Like virtually every other Lancaster animals, the male and females have to mate so as to produce offspring. However, if you have been wondering why you noticed a few rats in your house and within a few months, the number had greatly multiplied, it is not always that more rats join in. Female rats can mate for up to 500 times within a period of 6 hours. It could be just those few rats and their offspring as will be discussed in this article.

Pennsylvania Black Rat Mating Habits

Under the right conditions, the black Lancaster rat can mate all through the year, but they prefer to make in the autumn and the summer. The gestation period for the female black rat is between 3 weeks and a few days to 4 weeks. Immediately a few months, they will be ready to get pregnant again. With the black rat, there is a hierarchy and at the top of the hierarchy is a dominant male and some dominant females as well.

Norway Rat (Brown Rat) Mating Habits

A male brown rat has the ability to ejaculate many times at once. Thus, a Pennsylvania male rat can easily mate with many female rats and get them pregnant. The frenzy of the male rats increases with the number of female rats showing that they are ready to mate. Furthermore, the female rat changes partner frequently, mating with a lot of male rats during a session. This is to increase their chances of getting pregnant. The gestation period for the Norway rat is 3 weeks.

Norway Female Rats Preference

Norway female rats prefer to mate with Lancaster male rats that have not gone through much stress during their younger years. They will also place a preference on male rats they have not mated with already.

Number of Babies

A Pennsylvania female brown rat can have up to 2,000 offspring within a year and up to 22 young at once. On the other hand, the female black rat can have up to 204 babies in a year.