my female rat has just had babys any tips for looking after them?

Question

she has just given birth to nine baby rats

Answer 1

Leave them alone. Mother rat will care for them.

Answer 2

Congrats on your new little ones! I am a rattie breeder so I've gone through many births. Make sure as other people have suggested that you don't touch the babies for the first few days. Its safe if the mother is away from the nest to look in there and touch them by say a week old. Hopefully you already checked after the first 24 hrs to see if any didnt survive the first night. They need to be removed. It is perfectly normal for the mother to eat one of her babies(sometimes she won't eat any other times mine have eaten up to 3). She is providing her own form of natural selection if she knows she cannot nurse all the babies. This way it'll help give her better nutrients and better her milk for the babies. I provide my nursing mother with scrammbled eggs and you can give them kitten or puppy chow as well to boost their protein. It's very important right now to take care of the mom, she will take care of the babies. Look at the babies and make sure they have something called a "milk ring" you can see a white ring in their bellies from nursing. You might have to hand nurse some if they aren't getting the milk. Its important to keep the cage clean too. You can clean around the nest without disturbing it. Make sure you DON'T use fluff or cedar bedding or even cloth fibers as the new babies can get it stuck to their nose and sufficate.
Well I hope this helped. What kind is your female? Do you know the buck who is the father? Theres a lot of info online too if you just yahoo search rat breeding. But I listed one of my favorite rattie sites that give a lot of info about the lil critters!

Answer 3

Some experiments have been performed that indicate
that when in an overpopulated environment of rodents, they do
seem to destroy their young. handles each new born lots as it well teach them to get used to your company another way to get them used to you is to let them ride around the house on your shoulder or inside your sweater.Never lift your rats by the tail pick them up by putting both hands under the chest.Once your rats are used to you, make sure you know where your rats are while they roam free range, and rat-proof any room that they are let loose in. Rat-proofing requires a little common sense, but need not become a major DIY project. Many rats will scent-mark 'their' territory with tiny drops of urine and you may want to keep a 'rat-blanket' to throw over soft furnishings when the rats are out. Electrical cords that cannot be kept out of reach of small teeth should be covered with aquarium tubing which can be bought cheaply from most pet-shops, or hosepipe; it is easiest to slit the tubing along its length and feed the flex into it. Rats will also chew books, clothes, pencils and other items, and are adept at knocking things over. Breakables and valuable possessions should be put out of harm's reach while your rats are out and about. Make sure that windows and doors are closed, and that there are no possible escape routes. Rats can fit through tiny holes, so you should check for cracks along skirting boards, between floor-boards etc. It is strongly advised that you do not wear shoes while your rats roam free-range. Some house plants can be poisonous (check in a book on houseplants to find out if yours are safe), and rats often enjoy climbing plants and digging in plant pots - so it is probably most sensible to keep plants away from your rats. occasionally become aggressive towards humans and/or other rats at some point between 3-12 months of age, although if this happens it is most common at 4-5 months. I hope this has been helpful to you

Answer 4

First off, eww. lol I don't like rats, but I'm glad to know that you want to take care of the babies!

Second, leave them alone. If you touch them to early, the momma will kill them, because it doesn't smell like her babies. She'll know what to do, so I wouldn't worry about anything. If she eats them, she eats them. It's all part of nature. There was something wrong with them, or she ran out of food and was starving.

If you have to change the bedding, the use a dustpan, or something hard to scoop them out, then change the bedding, making sure you use your bare hands to touch the bedding, so she'll be used to your scent, then dump the babies back in, with a little bit of the old bedding, and put momma back in.

The old bedding will keep the babies from roaming all over the place, and possibly getting stepped on, or squished by something. And it will let momma and baby know that it's still their home.

Oh yea, make sure you have the male out. The male will eat them.

