months. Childbirth in an older female can be dangerous - the bones of her pelvis have already grown together, which will make it difficult for the rats to exit and force the female to have a caesarean section. Before the second pregnancy, the female needs to rest for at least 2-4 weeks. Males are ready to mate at the age of 6 months.

For mating, a pair of two rats are connected for about 10 days. Teach, out of estrus, the female can be quite aggressive towards the male. You can notice the beginning of estrus in a female by the open vagina of a bright pink color and by her behavior - she arches her back, raises her tail, moves her ears and in every possible way shows the male that she is waiting for mating. Mating during estrus can be repeated several times - this is a kind of safety net of nature.

Pregnancy lasts 21-25 days. In some females, the belly increases already in the second week of pregnancy. Closer to childbirth in the stomach, you can even notice the movement of rat pups. If the male lives in the same cage, it is worth moving him closer to the birth, since the female can enter as early as 24 hours after birth.

Remember, a lactating female can become very aggressive. Most females are actively preparing for childbirth: they find a suitable place and begin to create a “maternity” nest. However, some females organize the nest just before giving birth. Provide the rat with clean rags, clean toilet paper is an excellent building material.

You will know about the beginning of labor by bloody discharge from the rat's vagina. Usually childbirth lasts 1-2 hours. The female helps the rat pups with her paws, licks them and bites the umbilical cord. A healthy baby rat will definitely squeak and move, otherwise the mother rat will eat the newborn, be prepared for this. The absence of movement and squeaking tells the female that the cub was born unhealthy or dead. Provide the female after childbirth with constant access to water and enhanced protein nutrition.

There are usually 10-12 babies in one rat litter. If you do not plan to leave all the rats, take care of the new owners in advance. Keep in mind, pet stores use 50-90% of rat pups as reptile food.

Rats grow very fast. Already at the age of 4-5 weeks they can be weaned, and the boys need to be taken away without waiting for the fifth week. After the eyes of the rat pups have opened (about 2 weeks after birth), you can start playing with them so that from early childhood they get used to the constant presence of a person nearby.

Related videos

O decorative rat they say that this is an animal for people with steel nerves. Many even refuse to have such a pet. However, not everyone knows about the characteristics of the character of decorative rats and the features of caring for them.

Instruction

Perhaps it is worth starting with the most important thing, namely, with the arrangement of housing for the animal. Rats are mobile animals, so a small cage for a hamster or canary is not suitable for them. The minimum size of the “dwelling” for one rat should be at least 50 cm in height and 60 cm in length, the ideal width starts from 40 cm. Particular attention should be paid to how tightly the cage bars are located to each other. If the gap is too large, the rat may inadvertently get stuck there and break its leg, or simply run away.

Since these animals like to conquer different heights, it is advisable to place several shelves inside the cage, on which the rat can jump. A small nuance - in males, problems with the hind legs are very common, especially closer to old age. Therefore, shelves that are made of wood are suitable for them, or you can cover ordinary lattice shelves with fabric. The first option is less economical, since the tree perfectly absorbs the smell and you will have to change the shelf once a month at least, while the fabric can simply be removed and washed.

It is equally important to organize a place to sleep and rest. Rats love secluded nests where you can hide from drafts and prying eyes. For this, both wooden houses, in which you can put a piece of warm flannel, and hammocks, which can be easily built with your own hands and hung from the cage ceiling, are suitable. The second option will be better, because it is, again, more economical, and also warmer and more comfortable. Labyrinths and other delights are not so important, this is at the discretion of the owner.

As for the filler, there may be a problem, despite the fact that there are a lot of it in stores.
Therefore, it is necessary to consider each species and give it a detailed description. It’s worth starting with sawdust, the most common filler that people take for rodents. They are quite economical and easy to use and clean, block the smell, but at the same time, the dust from sawdust is extremely harmful to rats. The wood from which sawdust is made also matters. Not worth taking conifers Rats are allergic to them. The same can be said about sawdust with flavorings. Wood pellets have the same disadvantages, but in addition to this, rats can still gnaw on it, especially if they are young individuals. Hay does not do any harm to the animal, but it does not keep the smell, and it is also not very cheap. Rags can also crumble into threads, in which the rat can again become entangled. The best option is paper towels. They are very easy to change, even several times a day, they perfectly absorb urine and do not cause allergies. For the price, you can also find quite acceptable options.

