Can somebody please post pics of healthy 3 week old babies?

capslock · Oct 9, 2009

Could someone please post (or link me to) some good quality pics of three week old rats, preferably from a larger litter?
I just want to compare with my litter of 16, they are 22 day old chubby little zoomers.
I can't get good pics right now though =\ My cam is F-ed up.
I have been feeding them block mush and baby cereal.
For treats I have been giving them peas, applesauce, soy yogurt, baby crackers, etc.
I give mom eggs, poultry, fruit, veggies, blocks and the occasional seeds.
I also have been giving the babies a blend (as suggested by my rat consultant, Wanda) of Alsoy baby formula, cooked poultry, boiled egg, veggies, fruit, and blocks.
They are growing very fast and are extremely friendly.
I honestly think I may be over-handling, but mom doesn't mind and babies love attention, so I figure the more attention the better.
I just can't help it, they are SO cute.
My whole family/friends love to handle them so they are used to meeting new people aswell, so I think that they will adjust well in new homes.

lilangel · Oct 9, 2009

i found this http://www.freewebs.com/clairecwigley/b ... opment.htm

that persons rat only had 7 babies but still gives an idea. Shel(lilspaz) most likely has better pictures of growing babies too; also check the rat chat & pics a lot of people post day by day picture's of rescued mom and babies too.

and that age they call them popcorn's

since they love to move around a lot and bounce.

SQ · Oct 9, 2009

It sounds like yours are doing well.
If they are eating, growing, not too thin, & active then it sounds like they are healthy and growing as they should.

Here are some pictures of Laurel and her babies at 21 to 24 days old. It was a small litter of eight. These babies were born two days after their mother was rescued from a tank in a shed and one day after she had emergency surgery for a life threatening abscess. Prenatal nutrition was not good.

Naomi, who was 4 weeks older then the babies, is in the wheel.

capslock · Oct 9, 2009

Talk about the hopping!
Yesterday I left my little brother (he is ten but knows how to handle them, he has been around rodents his whole life) to watch them in their play bin and I heard him shout from the rat room, "AH. One hopped out!"
It went running right to him, haha.
The room is rat safe though, so no worries.

Thanks for the info!

And the pics.
Mine look a bit small (about two thirds of the size) in comparrison.
They look on track though.
However, two of them seem to have stopped, or slowed down, in growth.
The runt is now bigger than them :S
They are both happy, chubby, and jumpy, but MUCH smaller than the others, when they were younger they were the bigger ones.
I am not sure because they are just as strong, and they are twice as active as their brothers and sisters.
I give them extra time alone with mom, but the others seem to be passing those two greatly in size. They are both males, very dainty and small, with larger seeming ears than the others. Does anyone have an explanation for this?

Also, one of the larger ones has satin fur, which I found odd, mom is a standard self from SPCA, and I suppose dad could have been satin.
I think they just have a whole trailmix of genetics, they are all different colors and markings.

SQ · Oct 9, 2009

Corries first litter. These babies were from a litter of 14. When rescued with their mom at 1 week old, they were starving as Corrie wasn't recieving proper food ... two had died at that point. Their prenatal nutrition was not good either.

At 21 days:

At 27 days: