What are someways to tell if my femail rat is in heat? it is so hard to tell with her?

Answers:
You don't need to be a scientist to learn if your rat is in heat, just watch her behavior for a month or two keeping in mind my answer to your question.
Female *pet* rats go into heat every 4 to 5 days from the age of 6 weeks up to around 18 months of age when her breeding days are basically over due to a drop in her estrogen level. Ethical breeders will not breed a doe after she is 1 year old. To do so is too hard on her old body and could lead to pregnancy and birthing complications
Her bottom does not swell up, but the vagina will appear more open. If she is bred a waxy plug will form in the vaginal opening preventing other males from mating with her. She only gets obscessed with building a nest about 3 days before giving birth. Female rats do not stay in heat and certainly will not die if they are not bred. This happens with ferrets but not rats.
Some rats are not very demonstative when they come into heat, but there are some clues that you may have seen but not associated with her being in heat.
In the Rat Fancy we affectionately call this, "the estrus dance".
While in heat the female will be receptive to the advances of the male rat. Unlike many other mammals red blood cells are not prominent, so there is no vaginal bleeding, rats do not have a period. When in heat the female rat will usually display by arching her back when touched http://www.ratbehavior.org/glossary.htm#... crouching as if frozen on the spot, vibrating her ears, and then running/hopping in short fast bursts. If there are other females in the cage they will mount the rat that is in heat.
Some females get ultra-hyper and/or nippy/irritable during their heat.
The heat lasts for various times depending on the individual rat and the environmental factors involved. Absence of darkness at night and light during the day can make the estrus cycle erratic. Heat can be suppressed by the introduction of another strange male or females.
http://ratguide.com/breeding/
spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"

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Hi! Her little bottom may be swollen %26 she'll be trying to find more nesting material.Your best bet is to talk to someone at a pet store. Good luck with the little lady!

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It is VERY difficult to tell if you haven't been working with breeding rats for a long time. The estrus cycle is broken down into 4 cycles...proestrus wen the eggs develop in the follicles and females react sexually towards males...estrus, which is the period of maximum receptivity and the female will often put her bottom in the air announcing that she is receptive. Metestrus and diestrus are periods when the females are not receptive to males. During each of these periods, the females vulva changes and this is how I, as a researcher, figure out which stage of the cycle a female is in. It took years of training for me to be able to do this. I used to have to take swabs from the vagina and look at the cells under a microscope to tell. In general though, a swollen pinkish-red vulva means maximum receptivity. Rats go through this estrus cycle every 4-5 days. Take a peak at your rat every day and see if you notice the differences.

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when ur rat get 2 be older it can go in heat %26 stay in heat %26 die if she dosent mate .
its something 2 do with in the wild saving food for breeding rats %26 stuff .
get a rat book %26 look up some ways 2 save her