Intracellular ice formation during cryopreservation is lethal to the cell, including during warming. Here, we examined the effect of sample volume and warming rate on the cryopreservation success of 1-cell rat embryos based on successful development into blastocysts in vitro and to term in vivo following embryo transfer. Embryos were equilibrated in 5% propylene glycol solution for 10 min, held for 40 s at 0°C in cryopreservation solution, and cooled by immersion in liquid nitrogen. When 1-cell embryos were cryopreserved in a volume of 30–100 uL at a cooling rate of 5,830–7,160°C/min and warmed at 35,480–49,400°C/min in 0.3 M sucrose at 50°C, 17.3%–28.8% developed into blastocysts, compared with 57.0% of untreated embryos. However, when 1-cell embryos were cryopreserved in a smaller volume of 15 ul at 7,950°C/min and warmed at 68,850°C/min, 58.8±10.6% developed into blastocysts and 50.0±7.4% developed to term, comparable to that of non-treated embryos (57.0±5.4% and 51.4±3.1%, respectively). Cryopreserved embryos at other developmental stages also showed high in vitro culture potential similar to that of the control. Using a conventional cryotube and a small-volume vitrification procedure with rapid warming, we achieved high levels of subsequent rat embryonic development at all developmental stages.