How do I care for a baby rat (still has its eyes closed but, has hair)? It's Mama is gone. Please help....

Question

I did give it 1% milk last night but, figured it probably needed more nourishment.What about the eyes?

Answer 1

This is going to be rough for you. Here's the low down on raising baby rats/mice...they need to be fed about every 2 hours, using an eyedropper. Do not feed it normal milk (this will kill it), you will need to get to a pet store and purchase milk replacer (I prefer using KMR). It needs to be kept warm and in a small container. I would recommend getting a heating pad and placing it under the container 1/2 on, 1/2 off...that way if the baby gets too hot, it can wiggle away from the heat. Do not be surprised if it dies; I have had minimal success in caring for baby rats/mice that do not have their eyes open.

Answer 2

I once found a wild baby mouse in this condition (eyes not open, yet had fur), and nursed it to health by giving it a tiny piece of wheat bread with peanut butter on it until it was old enough to really start chewing. The other suggestions are also sound (milk & eggs), and if done as a combination, should work. If you choose to also give it water, put it in a clean (new) sponge within reach on a saucer; just wet enough to drip, and check it often to be sure it stays wet but doesn't leave bedding wet. Good luck!

Answer 3

You can try to feed it warm milk with a dropper about ever 1/2 hr. or so. You will also need to keep it warm. It will likely be hard to raise a baby rat without it's Mom, but Good Luck!

Answer 4

go to the store buy a can of goat milk, karo syrup and raw eggs.

Mix the egg yolk and a teaspoon of Karo to half a can of the goats milk. Get an eye dropper or syringe and feed about 10 ml it every 2 hours.
Keep it on a heat pad (low setting) with a towel over the pad at night

You have to take a moist cloth and rub his/her pee/poo areas 2 times a day to help them potty. mommy rat does this bly licking, but i wouldn't suggest that method.
Good luck.

Answer 5

Well, when rats are new-born, their eyes are closed, so maybe hat eye is still maturing. If it's not that, then I suggest you take a look in the eye. Pull open the eye lid gently and look in the eye. If there is any redness or yellow poofy material, go to the vet ASAP. If you see nothing, wait about another week. If the eye is still closed after a week, take it to the vet. He will know what to do.

Answer 6

One cup of carnation evaporated milk, one egg yolk (raw) half a teaspoon of corn oil, half a teaspoon of corn syrup, this was recommended for a rabbit, but these two animals are very much alike. Feed by eye dropper every two hours, but only a little at a time. Dont give it the entire amount all at once...thats just how you make the rat formula.

Answer 7

maybe try a eyedropper with warm mike tell it can eat on its own. hopefully this is a tame rat, or you are takeing a chance on getting bit .

