Baby - died Sept. 11

[SQ]

I was recently contacted by a teenager and her mom. The young teen found a baby in a barn 5 days ago (last Thursday).
They were afraid to leave it where it had been found as another young person had found a dead rat they thought might be the mom. They took the baby home and lilspaz68 and I have given them info on how to care for the baby. The baby's eyes have not yet opened.
I will be soon taking in the baby and Dalhas may be fostering.

Baby may be wild, half wild or may be domestic.
If wild may need to be released in a protected area when older if it is unable to adjust to captivity.

Any suggestions?

 

[lindsayfawn]

aww that poor thing, I hope she or he grows up big and strong. Lucky little thing to have been found by people who care! :joy:

 

[SQ]

Here is an interesting article on raising orphaned baby rats and also orphaned baby wild rats

http://ratfanclub.org/orphans.html

 

[theratlady]

i can hand raise for them if they want.

 

[Godmother]

Might want to get an opinion from people on the forum who are good at detecting coat colours in babies. Could this little one be a black berk? The legs and the tip of the tail look really pale to me in the second photo, and I thought that wildlings were agouti selfs.

I don't trust my ability to judge colour in baby rats, but several people on the forum have an uncanny (to me) ability to predict the adult colouring at an early stage.

 

[SQ]

Thanks for the offer ratlady.
Dahlas already offered and the baby is in NB so not sure when I will be getting it.
But I will absolutely let you know if more help is needed once it gets here.
Hoping to learn from experiences of people like you, Jorats, Mamarat, Vanessa, & Lilspaz68.

 

[theratlady]

at first glance its agouti and looks to be about 8-10 days old.

 

[jorats]

Oh boy... poor little tyke. My first thoughts is that it's a wild little guy. If he survives it will be hard to put him back out. I've heard of some wild rats becoming tame enough to live as a pet.

 

[SQ]

The article I previously posted says that single orphaned wild rats that are hand raised may bond with people and be ok as pets ... tho they will always be more skittish, etc.
It also says that if there is more than one wild baby, it is best to prepare them for release once they are old enough .... suggestions are given.
Hoping the baby survives (they must be taking amazing care of it for it to be doing so well), and then hopefully we will be able to find a solution that works out for this wee one.

Looking forward to lots of helpful info. from forum members with some experience with wildlings and half wildlings.
Because from what the two of you say, it sounds highly likely that this baby is a domestic rat.

 

[Dahlas]

let me know if he is coming my way...I will do my best......he is adorable.

 

[SQ]

In about 1.5 weeks, will need to find a same sex 4 week old well socialized baby to intro it with .... anyone know of an approx 3 week old litter (in NB or NS) that is being well socialized?

 

[SQ]

Trying to find someone to transport baby from Fredericton to Moncton to meet up with me .... so I don't have to drive all the way. The sooner the better ... as baby is a bit weaker.
The wonderful people that have the baby can't do it as they do not have a car.

edit: there were two babies in the stall, but another child's parent killed the other baby. :sad3:

 

[Debbie]

Oh I sure hope he makes it!

We had a wild rattie find her way into our unfinished basement at about 2 months old. Long, long, long story short (I must share the story at some point though...because I loved her so much)....she lived down there for 2 years. She had what appeared to be a stroke one day...and when I found her, crawled right into my hand. I nursed her back to health, then put her in a cage (she was feeble, and I knew I had to). I gave her a nest box, food dish, and a litter box. I'll be darned if she didn't use that litter box! From the day she had her stroke, until the day she died, she let me pet her and took food right out of my hand. She was wild, yet seemed very pet like to me. I know I was lucky.....but if Cinderella was that friendly....I imagine it might be easy to socialize a wild rattie. he might be more skittery than most...but I bet he could live happily with other pet ratties and learn from their example.

I also had a friend with a rat that was half wild. He was a little unpredictable and might nip if you startled him, but was otherwise a wonderful boy.

 

[SQ]

Thanks for the info. Max looks great!

 

[lindsayfawn]

Trying to find someone to transport baby from Fredericton to Moncton to meet up with me .... so I don't have to drive all the way. The sooner the better ... as baby is a bit weaker.
The wonderful people that have the baby can't do it as they do not have a car.

Holly we may be going to Fredericton for a road trip with one of our friends. She is looking to rescue another female and I know there are a few in Fredericton. I'll let you know if we'll be going there and if we don't I could still drive up and bring the baby back. When were you looking to get the baby to moncton?

 

[SQ]

As soon as possible - hoping for tomorrow or Friday.
Since I am in Halifax, if someone could help, it would save me about 4 hours of driving.

 

[lindsayfawn]

I'm off friday so i could do it then, i get off at 8am, so i'll grab a few hrs sleep then can go get the baby. do they have something to transport the baby in?

 

[Dahlas]

Oh thank you so much lindsayfawn....
:heart: hang on little baby your godmothers are coming.

 

[SQ]

I'm off friday so i could do it then, i get off at 8am, so i'll grab a few hrs sleep then can go get the baby. do they have something to transport the baby in?

Doubt it.
Please pm me your phone number and I will call you.
thanks

 

[SQ]

Baby died during the night ... :sad3: :sad3:

edit:
I found out when I returned from class and checked my emails ...
.... The baby died while hugging the woman's finger. He wasn't alone and he was loved ...

..... I spent the afternoon cuddling my ratties .....

:sad3:

Thank you so much to everyone that helped ....