Baby Rats! Help!!

[Allie00]

Hi Guys,

I havent had rats in a few years and I used to have boys. I got two girls about a month ago and another 2 girls from a pet shop 4 days ago. One of the girls, I'm FAIRLY confident I know which one, has just given birth to about 9 pups! OH GOD.

I literally have no idea what I'm doing. Obviously, I will be researching asap, but for now I need some immediate advice please. I have separated the (suspected) mother and pups from the rest and she appears to be in the process of re-nesting them after discovery. Is this normal? The other rats, meanwhile, are searching frantically for mother and babies.

Please help, I don't want them all to die! Bloody pet shop.

Thanks

Allie

[ElizabethW]

To start with I would check whether the other girl you just bought is definitely female too - there is a guide to sexing rats here:
http://www.fancyratsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=51
I don't have any experience of raising litters so will leave advice to someone who knows but there may be useful info in this article in the meantime - there will be other useful info in that section too.
http://www.fancyratsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=72

Also mum will need lots of substrate to build a nest, but that's about the limit of what I know, hopefully someone who can help properly will be along soon

[Squirrel]

Aw, hope all goes well. Good advice about checking the other newbie is definitely female. If he's a buck, maybe you could consider getting him castrated when he's old enough so that he can stay with the group he knows. (You'd need to wait a month to be sure he's no longer fertile).

Make sure Mum has a good diet, she might like a little porridge or scrambled egg.

[Rhian33]

Aw, hope all goes well. Good advice about checking the other newbie is definitely female. If he's a buck, maybe you could consider getting him castrated when he's old enough so that he can stay with the group he knows. (You'd need to wait a month to be sure he's no longer fertile).

Make sure Mum has a good diet, she might like a little porridge or scrambled egg.

It's actually 2 weeks to ensure they are no longer fertile. I wouldn't castrate though, I would buddy him up with some of the baby boys.

Good luck. Mum should be absolutely fine. There isn't much else you will need to do for mum apart from what is in the article Elizabeth linked

[Squirrel]

Of course, forgot about the sons.

[cyber ratty]

As you've had the first two for more than a month, then unless they've deferred their pregnancy (which would be very unlikely), then the mother will be one of the new pair. Keep an eye on the little ones to look for milk bands, just in case you've given them the wrong adult.

Also, keep an eye on the sibling - it's quite probable she will be pregnant as well.

[Squirrel]

Hi Allie,

Have you sexed them yet? How are the mum and babies doing? Please let us know.

[Allie00]

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's taken me a while to reply! Thank you so much for all your advice.

The other rat is definitely a female and I'm fairly sure she's not pregnant thankfully.

Mum is doing really well, and all 9 (we think it's 9) babies are growing and doing well! They've started to show pigment now and I think should be getting a bit of fuzz in the next few days.

Here's a picture of the babies from a couple of days ago.

http://imgur.com/wgg2iIi

[Squirrel]

Oh Bless them, they look as if they'll all be hoodies. The one litter I was involved with Mum was a PEW and Dad an agouti hooded, and all 11 babies were agouti hooded.

Good news that the other new girl isn't pregnant.

[Allie00]

They're extremely cute!!
Thanks again for everyone's help

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