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Natal Rats...

It must be the strain that determines how handleable and tame they are. Everyone I've spoken to, both in person and online, has the same problems with the natal rats here in the US. They don't like being handled and bite a lot. Some seem more aggressive than others, but none like being handled like you show in your pictures.

With my first 2 litters I attemped to handle them a lot, a couple times a day from birth. By the time their eyes opened they no longer allowed this, they would jump away every time and refuse to be handled.

With the current CDC (Center for Disease Control) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration) ban on imports of African rodents do to the MonkeyPox scare, we are stuck with the strains we have here in the US so I don't see it getting any better. Plus since they are almost exclusively bred for feeders, the strains that are here have been extensively bred for generations with minimal to no handling.
 
Flagg said:
Well you lucked out there if they actually let you hold them.

I've been trying to socialize the new litters but once they reach about 2-3 wks they just jump away and don't want to be handled at all. So far the little ones aren't biting, so I'm hopeful.

Growth rate after 3 wks now is even slower than mice. At 26 days I just culled 3 males and they were only about 15g each.

Female 1 had her 2nd litter yesterday, 13 this time up from 8 the first time.
Click to expand...

Something that was suggested to me is that Natals need as much fresh vegetable material as you can give them - which would also increase the litter size dramatically (as in "Give them fresh veg and their litter size doubles.") They aren't mice and shouldn't be fed like mice - they need a rat diet, and the more variety, fresh food and protein you can give them, the better.
 
They get fresh vegetables almost daily, as well as a mix of various grains like whole oats, barley, wheat, rolled oats and millet. This in addition toi a sonstant supply of quality Harlan lab blocks in a lab block hopper. This is the same diet that I feed to my pet rats.
 
I have sen it go both ways and frankly I've never seen one advantadge to adding/supplementing with fresh veggies.

I simply do it to try and tame them down a little bit.

Right now their supplements are millet spray, an occasional carrot, and the isolated mothers get an additional scoop of rodent chow much like the hamster or gerbil foods in major stores.

I've never seen it produce one whit of a difference in dozens of colonies of gerbils, siberian hamsters, natals, rats, ICR mice, or any variety of rats- the best foods are still the high quality pellets from harlan or ziegler.
 
bribrian said:
Well, after an unsuccessful first litter, i appear to have at least 12 babies in this one. Fingers crossed that they look after these. I have to say that i'm very impressed with the lack of smell from them, certainly makes up for they're vampire attitude. Pics taken at 3 days old....
Click to expand...

Happy days mate.
I've still nothing but a number of females do look pregnant,I think
are Ricky's had a couple of litters.
 
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