What age can I hold baby rats at?

Question

My rat gave birth to a 8 rat litter last night and I want to know when I can hold her and her babies? Please! She is new, I got her preg 2 days ago so she is new and she comes out of the nest if I talk to her on the other side of the cage so she loves my but will she bite if I hold her babies? So PLEASE HELP ME!

She is no longer stressed out as much as she was the first day. She is like "please, take me away from these fussy wussy babies!" as in she wants to come out!

she had them 12-8-07

Answer 1

This really depends on the individual rat. When we adopted a girl who turned out to be pregnant, I began handling the pups within 2 days although mama rat was afraid of me-- I'd put some especially tempting food in the dish & while she was upstairs eating I'd collect the pups for a visit, then return them in a tissue box. Mama rat actually liked the idea of the tissue box & after the first couple of days she simply hopped in with the pups after I returned them. We kept all 5 pups & mama rat eventually bonded with us after she saw how much fun her kids had jumping onto us-- she turned out to be as gentle & loving as any of them.
Anyway, if you handle the babies well before their eyes open you'll have a great start @ socializing them b/c they'll know you by scent & body language, then by the sound of your voice & finally by sight. Good luck with the little ones.

Answer 2

At two weeks, their eyes open, and then you should hold them as often as possible. Until then, since she is new, I would not bother her until they are at least 5 days old. The fact that she comes off the nest to see you is a very good sign, but even so, sometimes just moving a pregnant rat to a new cage right before birth is enough to stress her out and make her consume them. They do that because if the female puts all her energy into creating and giving birth to the babies, only to have them in an environment that (for any reason) doesn't seem safe and it is unlikely they will survive in it, it is better for her species to just "re-absorb" that energy for herself and try again later. It seems barbaric to us, but why give it to a predator? That seems to be how they think.
Anyway, after about 5 days you can test by slowly starting to pet a baby and pick it up flat-handed so she can take it back if she wants to, but NEVER do so while she is on the nest. The babies need to nurse as often as they can for the best chance of survival (they are in danger the first two weeks of life), and the mother is more likely to get upset at you then. Rather, lure her off with delicious treats or just the promise of being held, then when she comes back if she's still concerned she will take the baby back from you. She will only bite if she feels she has no other choice, so give her one!
The fact that she is probably pretty young, and she only had 8 pups, means this is most likely her first litter, too. (A second litter is often 10-15 pups!), New mothers tend to be more nervous, and aren't as experienced, so just watch her closely to make sure she hasn't put the nest somewhere the pups can fall through (like through bars) and also the pups can't squirm out of the cage (they become quite mobile at 5 days!). Use a flashlight if you can to keep a head count going, and give her one good box in case she feels the need to move them to a more secure location. My babies seem to like tissue-boxes or smaller for their litters. Congratulations on your new babies; raise them right and they'll be great little pets too! Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any more questions. = )

Answer 3

If if you are strongly bonded to the mother rat, and if she allows you [she doesn't threaten you as you reach for the nest] you can indeed hold the babies after a day or two. Take only one at a time, so she won't be too anxious; though she does know all her babies, and she does know when one is missing. If you are not so strongly bonded to your mother rat, you should probably wait a week or two before you try to handle the babies. At two weeks, the eyes open and the babies start running around the cage, so the mother will not be so anxious about them. If you are in doubt, it won't hurt to wait until they are 2 or 3 weeks old. Three weeks old is actually plenty young to start socializing them. For the first 2 weeks of their lives, they don't know much anyway. These rats have been bred as pets for many generations, and they are easy to socialize, even at 5 weeks or older. I have attempted to socialize young wild rats, and have no success to speak of, because they have their wild instincts and will never allow themselves to be touched or held. But the rats that are bred as pets have a very different temperament. With few exceptions, they seem to have no instinctive fears; they only learn fear through experience.

Answer 4

I hold my babies from day one. I am concerned about your rat being so new, though. Even if she likes you, she won't trust you as much as she would if she had been with you a long time. She may very well bite if you stick your hand in while she is in there and grab her babies. If she comes out of the cage easily, maybe put her in another room while you pick up the babies. They really need to be handled from day one. It doesn't have to be holding for half an hour, just picking up so they learn not to fear when they are picked up would be great. It is really important that they know your smell before their eyes are open, then they can know your face after the eyes open. They will grow up trusting and loving humans if they are handled from birth. They make even better pets this way! Good luck to you.

Answer 5

Basically mum is still a bit stressed and the longer you leave her and the bubs alone the happier she will be. Make sure she has plenty of food and water and feed her at regular times so that she knows she'll be left alone between times. If she gets too stressed by all the attention she could kill the babies. Leave it a few days before picking any of the babies up as there is also the risk that if you pick them up too early your smell may be left behind on them and the mum will then ignore the baby and it will starve to death (before or after she kills it for being a foreign object in her nest).
Mother rats get very nasty just before they give birth and extremely paranoid afterwards. If this is her first litter she needs to be left alone to calm down and look after those babies otherwise she will get frantic and may not make a good mother ever again. Some rats have been known to go completely psycho following bad birthing experiences and non-acceptance of motherhood and have required euthanasia.
So whilst it is so cool to hold this cute little squirming lump, best leave it a while. Once they are at least a week old you should be fine and once their eyes are open and they start hopping you'll be hard pressed to keep up with them!!

Answer 6

It depends on the mother, especially your relationship with her. If she is comfortable with you, then she will most likely let you hold her babies. When I bred my rats, the mother was very confident around me and let me hold her babies from day one. They are very cute, but you have to be extremely careful because they are so delicate and helpless.

If you do decide to hold the babies, make sure you wash your hands beforehand. Then, let the mother know your presence by petting her and letting her sniff your hand. If she's okay with that, then start petting one of the babies. If she's still okay, gradually and carefully begin to lift one of them up. If she shows any signs of distress or attempts to get the baby back, please give it back to her. If you manage to hold on, do so only for a few minutes at most, then return it to the cage closest to the mother.

Always make sure to wash your hands. Patience is important. Don't make any sudden movemements, and make sure the mother is okay with everything.

Congratulations on her litter!

Answer 7

Yeah, like a couple of people said, it depends on your relationship with her. When my rat had babies (Christmas day surprise!!) I was able to pick on up and hangle them. She would come out of the cage, sniff for her little one, take it from me and return it back to the nest. They were only 2 days old too.

Answer 8

I bred for a long time. My girlies loved me and never tried to bite me. They let me hold the babes as if they were mine too. You can hold them after about 2 days. I sometimes held them the same day they were born. As long as your hands are dry, warm, and freshly cleaned with antibacterial soap, they won't be hurt. I work at a vet hospital that has a small animal vet on staff and she has told me that this is ok.
Test out your momma rat by trying to hand her a long carrot and if she snaps at it, stay away from her. If she is calm and normal acting try to move her a little to get at the little guys underneath. Be gentle and hold them for AT LEAST 10 minutes every day and more if possible. They will love humans when they grow up and be wonderful pet rats. :-)
Remember to keep lots of food and water available for momma. Try feeding her kitten food to added nutrition (kitten milk is very good as well). Good luck!