Hairless Momma Rat With Babies

[Jackie]

So I was on kijiji & someone was looking to find a home for a pair of hairless rats, I was not aware that they were being kept together, so I had arranged to pick them up, I get an email the night before I'm suppose to pick them up saying that the female had babies. So I go pick up the whole family, I have mommy, daddy & their six babies right now. They were born yesterday, there were nine, but one died, and two looked like they had been eaten. So yeah. I need advice on what to do. They did have milk bands, but mommy doesn't seem to have any interest in them after the move, she just wants to eat and run around (she's super sweet!), I rebuilt their nest, as the man wasn't giving away the cage.

I really want these little ones to live and any advice would be great!

Thanks!

:heart:

 

[Jackie]

Update: Momma scattered the babies, took all of the bedding, put it inside of a box, somehow moved two of the babies in there (do they carry their babies?), the other four were chilled and underneath the nesting materials, right now, I am warming them up by breathing warm air on them. Suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

OH and was momma moving them to make a new nest or..?

 

[Poisoned]

I really don't know a lot about breeding/raising.

Yes, rats carry their babies around.

How big of an enclosure are they in?
Have you seen her feeding them?
Are they in a quiet place? They need to be.
Was the dad in there with them? I hope it was him who killed the babies, otherwise she may reject them all.

I hope someone with more experience chimes in fast. Keep a close eye on them so she doesn't kill any, if it was her.

 

[Dahlas]

I would put momma and babies in a small cage/carrier. Where she can't get away from the babies easily....hopefully she is just super stressed and will settle down quickly.

 

[Jackie]

She is in a quiet place, and dad was in with her when I picked them up, that's when we seen the half eaten babies, so I don't know if it was mommy or daddy.

I put all the babies in the box where she moved the other two, after I warmed they up, she is putting all the bedding from the cage in there, and I can hear her digging around in there as we speak, she was definitely more interested in the babies after I put them back in there, they started squeaking.

The cage is fairly large, it's this one right here:

I'm at my dads right now, so that's all I have until I get home, well I actually have a rabbit cage, but it's also around the same size.

Advice would be great!

Thanks

EDIT: I have a cat carrier, but it's fairly small, she won't trample the babies if she is frantic or anything, will she? Should I just leave her now that she has established another nest? Or..?

 

[Dahlas]

Use something soft for bedding but nothing that babies can get under like layers of fleece...I used lots of ripped up small pieces of paper towel...fill a small bottle with ensure and hang on the cage..offer momma rat blocks, and scrambled eggs....Try and keep her in a quiet place, maybe cover the end of the carrier over with a blanket to keep it dark and warm...

 

[Jackie]

So I should move them to a carrier? It won't stress her out even more if I move them again?

I'll make her scrambled eggs and what not right now!

Thanks!

 

[Dahlas]

Well you could just put a small box in the cage and put all the babies in there...cover the box front over maybe half way...Hopefully with a nice dark nest momma will not move the babies...

 

[Dahlas]

I used this for my rat and just covered the front over partially with a small piece of fleece...

you want something with a bottom, top, sides and a small opening in the front...

 

[Jackie]

Right now they are in a small box That's where she moved them too! I just checked and she packed the box FULL of bedding, is that alright?

 

[SQ]

ok as long as they are together.

Shoe boxes with a ole in one side make good nest boxes because it is easy to remove the lid to check on things.
After they are settled, or tomorrow, you will want to check for milk bellies.

Maybe I missed it, but I hope mama and daddy are seperated.
These articles may help viewtopic.php?f=26&t=17673

 

[jorats]

You definitely need to make sure mom and dad are no longer together or she could very well be pregnant again.
Give mom some extra protein foods so she can be stronger for the babies and lactate better. eggs, tuna, chicken.

 

[Jackie]

UPDATE!

Babies are doing well! I just checked on everyone, mommy is in there sleeping with them, I checked and she poked her head out of the nest and let me give her a little head scratch! She's so sweet!

:joy:

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

*YaY* To you for saving the family!

 

[Jackie]

Momma is feeding the babies as we speak, I went to take one out to check if they are being fed & he or she was feeding as I was getting ready to pull him/her out! I took one out and checked for good measure and it had a milk band! Yay for momma!

I'm so happy! We still have six I think, I'll do a double check after when I feed momma some protein! :thumbup:

 

[Dahlas]

That is great news!! I hope you can post some pics at some point...we love to see wee little ones.

 

[Jackie]

Update! Babies are doing AWESOME! Momma is doing a great job with them! We are down to five, lost one the day after I posted, but the other little guys are doing great. Looks like we are going to have a black hooded baby and four solid hooded babies!

How do I know if the little ones are going to have hair or not? Is it just a waiting process?

I'll try to get pics asap! I don't have a camera at the moment or a computer, I'm just posting from my grandmas computer, I'm here for thanksgiving!

Thanks for the help everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!