Answer 5

First of all, it's a myth about the mom smelling human scent on the babies and rejecting (or eating them). My female rat had 9 babies on December 1st so I just went through this process. I started handling the babies from day 1. I haven't had a probably. If you want them to go as pets (or keep them as pets), it is best to start handling them now to socialize them. Not too much at first. You don't need to seperate them by sexes until 5 weeks (but that's when they can start reproducing so be careful). They nurse until about 4 weeks (mine did). At about 3 weeks (or when their eyes opened), I started feeding them baby oatmeal. They loved it. That's also when they'll start running around and trying to eat their mom's food. If you have any other questions, feel free to e-mail me. Like I said, I just went through this. My babies are about 5 weeks old now. [e-mail]

Answer 6

in case you pick children that badly contact a community rescue and grant to foster a pregnant woman. there's a continuing choose for foster houses and also you would possibly want to get the chance the advance children without each of the project of searching them houses or of the moral effects. it really is a win win ^_^. this grant you with journey in the previous bringing children into the international. I do rat rescue and that i'll allow you to comprehend that an excellent type of the houses that you locate (fantastically the basically accurate few once you get determined) is basically no longer healthful on your rats. i have taken in a rat that were left to sit down in her own pee so long she had sores from the acids ingesting her pores and skin. i have had cages exceeded to me with obtrusive bloodstains on risky wheels, rats given up with untreated infections etc. once you breed an animal the animals produced (for they received't be children continually) are your duty. I for one doesn't pick to be the social gathering to blame for the above failures. I blame the "breeder" as a lot as I blame the owner. Doing rescue opens your eyes to the plight of the kinfolk animal. in case you do not comprehend how lengthy to leave them jointly, then you definitely of direction are not being mentored by way of a breeder. a lot of human beings attempt to reproduce their rats and are horrified by way of the effects. The Goosemoose link substances own thoughts, many from human beings on your difficulty.

Answer 7

Congratulations on your new gang. Here is a quick overview.
By the way what type of rat is the doe? how about the buck?


Bedding:
Soft bedding should be used such as Carefresh or other paper beddings. It is usually best to stay away from smaller wood chips as they may cut the soft baby skin. Also, never use tissue paper as it will stick to the damp newborns and can smother them. You can use torn paper towel strips. Cloth as long as it does not have loose threads is also ok. Loose threads can become wrapped around the babies causing lose of limbs or life.

After the birth:
Verify that there are no dead babies, if so, they may be removed. As long as things have gone well you can let the mom and babies be for at least 24 hours. After 24 hours, check again to see that all the babies have milk bands. Some may be fuller than others. Pull out any bloody paper towels and/or bedding. Give the mom rat some fresh bedding materials.

Care and feeding of mom rat:
A good healthy diet is recommended before, during and after birth. Any foods that you offer during gestation should not cause the mom or her cagemates to become fat. During lactation extras can include a small amount of dried quality kibble added to her regular food mix or you can offer her a kitten milk replacer (KMR) step 2 mixture. Make this by taking a heaping teaspoon of the powder mixed with warm water, cream of wheat cereal and rice cereal for infants, this should be a thin gruel. This mix is also great for the babies once the open their eyes. Thick oatmeal or rolled barley make easy to eat first solid foods for babies.

Babies:
After 24 hours the babies can be handled. Do be careful of the mom rat’s attitude towards your hands. You may need to lure her off the nest to reach them. At about three days you can even sex the babies. Before two weeks and before the babies open their eyes they do not really need to be handled everyday. Try to at least make your presence known to them by reaching in a touching them. At two weeks their eyes will open. Allow them to smell your hands. When they start to walk around really well between 2-3 weeks they will like to eat the KMR mixture. You can even dip your fingers into it so they can lick it off to learn what it is. The babies will be eating the same foods as their mother so make sure they have easy access to the food dish all day long and that the water is within their reach.

Weaning:
Between 4.5 - 6 weeks of age the babies can be weaned. Mom rat may have started this process herself. You can give the mom rat breaks from them if she seems stressed out from them following her around by placing in for visits with her old cagemates. If the babies are less than 6 weeks of age all the babies may stay together. After 6 weeks, separate the males from the females. Ensure that all have plenty of food and water available to them. You may, if you desire, to continue to offer the KMR mixture.

Also, be sure to feed mama rat. If she rejects her babies she may eat them.

Also, if you have a good daddy rat as I do, he remains in the cage with the female and helps with the pinkies. It is fun to watch him cover them up when mama is eating. Remember NO SUGARS
listed below is a great site for breeding.
http://www.boardmanweb.com/rattery/ratbreeding.htm

Answer 8

So now you got 10 rats.
heres a tip..
Next time you go on holiday in the UK..take one with you and let it loose in your room towards the end of your holiday...then scream the place down and dont settle for anything less than a free stay.

Answer 9

Amleecdt is right about not touching them, but the most important thing is to separate them from any adult male rats including and especially the Father. He will eat them. I am not kidding. Good luck.

Answer 10

Let the Rat deal with it...