Maternity Cage

[Candlelight]

I'm currently fostering a mom and her two babies. They're living in a small wire cage that they came with them when I picked them up from the shelter (mom had already given birth when I got her). The wire cage will not be suitable for the babies once they're older as the pan is way too deep and they wouldn't be able to reach the water bottle and the cage is too small, so I was wondering at what age I can safely move the family to my Critter Nation? The babies are 10 days old.

Thanks!

 

[SQ]

Would they be living with any other rats in the CN?

btw, babies will need a shallow water dish when older.
Babies & young rats may look like they are drinking from water bottles but are not strong enough to actually get any water out.

 

[hopefloats]

http://www.petfooddirect.com/product/38 ... MgodIWYATg

I just purchased this cage for babies and it is a perfect size. How old are the babies?

 

[SQ]

I put Eve and her babies in a CN when they were rescued ..... the babies were 4 days old.
They were in a nest box in a container that had an edge they couldn't climb out of until they were about 17 days old,
by that time they were large enough that bar spacing was fine.
I don't believe I put in the ladder until they were 4 or 5 weeks old.

 

[Candlelight]

The babies are 12 days old today and no, it'll just be the two babies and mom in the CN.

Thanks for the help! And the info on the water, SQ!

 

[SQ]

You are welcome.

a few pics in this thread ...
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21838&hilit=eve&start=135

 

[hopefloats]

I have watched all 3 of these litters at different ages that I have and all of them have been able to use the water bottle at every stage, some of them use thier hands to push the ball back and the other use their tongues. I havent used a bowl because i have babies with balance issues and human babies can drown in less than two inches of water so I am sure rat babies could as well.

 

[Candlelight]

Thanks for the link! I'm reading it right now. I've been keeping up with hopefloats' babies thread which has also been helpful. =)

I'll try to upload some photos of the two babies and mom to the forum tomorrow. They're all adorable PEWs.

At what age did you introduce the babies to the water bottle, hopefloats?

 

[SQ]

I have watched all 3 of these litters at different ages that I have and all of them have been able to use the water bottle at every stage, some of them use thier hands to push the ball back and the other use their tongues. I havent used a bowl because i have babies with balance issues and human babies can drown in less than two inches of water so I am sure rat babies could as well.

All I know is that someone reported babies dying because they were unable to move the bearing and get water out of bottles, even tho they looked like they were able to drink out of water bottles. It makes sense to me and I would rather be safe then sorry. The two babies that died of dehydration were older babies that had been been weaned and adopted.

Normally, one would use a shallow dish ... like a saucer for water when babies are young.
Hopefloats, your group with its balance difficulties would present a challenge when you are designing a safe way to ensure they get water. I imagine making sure they get lots of flid in their food, such as lab block mush likely helps.

 

[julia_silve:)]

they sell VERY small hamster bottles that have much lighter bearings and smaller mouth pieces that are much easier to move than the large rat bottles