Baby Rat won't gain weight?

[SamanthaMartinez0423]

Hello, I have had my baby rat for about for three weeks now. He is on soy based human formula and I recently went from feeding him every 2 hours around the clock to every four hours and once at midnight. But for the past week he has stayed 8 grams, Im pretty sure he is supposed to weigh much more by now. He is very active and loves to eat, he grooms himself regularly and other than that seems very healthy. I just need some advice and how to get him to put on a few grams. Should I feed him more at each feeding or feed him more often? I read feeding them more often can lead to digestion issues so please help if you can! thank you! I included a video of him grooming himself after eating so you can see his size. He will be month old on Thursday I believe.

 

[lilspaz68]

from this article Rat & Mouse Gazette: Caring for Orphaned Baby Rats

Weigh the baby. Divide the weight by two to get the number of ccs to feed. For example, if the baby weighs 6 grams, you will feed .3 cc. If the baby weighs 7.7 grams, you will feed .38 cc. Continue to weigh daily and keep records. A decrease in weight may occur until the baby is established on the formula. After that, there should be a steady increase in weight.

 

[lilspaz68]

I've raised skinnier orphans, and your little one is very lively. But he/she is waaaaay too skinny and small for his age. How old was he when his eyes opened?

 

[SamanthaMartinez0423]

Hello, thank you! He was 14 days when his eyes opened. I will follow that guideline, I have been feeding him .5 CC at each feeding, could over feeding be leading to this or other issues? His poops and everything look good too so the advice is much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[lilspaz68]

Since his eyes are open, you can start offering baby cereal mixed with his milk...maybe offer thawed, warmed peas and corn so that he can learn to eat on his own, without something that is hard for him to chew. Try baby food, lab block mush etc

 

[SamanthaMartinez0423]

Thank you so much! Ive been trying plain cheerios soaked in his milk but he doesn't like it. I will try those other options and see what he likes!

 

[lilspaz68]

I took in a wee girl who was still on milk only at 5 weeks (the rescuer didn't know and was feeding her kitten milk replacer) and she was malnourished, so definitely push the solids as its what he needs to grow.