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Yes they can. Their instincts might make them able to sense which baby will be the weakest in the group, and they get rid of the weakest link.

When my female had a litter, she ate at least one of the babies. But she was a great mother to the rest of the 9 babies.

Another perspective

Rats don't believe in evolution, so what would she know (or care) about the weakest link? Unlike humans (the weirdest creatures ever), rats aren't working to improve their species by "removing the weakest link", and according to Darwin's theory, that's nature's job. The weakest die off naturally, the mother doesn't cull them.

But yes, mother rats occasionally do eat their young, as do most predatory mothers. Nobody really knows why. Maybe it's her hunter instinct saying "it wiggles and its weak, eat it" (or in the rats case "its soft and smelly, eat it").

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Q: Will mother rat eat baby rat?
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