Hand rearing? Urgent

[Bexler]

Disaster loves me I swear.

Okay, long story short. I took in a female who was being nippy with her owners. She had just had a litter and told me she was separated from the male asap.

They lied. She had babies on the 20th. Eleven of them.
She was fine, but I walked in about an hour ago and found them all freezing cold, half dead, and not moving strewn around the cage.

I stepped into immediate mother mode and quickly(carefully) put them all under my shirt and warmed them. I have them in a special carrier box with one of my old shirts and used a 12 Ml syringe to get some KMR in them. I also helped them go to the bathroom and now they're all warm, sound asleep, and very much alive.

Only one problem... I've never done this before. Should I feed them every two hours? Am I screwing up? Should I put them into "teams" for feeding? How often will they need to "go"? There's two runts. Should I feed them more often? I don't have a scale but they have healthy appetites so just let them eat as much as they want?

Any more info will be helpful. I probably sound really stupid. I'm sorry. I have had babies before but they've always been taken care of by mom. Once they hit 2 1/2- 3 weeks I'm confident in my rearing skills. Now I just have to get there....

 

[lilspaz68]

http://www.afrma.org/rminfo8.htm

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/orphans.htm

Human soy formula is actually closest to mom's milk, but you really do need to find a foster mom, as it will give them the best chance. :sad3:

 

[Bexler]

I'm afraid foster moms won't work. Anyone who has mommas available are... Well they run "rat mills" I've gotten rats from them before, rescued. They were deformed. Dehydrated. Under nourished... Just... Ugh.

All I have at the moment is KMR(I figured it'd be okay until I find something better as they were really hungry/dehydrated. )

 

[Bexler]

Unless... I know a rattery that May have one but I don't remember her saying if her new litter(s) were born yet. I'll have to check.

If she doesn't I really do have the time to raise them. I just need to be prepared. I'll see if I can go down to the vet clinic down the road and if they'll let me buy some supplies for nursing.

 

[lilspaz68]

KMR is fine. Let us know what happens

 

[KatTheHippie]

KMR is great for now, but you should really look into human soy forumla. Atleast they're all eating though, those poor babies.. it's extremely, extremely difficult to hand rear newborn rats, and it's still really hard up until the point when their eyes open. Even then, it can be difficult, so finding a foster mom would be the absolute best thing you could do for them. Is there a Rat Rescue in the area that has a nursing momma with a litter? I'm sure you're more than capable of raising them, but baby rodents are finicky little things

 

[Bexler]

Fed them again a little while ago. All is well. Still looking for a foster mommy.

I honestly don't think the runts will make it. One is 1/3 the size of the others. And the other is half the size but looks like he has an abcess on his tummy. We'll have to see.

Can't get to the vet today unfortunately but I'll try for tomorrow.

 

[KatTheHippie]

Can you post us some pictures? group shots so we can see size differences, then singles so we can see close ups of each pup? Do all of them have milk bands? The supposed abscess may just be the spot where the little one's umbillical cord was attached.

 

[Bexler]

I don't know if I can. I'm on a phone, not a computer. I could email them to you though. I Think it is where the umbilical cord was it just looks... Bulgy? I've never seen it before on pups.

The smallest is the only one I can see a milk band with. The others are all bulky and chubby. With exception to the other small one.

 

[KatTheHippie]

How old are they exactly? and yes, please email them to me. I'll message you my email

 

[Bexler]

Gr... My internet is just... No.

The smallest runt died a few hours ago while I was feeding them. I noticed he was rolling around and then went rigid. I've seen it before so I tried to stop him from going into cardiac arrest... After fifteen minutes he died in my hand. Poor little guy.
The other runt looks bigger today, if he survives he'll catch up to his siblings in no time.

Keeping my fingers crossed that most-if not all- will survive.

They'd be MAYBE eleven days old at this point. I found them on the 20th but they could have been born on the 19th since I went to bed early.

 

[Aida]

Oh my. ):
Poor little guy.

 

[Bexler]

The other little guy didn't make it either. *Sigh*

The other nine are so full of energy. They know me by smell and get super excited. They even play with my fingers if I gently roll them on their backs and scritch their tummies.

Three of them are black berkshires. Two are black selfs. And three are black hooded. One of the hooded might be a dalmation? Her back is all spotty. One of the hoods has a black saddle the other has a stripe of black that randomly speckles down her spine.... I'm getting attached. >.<

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

Awww, so sorry about the lil' bubs..hope the rest will be fine.

 

[Joanne]

Wow, it sounds like you have your hands full. Good luck with the babies!

 

[Bexler]

Thank you. My insomnia is finally good for something lol.

Their teeth are starting to come in now. It's so interesting watching this first hand rather than from a cage. I took a video of one of the babies licking extra formula off my finger(SO CUTE.)

 

[Bexler]

Another baby died in my hand a few minutes ago.

He was bouncy and full of life a few hours ago. The rest all appear fine but the second I saw him I knew he wasn't going to make it.

I've put several ads up looking for a foster mom. I've gotten nothing.

I feel so bad about the baby. I'm not going to lose heart though. The others need someone to be there for them so that's what I'm going to continue to do.

 

[Joanne]

I'm so sorry - it is difficult to lose the babies when you are trying so hard. Hang in there - you are giving them a fighting chance at the very least. If you did nothing, they would all have been gone by now.

 

[MuffinsMum]

:hugs:

Thank you for every single thing you're doing for these little ones! Every step of this must be hard for you, but thank you for persevering and for giving each little one hope and a chance!

 

[Bexler]

*Hugs* Thank you all so much for the support.
It is hard especially with all the stress in my life right now but I know the ones that do make it will be the sweetest babies ever. I just adore their little puppy faces.

They should be two weeks old in a few hours. I'm really excited for them to open their eyes too. It's bath time in about an hour for them also. ^.^