Introduction

Rats are very easily bred animals. They can reach sexual maturity as early as the fifth week of life, so females should be separated from males before this age. Because rats recognize incest, then brothers and sisters, and even mothers with sons, should also be separated.

There is no specific breeding season for rats, although it is very hot or very cold. cold temperature air can slow down this process. In a female of reproductive age (provided that she is not pregnant or caring for babies), estrus is repeated every 4-5 days. Moreover, each female has a correct schedule that can be noted on the calendar, but it can change. Heat usually starts in the evening and lasts most of the night.

Menopause, in female rats, begins at 18 months of age, and its cycles become less regular until they disappear completely. If at this age she continues to bring offspring, then the size of her litter will decrease, because. her fertility decreases. It is possible for a female who has stopped cycles to become pregnant, but this pregnancy will not go on as usual.

Responsible decision

Before deciding to have offspring, you should consider a few things. Here are probably the most important of them: health, age and placement of babies.

Health. To obtain healthy offspring, only those animals that do not show signs of developing mycoplasma or other diseases are selected for breeding.

Age. best time for the first birth in females at the age of 4-5 months. Trying to get offspring from a female older than 6-8 months for the first time is dangerous, because her pelvic bones have already fused and, most likely, she will be unable to normal childbirth. To save her life and the life of the offspring will have to do a caesarean section. Unlike females, the age of males is not very important. Males can be reproductive until old age. It should also be taken into account that if you plan to make your female a mother for the second time, then you need to wait at least a few weeks after she has stopped feeding the babies, this will allow her to rest, both physically and emotionally.

Offspring. Rats in one litter have from 10 to 12 babies (it is not uncommon for offspring to appear from 15-17 children!). And if you do not plan to keep them all at home, then you need to take care of new housing. Keep in mind that most pet stores sell 50-90% of rat pups as reptile food.

Mating process

For mating, the couple is connected for a period of 10 days (for safety, more can be done, given that the female has passed two estrus periods). Because the female can behave aggressively towards the male, then the pair will be better connected only during estrus.

When a rat is in heat, her vagina is open, whereas normally it is closed. But this can be seen in her behavior. A pat on the back causes the rat to perform a "mating dance" which is quite interesting. It may lunge forward or whirl in place as it whirls with its hind legs extended and tensed. The female raises her head and tail and flicks her ears. By this, she shows the male that she is ready to mate.

An interested male will begin to sniff and lick the female. After that, he climbs on the female and grabs her by the scruff of her neck with his teeth and the mating itself begins. During courtship, this process is repeated several times (a kind of insurance of nature), so mating takes some time. The female can be fertilized even for the first time, which is why the joint keeping of males and females is not recommended. Another reason is that the male himself can stimulate the female to enter estrus.

Birth planning

The gestation period usually lasts 22 days. But this period can vary from 21 to 25 days. After two weeks of pregnancy, the belly of the expectant mother begins to increase, but this is not observed in some rats. Closer to childbirth, you can see the pups moving around inside the abdomen or feel them if you gently touch the female's abdomen. If you keep a male with a female, then he must be resettled before the birth of the babies. Usually a father never harms his babies, but a female can go into heat within 24 hours of giving birth. Therefore, if you left them together, she would immediately become pregnant again.

If a pregnant female lives in the same cage with another female or a castrated male, it is good to leave them together for the period of childbirth and raising babies. Keeping two pregnant females in one cage is not very a good idea. They will not injure babies on purpose, but they can steal them from one another. Sometimes this process can turn into a tug of war and, then, the delicate skin of the baby can be damaged. sharp teeth females. Never house a new rat with a pregnant or lactating rat, as this will lead to fights.

Sometimes the behavior of a pregnant or lactating rat changes greatly. This is due to hormonal changes in her body. She may become more aggressive or less interested in games, lethargic. In rat society, the mother rat is usually dominant, even if she is usually submissive. It is also common for nursing rats to have soft, light brown stools.

birth process

Childbirth usually lasts one to two hours. The first sign of the onset of labor can be bloody discharge from the vagina. Then, contractions will cause the female to stretch while her sides are pulled in. As soon as the pups begin to emerge, the mother assumes a sitting position and helps them with her paws and teeth. Then, the female will remove the birth sac and lick the newborns. Each newborn is attached to its own placenta, which, like the umbilical cord, is eaten by the mother. During this process, healthy baby will squeal and move. This squeaking and stirring forbids the female to eat it, which is not done if the rat is weak or dead.

