New and no clue

[Pfil]

hi everyone long story short we were doing landscaping and found a dead (assuming mother) rat, further into our yard work my dog was whining and looking in the dirt so i went to investigate and she found 4 little baby rats cuddled together and i love all animals so my first instinct was to swoop them up and give them a chance.
I have them in a little plastic kids pet box been feeding them often a kitten formula which i read would be ok for now, and massaging their butts to induce them to potty. My main questions are since they were born wild would they have some type of disease from their mother? Im not too worried about my self as ive been handlin them bare handed and feeding them with a little syringe, but i have 2 puppies in the house and just want to make sure they are safe. Second with 4 can i how long can i house them together? I read at a certain period they will breed and or fight as some will be male and others female. Any other tips i would love because honestly im willing to care for these little guys and i have no clue where to start aside from feed, handle, and massage their little butts.

I just remembered and dont feel like squeezing it into that huge mess of a paragraph, they have tiny fleas i say that with a huge question mark because i have no idea but if i can get rid of them how? Thank you everyone so much for any replies in advanced.

 

[Pfil]

Heres a picture of 1/4 of thr cuties mind his lil dirty spots i hope it was ok but i cleaned him gently with a damp qtip they were pretty squirmy when i first learned to feed them but iw atched a few videos and figured it out.https://imgur.com/gallery/gGoOJbM

 

[Fidget]

Hi! You'll hear from others here who can give you better advice than I can about wild ratties. Sounds like you're doing good so far, I hope they make it for you! Any diseases they have will more likely affect other rats, but keep them away from the puppies til you know they're healthy. Sounds like they have lice or mites, someone else could tell you better than me what to do about that, I believe they're too young to use Revolution. No worries about separating them til they are 5 wks old, then separate males & females. Same-sex rats can be kept together and shouldn't fight as they grow up together (tho they will do normal rough & tumble with each other)... Oboy, you have so much fun ahead of you!

 

[SQ]

You do not need to worry about disease. They will never be able to be released as they will not survive without their mama, and what she would have taught them.

Their best chance at survival is for you to find a nursing mama with a litter - take the mama out, make them smell like the other babies and add them to the litter, and put mama back

 

[lilspaz68]

Take more pics as wild rats are agouti coloured, and your baby is black and doesn't look quite like a baby rat. Pics can be misleading though.

Could be a black squirrel from the pic.

 

[SQ]

If they are squirrels, then a wildlife rehab might be able to help (wildlife rehabs often use rats for food for other animals, but often have experience with infant squirrels)

 

[Petunia]

that does not look at all like a rat to me but as was mentioned photos can be deceiving. The claws look like a squirrel's, made for climbing trees

 

[Pfil]

Thanks everyone for the replies im wanting to keep them but probably not all so when they can feed by them selves ill pribably rehome one or two depending the genders.
Ill upload some more pics but i really dont think these are squirrels although thatd be a cool twist. Im freezing their bedding and hay as ive read that they can house lice/mites but how old should they be before i use revolution and anyone by chance know? Heres a link to more pics
https://imgur.com/gallery/wp3OuvF

 

[Sheldon]

Can you weigh them in grams on a kitchen scale? That will help us with identification and dosing for Revolution.

I am wondering if it is actually a different species of rat? Domestic rats are Rattus norvegicus and are shorter in the body and heftier. Rattus rattus, or the black rat, is slimmer but more importantly, dark black in color (which your babe appears to be).

 

[Sheldon]

Also if you are wondering, I’d put them at around 10 days old.

 

[Pfil]

So if they are (rattus rattus) will they get as big/hefty as the rats ive seen as pets online? Just trying to get a thought on how big theyll be, also any tips on when their eyes open how i should start the bonding process, and a good starter cage? I just started working again and cash flow is a little slow and that cage is almost 300$ but my main goal is that big cage with 2 or 3 floors, hammocks ect.

 

[Pfil]

Also there is 2 black and 2 light brown lil guys if that helps ill need to get a scale from my car later to weigh them but ill let you guys know how much they weigh by the end of the day.

 

[Petunia]

did a google search for images of baby squirrels and baby rats ... the squirrels have even more impressive looking claws so... LOL

also found a forum where a person found what they thought might be a baby squirrel but they said they'd had baby squirrels before and they didn't squeak and these babies did squeak

do those little ones make any sounds?



what an adventure...I've never had newborn rats so I'm a bit jealous.

 

[Pfil]

They make little eeps every so often usually when handling for feeding and potty time
Very quiet.
All 4 still kicking they are waking up and looking for my hand when i wake up in the morning. So cute.
Also anyone know a good time frame to feed them? I feed every couple hours since im assuming newborns need lots of feedings.

 

[SQ]

revolution is not safe for young babies ..... and wild babies develop slower then domestic

 

[mrsmrhayner]

Are they pouch rat babys?

 

[mrsmrhayner]

Here is a pic

 

[Sheldon]

Those are HUGE though. I think they are too small for that.

Rattus rattus would grow up to be somewhat smaller and quite a lot slimmer. They aren’t as hefty. It’s hard to tell at this age though if that is what they are.