How Soon Can Rats Breed?
WouterWhen breeding rats, you need to know how soon they can breed. Usually, females and males can’t be bred until they are one to one and a half years old. You’ll want to wait until the males are healthy and don’t develop any aggression before breeding them. Also, you should avoid breeding the females until after the litters have been weaned.
Rats have a four to six-day oestrus cycle. During this time, the female is fertile and stores eggs, which are released eight hours after mating. The rat is a reflex ovulator, so when she is in heat, she will jump around and vibrate.
Rats are very prolific breeders. A female rat will give birth to six to twelve pups a year. This means that in three years, a pair of rats can produce 482,508,800 pups. A brown rat reaches sexual maturity after four to five weeks. It may give birth to as many as six to 13 pups.
The sex of the rat is a very important consideration. Males reach sexual maturity at six to 10 weeks and the females at eight to 12 weeks. To prevent problems with breeding, it is best to separate the sexes before they reach sexual maturity. In addition, very cold or very hot temperatures are not favorable for rat breeding. Females in their breeding age usually come into heat at least twice during the month. Pregnant females may even be able to come into heat twice in their early pregnancy.