Most rats are wonderful mothers, but sometimes there can be problems. If the mother rat is under stress, either because of the pain of a long and difficult labor, or from an unusually loud noise surrounding her, etc. she can kill or partially eat some baby rats. Poor nutrition can also contribute to this problem. But this can be avoided by trying to remove the babies and give them to the mother as soon as she calms down.

Once the birth is over and the mother has calmed down by breastfeeding her babies, there is much less danger of her eating them. If you want to look at the baby rats, then you have to wait until she starts to move away from the nest and out of the cage. Some mothers will race to protect their babies when they hear them squeak. You shouldn't worry about your smell remaining on the rats, because. it won't make the mother leave them. But if the nursing female is very excited, then it is advisable to wait a while. Next, you need to examine the kids every day, which will monitor their health and proper development.

Difficult birth

Usually childbirth takes place without the need for outside help. But sometimes, especially in females giving birth for the first time, provided that they are older than 6-8 months, problems can arise. During childbirth, such females may go into shock. In this case, a caesarean section should be done immediately.

If babies do not appear within two hours after the onset of labor, this means that there may be problems. A rat's uterus is shaped like the letter Y and sometimes the baby can get stuck across the base of the Y. Gently massaging the mother's belly can help her and the newborn baby. If the rat is stuck in the birth canal, then you can, after lubricating it with oil for children, pull it out with the help of surgical forceps. Then the rest will be able to exit freely or with the help of oxytocin (I don’t know if we have an analogue of this medicine, but in the USA it is a means of stimulating labor in rodents). Also, during difficult childbirth, worrying about the pups, the female is able to re-draw them back. In this case, antibiotics should be used to prevent infection.

Growth and weaning

Most rats know what to do and take great care of their babies. Sometimes, there are babies (especially in a large litter) who cannot compete with their siblings for nipples. The best solution would be to temporarily separate some of the pups into another container to give these pups a chance at the nipples. When rotating a group of babies with a female, this procedure is repeated every 2-4 hours. You can leave about 4-5 pups, which will encourage the mother to breastfeed and those babies who do not have enough nipples. If such a baby is alone, then the mother cannot pay attention to him. As long as the other litter pups are fed, there will be no harm in separating them from the female for up to 4 hours. For this purpose, a container with the possibility of heating is suitable. A thermometer should be placed next to the rat pups. Use a small external thermometer (not medical). The optimum temperature will be about 38-39 * C.

Rats grow incredibly fast. Therefore, it is recommended to spend as much time with them as possible, which allows you to quickly socialize the kids. As soon as their eyes open (at 2 weeks of age), pups should be played with as much as possible. The more you interact with them, the better socialized they will be. At this age, babies begin to eat solid foods. They will either go to the feeder themselves, or their mother will carry food to the nest.

Rats can be weaned at 4-5 weeks of age, but you can leave the girls with their mother for as long as you like. Boys must be removed from the nest before the fifth week, otherwise they may mate with their mother or sisters.

Warning: If the female has a running wheel, make sure there is enough space between the wheel and the bottom of the cage. If this distance is short, then you should remove the wheel until the pups are 2-3 weeks old. Otherwise, the baby may be injured and even suffocate, stuck under it.

Translation: Alexander Damballah

Supplemented and corrected: Anna Topilina

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Many people for the role of a pet do not choose cats and dogs, but small rodents. In matters of maintenance, they are not too whimsical, they do not need to be walked, and the cage with the rodent does not take up much space (find out more about keeping decorative rats at home). Well, in order for the decorative rat not to be bored, the owners have a couple of rodents. Be that as it may, but the residence of heterosexual rodents in one cage inevitably ends with the fact that they bring offspring. And, you voluntarily or involuntarily become a passive participant, if not the organizer, of the process of breeding decorative rats at home.

Our publication is ready to tell you more about how to breed these rodents and what you need to know about all the stages of such breeding ...

Features of breeding ornamental rats

First of all, you should know that at home, colored and white rats are ready for breeding throughout the year. Therefore, if you decide to keep a male and a female together, immediately decide for yourself what you will do with the rat offspring.

Types of breeding rats

Most often, decorative rats of the same species are still used for mating, thus, pure breeding occurs, which improves the qualities of rodents and preserves the main features of their species - the color and length of the coat, body size. Such pure breeding can be both linear and family. In the first case, for line breeding a group of rodents is taken that have common parents (in particular, a male), and males will also continue such a line. Females in this case are selected based on their decorative and external features.

