Need help with my 5 week old

[calleigh]

Hi. I'm hoping someone could help me out here.
I adopted 3 boys last week at varying ages. One's now 5 weeks, one's 4 and the youngest is 3.5 weeks old.
The two younger ones have gotten used to us and they do come out to investigate when we go to their cage. We're really worried about the oldest. He's sneezes when he's nervous and in high activity situations, he's not gaining as much weight as the other two, he's a really really shy rat and won't come out to greet anyone and he's picked up a really bad habit of nipping. He doesn't bite but he tries to nip all my fingers.
We try to socialize them as much as possible since getting them. I've built a play pen and we sit in the play pen with them for about an hour each time we have to feed the younger 2 boys.
Is there anything I can do? More socializing? Any way to get him out of the habit of nipping? Is it an adolescent phase where he's just looking to exert dominance?
Any advice would really be appreciated.

 

[SQ]

Wow! Only the 5 week old is even old enough to be away from mom .... poor babies ....

In addition to good quality lab blocks (harlan tech 2014, oxbow regal rat, or Living World hamster extrusian) - which is 80% of the diet and available at all times
and daily veg & ocassional pieces of fruit & healthy treats - which is 20% of the diet,
a couple of times a day, give all 3 babies a dish of soy infant formula with some baby cereal mixed into it to thicken it.

The babies are all very, very young and will gradually learn not to nip .... when you are nipped, pull your finger/hand away and eeeep like a rat.
The babies will learn that you do not like being nipped.
It is not dominance and he is a tiny baby who is exploring the world and may just want to play.
It will be a few months before they are adolescents. Rats are considered to be babies until they are 3 months old.

Edit .... what do you mean by:

I've built a play pen and we sit in the play pen with them for about an hour each time we have to feed the younger 2 boys.

An hour is a long time for such young babies, you may want to keep it to 20 or 30 min.s for now.
The older baby may have the new home sniffles.
Hold him up to your ear and listen to both sides of his chest to see if his breathing is conjested.
Since it has been a week and he is also losing weight, I would suggest a vet apt with a good rat vet - he may have a respir infection and need antibiotics (such as clavamox or azithromycin, both baby friendly meds).
Rats become ill and die fast.

 

[calleigh]

Thanks for your advice!

We adopted them from a feeder pile so they were taken away from their moms at a very young age. We've been feeding them kitten formula and the other two has been doing really well with their weight gain. He's not losing weight, just gaining it slower than the others and less on somedays.

The younger two (4 & 3.5 wks) don't bite, actually one has never nipped before, he's more curious about trying to run everywhere.
The oldest (5wk old) a very very nervous little guy and I feel so bad for him, he's terrified of the world. Between the 3 of them they have such different personalities it's incredible.

The playpen is just an enclosed area so they can run around getting used to us while we feed them. Feeding each one takes a while cause they eat and run, eat and run so by the time we're done with all 3 it's about an hour.

We checked for respiratory problems, clear breathing, no wheezing and he only sneezes when he gets anxious or when he starts getting into tussles with his brothers.

Any suggestions then about trying to get him out of his shell?

 

[SQ]

Soy infant formula is actually the closest to rat mama's milk (grocery store or pharmacy), and all 3 would benefit from it, while also having other foods available(see my previous post).

Figured there must be a story behind this ... glad you were able to save the 3 babies.

If he is not conjested and isn't losing weight then it may be new home sniffles. If so, it should go away soon.
You will want to keep a close eye on him.

Love, patience and time will help .... they are very young and have only been with you a very short time.
You can put on a t-shirt and a larger loose shirt. then put all 3 on you at the same time, between the two shirts.
This will help them to become used to you and your smell. Being between the two shirts will let them feel safe.
You will want to do this for 20 or 30 min at a time.

Wear a shirt or piece of cloth to get your scent on it and then put it into the cage so they will become comfortable with your smell.

When they are out for a hour, if they can have access to their cage it will help them to feel safer.
Looking forward to lots of pics

 

[calleigh]

That does sound like a great idea. Thank you.

I'm just nervous cause they're so young and behaving so differently from one another.

 

[RedCat]

The shirt is a great idea! Thanks for all your input ^.^

 

[SQ]

Hope it is useful.
btw, I can not claim credit for the shirt ideas, as they were suggested to me over 7.5 years ago.

 

[TheRatQueen]

Yes, they should outgrow the nipping. Of course you can always end up with a stinker that likes to play bite.

I find that babies will play fight/bite until 10ish weeks old. Of course that's different for everyone. But as long as they're not biting too hard, I wouldn't worry about it. Just wait until they get super comfy with you and start power grooming your fingers/nails!

 

[jorats]

I can't add anything more, it's all been covered but all I can say, I'd sure love to see pics of them.