Help with Rat Babies?

And you will continue to get differing opinions even among the experts. The only thing you can do is to take from your answers what works best for you in your present situation.

Once they start frantic nest-building birth is within the next 3 days.

My own personal experience is that I will handle the babies from day 1, after the mother has settled in with her new family and the babies have been nursed.

But you might not want to do this right now. You are experiencing your first "pregnant rat from the pet store mom".

If you have had her for less then a couple of weeks, she is still brand new to this new home environment, she could be nervous, and you, to her, are a stranger, maybe even an enemy? Maternal hormones dictate her mood at this time and some mom-rats do become nippy. Once the babies are 4 to 6 weeks old most mom-rats return to their sweet selves.

I had this very same experience with my first "pregnant from the pet store rat" Sage. She even went as far as putting her teeth around my finger but she never bit me. I followed the advice of my mentors, but I was still eager to handle the babies. I only had Sage for a week so she was wary of me. I placed her on the floor of the rat room so that she could play and explore for the few minutes every evening that I needed to handle the babies. I swear she appeared to be counting those kids when I put her back in the cage with them.

I would go slow with this first litter, maybe in a few days, start handling the babies. Watch your girl's reaction to you when you are around her and her babies.

No, the only time that having an aunty rat in with the mom, another female that will help raise the babies, is when they are long-time cagemates, preferably sisters, otherwise the new mom is not going to appreciate having a strange rat around her babies. There is also the chance that the alpha female is not going to like having a stranger's babies in her territory and she could kill them.

http://www.ratbehavior.org/infanticide.htm#AdultFe...

DO NOT clean the cage out for at least 5 days after the babies are born, even if it does look gross with birth blood. The nest smells familiar to her, makes her feel safe. After that you can spot clean by picking out handfuls of the worst of the bedding and replacing it with clean bedding, but there must always be that familiar smell remaining.

Kudos to you on keeping all of the babies to prevent them from becoming possible reptile food. That's exactly what I do when ratties are born in my home.

It would be my pleasure to keep in contact with you and help you with the babies over the next several weeks. Just e-mail me at spazrats@yahoo.ca.

Or you may join Holistarat where you can always get the right information for raising babies from other rat experts.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/holistarat

Caring for pregnant rats and their babies:

http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=Caring+for+p...

I understand that you can't get another large cage right now. Just remember that little boy rats are just as active and mischieveous as females rats are all of their lives. It's not until a male reaches 4 to 5 months old that they start to become lazy.

And that's why you ask the questions that you do, so that you hopefully pick up the right information and thus become cluefull (ok, I know that's not a real word).

Edit:

WOW, that was so close, eh? CongRATulations on the new babies. Can I tell you how much I love your mom for helping you out if you need it.

spazrats

"my life has gone to the Rats"

Right let's go back to the start. Well done for seperating your females as rats sometimes can find cage-mates more than a hindrance than a help. Some rats will pinch babies off their mothers and put them somewhere else thinking they are helping when really they're just stressing the mother. In my experience it all depends on the mother's reactions and how her personality changes when she gives birth. Rat mothers rarely eat their young and i recommend handling of the pups from an early age. If your rat mother rushes over to you straight away to see you off however i would leave them for a week in the nest on their own. After this i would remove mummy from her tank and place her somewhere else so she doesn't see you poking around in her nest. Have a look, a head count and cuddle/snuggle the babies and then put them back. Replace mummy afterwards and she won't be bothered. I have found that the sight of you frightens her more than your smell and the above way is the easiest method to check everyone is alright. Once your babies open their eyes she shouldn't mind at all if you have a cuddle.

I would let mummy out for an hour a day to play with her friend to give her a break from her pestering bambinos.

As for keeping them, you're going to need large cages and a bit of cash behind you because an average litter is around 10 babies! Just make sure you seperate them into boys and girls and 4 weeks old. Females are okay to stay with their mother, boys in their own cage :) x

Whew,,,I would be more stressful for mom to have her cage changed around than it would be for you to handle the new babies. If you've already changed everything around on her, just leave it like it is, and try not to do any more changes right now. Most females (or males) won't bother the new babies. They're pretty social about raising babies. If two moms have them at the same time, they'll nurse each others babies and change them back and forth between nests, so another female probably wouldn't bother them, but if she is already alone, I wouldn't make more changes by adding another to the cage now. I've raised rats by the hundreds in the past, and never hesitated to touch new babies. If mom is comfortable with you reaching in the tank, and doesn't act nervous, your scent will be familiar anyway, and won't bother her. I always put feed inside with my hands so even the food had my scent. If you're unsure about how familiar she is with your scent, just pick up some of the shavings and rub them around on your hands, drop them back in, and then check the babies. Rats are smart enough to know that just because you touch the babies,,,,they're still her babies. Try to wait at least a few days after she has them before changing anything in the cage or cleaning it. The number one reason rats kill/eat their babies is lack of enough fresh water. The number two reason would be another rat irritating the mom,,,and number three would rarely be you touching the babies. Good luck with them! They're adorable little pink kids when they're born.

Im answering this from my own personal experoence with breeding rats..

It has only happended once where one of my rats has eaten her babies. It was her first time and somebody had turned a CD player on very loudly. You cannot play loud music and noises, anything that could scare them. Its when their scared that they will do it.

Also, yes you can handle them from day one. But i always wait until day 2/3 before i do anything with them. Its just safer to let mum bond with babies first. And its not gonna hurt if you wait a few days.

I wouldnt put the other rat in withher, best that shes on her own.

Once their 4 - 5 weeks old they are more than capable of eating proper food, so thay can be seperated and treated just like adults eating the same food. Make sure you seperate the males from the females otherwise not only will you end up with a LOT of rats, but if its incest they'll most likely have congenital defects and will not live a full life.

I strongly advise that you do try to get rid of the babies. For a rats first time, their more likey to have only about 3 - 6 babies, but looking after half a dozen rats isnt easy. The cleaning is constant, and they get stinky so much quicker.

Its normally only people buying rats in small bulk purches that are buying them for snake food. If its a mum and her child you can safely assume its for a pet. So advertise locally.

well handle the babies from day 1. Don't change the bedding cos it may disturb the mummy. No, I don't suggest putting in another rat with the pregnant one. After a few days when the babies are stronger I think you would maybe let the mummy play with her friend for like 15 min a day. The smaller cage would be OK as long as they get free time out of the cage.

Handle from day one, but you will want to take mother rat out and put her in the bathroom or another play area while you handle the babies, because mom rats can get nippy and protective.

Boys are not always fat and lazy. A lot of rat owners think obesity in boys is cute, but they are slowly coming to agree that boy rats shouldn't be so squishy. All of my boys are very active. They love the wheel and they don't stop moving. They need just as much play time as the girls.

The babies can be handled from the moment they are born. It is a myth that a mother rat will eat her babies if you touch them. They should have fur by two weeks old and their eyes should be open by then. Also they should start to wean at three weeks old but they are not ready to leave their mother until at least for weeks and should be separated at five weeks.

Spazrats has the best answer (in my opinon anyway)

But, I thought this link might help you when you do start handling them. Figuring out boys from girls as early as possible will help you with names, and then help you prevent another pregnancy. It has great pictures.

http://www.ratz.co.uk/sexingrats.html

I'd say no just to be safe.