When it comes to family breeding, then both males and females carry the main species traits, and with this method you can quickly improve the line itself. If you want to withdraw the new kind decorative rats, then you should cross the rodents different lines or even different types.

As for the mating of closely related rodents, this is nothing more than inbreeding. In decorative rats, it passes quite easily. The exception is couples - mother and son. With the help of inbreeding, you can create a pure line and enhance the best qualities of the producers in the resulting offspring. True, it is worth knowing that

when inbreeding is abused, offspring degenerate, which becomes not so viable, and may have mutations.

For moderate inbreeding and in order to get quick results at home, it is better to use 2 females and 1 male.

Choice of female and male

In order for you to get viable and healthy offspring from your decorative rats, which would be endowed with all the characteristics of their species, you should choose the right male and female, which have pronounced breeding qualities. As for the age of decorative rodents, then females, as a rule, are most fertile at the age of 5-10 months, while if the female is primiparous, she should not be older than 8 months, but not younger than 5 months.

Preparation for breeding ornamental rats

When choosing a pair, it is worth observing the behavior of rats a little and adjusting the diet of rodents (find out here), add more greens to it and make sure that rats have constant access to fresh and clean water in a drinker. You should not overfeed the animals, especially for females, since obese rats often give birth to non-viable rat pups.

Also, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the indicator of sexual activity in males depends on the diet, age and hereditary qualities. If the male is too plump, a week before mating, he should be put on a diet and reduce the content of fats and carbohydrates in his diet, transferring the rodent to a vegetarian diet. However, it is worth remembering that the diet is varied, balanced and contains a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals.

A properly selected diet will positively affect the sexual activity of rodents.

Also, it is very important to give rodents more freedom when mating.

The fact that the female is ready for mating will be indicated by the onset of her period of estrus and hunting, changes in her external genitalia. During this period, rats should be encouraged to mate, creating favorable conditions for such a process. By the way, during this period, you should definitely include eggs, poultry, fish, chicken bones, germinated wheat in the diet of the female, abandon the boiled liver, bell pepper, strawberry and vegetable oil.

Despite the fact that we talked about the early readiness of females and males for mating, you should not do this before the time we indicated.

The estrus itself in female ornamental rats can last from 12 to 24 hours and be repeated every 4-10 days. Therefore, it is worth being aware that after childbirth, if you do not separate the male from the female, re-mating of rodents may occur.

Mating in rats occurs regardless of the time of day, but most often it occurs at night. At the same time, the mating acts themselves can be interrupted by games, caring for each other's coat and food.

How do you know that the mating went well? If the female does not come into the next estrus and after 2-3 weeks her belly will increase in size, the mating went well, and the pregnancy has come. If the female is alone, she can not be separated from the male. But, if 1 male and several females live in a cage, then it is better to remove the male for this time or isolate the pregnant female.

Pregnancy in ornamental rats

From the first days of pregnancy, the behavior of the rat changes. She becomes more calm and picky about food. As the pregnancy progresses, the contours of her body change, and the rat more and more resembles a pear in shape. Just a few days before giving birth, the rat begins the nesting period, she equips her nest, and at this time the female is quite aggressive.

Even the most tame rat can bite its owner's finger, so it's better not to touch and pick up the future mother.

The pregnancy itself lasts 20-24 days and at one time the rat brings from 8 to 15 pups. For 1 year, the female can bring 9-10 litters.

Caring for a pregnant rat

If you place a pregnant female in a separate cage, you should equip her accordingly. There must be a nesting house, you can use paper (but not newspapers) as bedding. There should always be a grain mixture in the feeder, and clean water in the drinker.

In order for a rat to build a nest, you must provide it with pieces of cloth, paper, and dry grass.

Try to protect the female decorative rat from stress, as they can cause a miscarriage.

Feeding a pregnant decorative rat

In the first half of pregnancy, include poultry, fish, chicken cartilage, and apples in the female's diet. Limit liver, broccoli, and oat and wheat sprouts. Do not give her tomatoes, garlic, onions and bell peppers.

In the second half of pregnancy, the female should eat poultry, cottage cheese, fish, nettles, apples, chicken cartilage, but she should be protected from lettuce, egg yolks and cucumbers, grapes, onions, garlic and raisins.

Childbirth in decorative rats

Try to ensure that the decorative rat is calm during childbirth, as fright can cause spasms and interfere with labor. As a rule, childbirth with the normal development of pregnancy proceeds safely and rat pups are born within 1-1.5 hours.