Answer 8

First No, no please no more cow's milk that's really bad for baby animals. In all honesty the only other animals milk besides their own mother's milk is actually Goat's milk; it's actually closer to other animal's own natural milk than cow's milk. Especially if it's fresh.
Get a newborn pet feeder bottle (can be found at PetCo or PetSmart), Small Animal Bene-Bac Beneficial Bacteria by Pet-Ag, Inc.(comes in a 4 pack of small tubes it SAYS to give them a full tube but I really would only go with half of the tube to start for safe sake); then look for PetAg's Puppy formula made with Goat's Milk, although kitten formula will work too; I have had GREAT success with PetAg's Puppy formula made with goat's milk.
What you want to do is put the baby rat on a feeding schedual that will work with you and allow it to stay hydrated while it's eyes are still closed. I recomend a 3 to 4 times a day feeding to start out then gradually as it get's older and is eating more cut it back till your at one feeding in the morning and one in the late evening. By then it should be up to at least 2 Tablespoons a feeding.
When feeding, the desired temp for the formula is about 105, but that's hard to really estimate so I recomend you get a cup, fill it half way with water, place it in the microwave for at least 1 min, maybe a Min and half if you don't think the water is hot enough; then after it's hot, put the prepared bottle in the hot water spinning gently to agitate the milk so it warms all the way through. Now the bottle will feel pretty darn hot, but to know it's not so hot as to harm the baby you can do a test on the inside of your wrist by placing a DROP of milk on your wrist; if you DON'T feel it at all then it's the right temp, if you feel it slightly warmer than your skin it's also good, if it's still cool put it back in the hot water again. ( Oh the baby bottles nipples are NOT fixed with holes so follow the directions on fixing a proper hole in the nipple to allow milk to flow freely with out causing it to drown so to speak).
Feeding: Hold the baby, preferably wrapped in a warm, dry wash cloth so should it pee on it's own it won't pee on you *hehe*. Do NOT feed it on it's back as this could cause asperation if your not careful and death due to asperation if you don't know the proper way to unblock the milk bubble in it's lungs. ( See link on how to do this to baby bunnies I would assume it's same concept for the baby rat). While holding the baby in a either sitting up position or a partial standing position gently coax it to take the nipple by getting a drop of the milk on the tip of the nipple and rubbing it on it's mouth. May take a few tries but once it understands it's food it should get it. It should take at least 15 oz of milk at this age which is the first mark at the bottom of the bottle and the bottles are marked at 15oz increments going up in #. Let the baby decide when it's full, if it's got the turbo suck down well it will only take a few moments before it's full and it's tummy feels slightly tight.
NOW comes the fun part ( note scarcasim here), because it's eyes are NOT open it does not have the natural knowledge to PEE and POOP, that's Mommy's job when she cleans them after they eat. Yeah I now GROSS *lol*. Anyway YOUR mommy now so it's your job, NO you DON'T have to lick the baby rat's butt *LOL*!! Get a cotton ball and dip it into warm/hot water, then gently but with some pressure rub it's genital area until it both poops and pees. This may take a few moments or none at all but you must make a good solid attempt to get it to pee and poop or it could have problems during the night.
Bedding: keep the baby in a warm, dry place where it can be kept quiet and away from currious animals if you have any others. This is if you don't have a proper cage that you know, once it's eyes are open and crawling around it can't get out of. ( You just might be surprised at just WHAT a baby animal can get out of especially at such a young age, they are like cat's in a way very slinky and flexable *hehe* so watch that) We currently have 4 orphened baby bunnies that we got at 1 wk of age , they are now 1 day away from 3 wks of age and all over the place since their eye's opened last week *laugh*. We have them in one of those large pet carriers and used cardboard from an empty cereal box to cover the lower half of the bars of the door so they can't squirm out.
I've had success with the puppy formula with goats milk when I first used it on the wild cottontail we are caring for until she's old enough to release back into the wild. She had no issues with stomach problems what so ever the whole time and is now just over 2 months old still growing and eating very well.

Now comes the scary part... if you offer solid foods to early the baby can develop an intestinal bacterial infection. This results in diahreah, dehydration, bloating of the belly due to gas build up and eventually death if not caught and treated imediatly. So keep a CLOSE eye on this with the baby. If at ANY time it shows signs of really loose stool not the more firm pellet style take it to your vet for the right medication. I use the Bene-bac as well as Peter's Rabbit ProBiotics for stomach disorders. I'm not sure if Peter's makes something for rats or not but if you take it to the vet they will give you what you need.

Here are some sites that might help also ( also the one on asperation and how to help if a bunny asperates; didn't see one for rats but I figure it's the same concept so should work!)

Good luck and let me know how things are going, feel free to e-mail me [e-mail]

Once the baby's eyes are open it may stop taking the nipple as readly; don't worry as long as it still wants the milk and is still under a month of age there are way's around this. We used the lids from the large gatorade bottles or the Tropicana Apple Juice bottle lids ( single serve size). They worked GREAT!! Their lapping instinct kicks in pretty well although they WILL get rather messy at times so fair warning *lol* Anyway once it's eyes are open offer it a small dish with FRESH water every day. This will help keep the baby hydrated between feedings which is VERY important.
I would recomend starting solids slowly, check out the links for some good foods to feed rats. Some should be good starter foods. One thing I would recomend is once you start to ween it from the milk give it a dose of the bene-bac beneficial bacteria ( the back of the package tells you when to do the bene-bac and how much as well. If your hesitant about giving it the full tube call your vet and see what they say about that.)

Answer 9

use an eye dropper and some kind of milk

Answer 10

go to the vet....or to the pet store.....