What are the recommended breeding ages (upper and lower) for rats?
Female rats can get pregnant as early as five to six weeks of age, but they really should not be bred until they are at least 6 months but the best age is around 8 months depending on the size of the female. If they are not bred between the ages of 6 months and 12 months, then they should not be bred at all as it is too risky and will most likely cause injury to the female and her babies and may even result in death. It is best to let a female have no more than 3 litters in her lifetime, as it is very draining on a female to carry and raise a litter of pups. Males however, should be bred at a minimum of 8 months, 10-12 months is the optimum range. The reason to wait such a lengthy amount of time is that males do not go through there final hormonal changes till between the ages of 6-12 months. It is in this time that they may turn into an alpha aggressive male. In which case you would not breed them at all, and ideally have them neutered to reduce testosterone.Breeding healthy and frien