Rats breed very quickly and many owners of these animals have problems with unplanned birth of babies. Rats reach sexual maturity at 5 weeks of age, so males should be separated from females before the critical moment arrives. Rats do not know what incest is, so not only brothers and sisters must be seated, but also sons and mothers. Rats do not have a specific breeding season, although extreme heat or cold can reduce their sexual activity.

In sexually mature females, estrus occurs throughout the year - every 4-5 days, with the exception of the gestation period. Although sometimes even early dates Pregnancy once or twice may be in heat. Each female goes into estrus on a fairly regular schedule, and her dates can be marked on the calendar, but sometimes there are deviations. Usually estrus begins in the evening and lasts most of the night.

At the age of 18 months, rats approach menopause, and the cycle becomes irregular at first, and then stops altogether. If the female mates during this period, then the number of babies born decreases, as fertility decreases. The female can become pregnant even if the cycle has stopped, although, most likely, the pregnancy will be with complications.

domestic rats ( Rattus norvegicus) can mate with black rats ( Rattus rattus), but the babies do not survive. Either the embryos are rejected by the mother's body, or the babies are born dead.

If you decide to breed rats, there are a few things to consider. First, do not allow animals that are sick or affected by mycoplasmosis to breed. Only those rats that do not have any symptoms of diseases can be bred. respiratory tract and, therefore, they will be able to resist the penetration into the body of mycoplasma. Secondly, rats bring quite a few babies, 10-12 on average, so unless you plan on raising them all, you should take care of a new home for the babies in advance. Keep in mind that most pet stores sell 50-90% rats for reptile food. If you have come to the decision that you will allow your animals to have offspring, then your task is to ensure that these offspring are healthy and well socialized.

When breeding rats, attention should also be paid to the age of the parents. For a female, the most suitable age to become a mother for the first time is 4 or 5 months. If the female is 6-8 months old, then the first birth will be dangerous for her, since her pelvic canal is narrowed, and there is a risk that she will not be able to give birth to babies normally. In this case, a caesarean section may be required to save her life. If a female of any age has had problems with a previous birth, do not let her mate a second time.

For males, age is not such an important indicator. Even in old age, males can successfully fertilize a female.

If you want your female to give birth a second time, then wait a few weeks after she finishes nursing the babies. She needs time to recover from previous births both physically and mentally.

The mating process in rats. For this important matter, you just need to keep the female and male together for 10 days. This guarantees you that the female will have two heats during this period. But since the female can sometimes be aggressive towards the male, it would be better to put them in the same cage directly during estrus. This method is also suitable if the animals belong to different owners, since then they spend only one evening together.

Rat estrus can be recognized by several signs. First, during this period, her vagina is wide open, while at other times it is tightly compressed. The second sign is that if you stroke the female on the back, she usually starts the "courtship dance", which can be a very interesting sight. First, she jumps forward and spins in place, then tenses her paws, raises her head and tail. Her ears begin to tremble. All these signs make it clear to the male that she is ready to mate.

The male will immediately become interested in what is happening, will sniff the female, and possibly lick her. After that, the male climbs onto the female, firmly holds her by the scruff of the neck with his teeth and begins mating itself. During courtship, this process is repeated several times, but basically, these are preliminary games. Usually, the male takes several approaches to complete the act, and mating lasts for some time. However, a female can get pregnant after a single intercourse, so don't let your boys and girls play together unless you have a goal of having offspring. Even if in this moment the female is not in heat, a determined and persistent male can sometimes stimulate her with his actions, so we repeat once again - keep your unsterilized animals separately.

Females in estrus can sometimes escape from the cage to go on a "date".

Planning for the birth of rat pups. Pregnancy usually lasts 22 days, sometimes 21 or 23, very rarely the period can last up to 26 days. In the second week of pregnancy, the mother's belly usually begins to increase, but this does not always happen. As the due date approaches, you can see the babies move in the mother's belly, or you can feel them move if you gently stroke her belly. The mammary glands also begin to increase in the second week.

Mothers need little - good nutrition and physical activity. A few days before the expected birth, provide her with material for building a nest. If the male lives with the female, then before giving birth, he must be transplanted. The father rarely harms the babies, but all females go into heat again within 24 hours of giving birth (called postpartum estrus), so if you leave them together, she will immediately become pregnant again.

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wild conditions

The mating season in rats begins in the spring, both in domestic and wild ones, i.e. The time to produce offspring is the same for everyone. However, there are already differences.

In nature, the rate of reproduction of rats is low. They mate only in spring and summer. This happens because of the living conditions. If the region in which the population is located is cold and humid, mating rarely occurs. Usually these areas can be Far North, taiga, jungle and so on. The reverse situation occurs if rodents live in a warm climate.

During mating, the male hunts for several females at once, after which each becomes pregnant in turn. The pregnancy itself lasts only a month, sometimes less. Before giving birth, the female equips a nest for the future offspring: she collects straw, leaves, branches, digs a hole and lays it out there. collected materials. Then he brings food there, the stocks of which should be enough for the first weeks of the life of little rats. Usually about ten or fifteen cubs are born at a time.

The cubs themselves are born completely naked, blind and incapacitated. Many functions of their body do not work, for example, digestive, which is why the mother licks their bellies so that all metabolic processes return to normal. But a little time passes, the rat pups grow hair, after seven days their eyes and ears open, after another week their teeth erupt, and towards the end of the month they can already move around on their own. By this time, the rat pups turn into real adult rats and are able to live independently, separately from their parents, but they reach the size of an adult only after a year.

Puberty in adult rats occurs when the growth processes of the body and organism have not yet been completed. In fact, at the age of several months, the rat can safely breed.

Home conditions

The difference between domestic rats and wild rats is small, but their reproductive processes still proceed differently. The main difference is the habitat. Rat in wild nature constantly subject to environmental changes. Frequent rains, winds, frosts, long and hard winters, droughts, heat, all this affects the health of the rodent, which reduces fertility and causes various complications.

Although rats are able to live in almost any conditions, even in areas contaminated with radiation, but difficult conditions force rodents to rebuild their body for them, as a result of which some of its functions begin to work differently. Domestic rats are not affected by this.

The domestic rat reaches puberty after thirty to forty days from birth. If you breed rats, then many males, just like in the wild, will hunt for females, mating with them in turn. If you have one rat in the cage, to which you settled the male, then nothing like this will happen.

Once a rat has become pregnant, it must have access to all the materials needed to build a nest. She has no nutritional deficiencies, so the pregnancy proceeds calmly. Childbirth occurs on the twentieth day after fertilization. Newborn rat pups of domestic decorative rats are no different from wild ones, they develop the same amount of time and go through all stages of growth. And it’s quite difficult to distinguish them from mice, except perhaps in size. Read about the difference between rats and mice here.

If some rats are born dead, then the mother eats them. Sometimes the living suffer the same fate. This is explained by the fact that there are too many individuals in the population or there is a serious danger nearby. This feature is inherent in all rats, both domestic and wild.

Factors affecting reproduction

Despite the fact that rats breed a lot and often, there are a number of factors that have a serious impact on the reproductive functions of the rodent organism.

Environment

plays an important role in the life of any living being environment. Man is able to cope with this by building warm dwellings, creating clothes and other things to protect himself from the effects of the environment. Rats do not know how, so they learned to adapt.

These rodents adapt perfectly to any climate, but the climate itself changes the rodents so that they do not die. So, if the population happened to live in frosty areas, the number of cubs that the female will give birth to will be sharply reduced. The quality of the offspring will also suffer, as many pups will be born dead.

Food

Poor nutrition has an effect on adult rats. Domestic rodents always have access to healthy and tasty food, so they are full of energy and always healthy. Wild rats eat what they find under their feet, and this food is far from always useful for their body. Quite often, a rat can eat some kind of poison, but not die and suffer poisoning, but its body will already be seriously harmed. Read more about rat poisons in this article.

living conditions

A hostile environment is often the main factor that disrupts the reproduction process. In a stressful state, when traps are placed everywhere, or there are predators, female rats have a hard time enduring pregnancy, miscarriages often occur, and dead rats are born. Just as mentioned above, because of the constant danger, rats may eat live young to protect them from predators. Carrying live rat pups from place to place, the female often endangers them. Naked babies just freeze while the mother wears them in her teeth.

Ecology

Chemical emissions into the atmosphere, radiation, contaminated soil also adversely affect the health of rats. If the transferred poisoning can affect several individuals, then the constant presence in the infected zone affects the entire population. Childbirth is difficult, pregnancy too, mutations and the absence of a reproductive system in general are observed. The degeneration of the population begins.