New to the forum and soon to be rat owner

[ema-leigh]

Welcome to the forum, and congrats all those babies are GORGEOUS!

I have three girls and three boys, the best of both worlds Now Ive had both, I couldnt pick just one gender.

The girls are awesome they free roam my bedroom and they climb just everywhere - even over me. All my girls run up to me to greet me, they are all licky and love a short cuddle and scritch. I build them obsticle(sp?) courses to do, let them run around my secured garden. I do find after about 2 or 3 hours of free roaming they can get quite mischevious and start nibbling and such. Whenever they are out you have to watch them closly as they can get into trouble quickly. They are super smart. They will shoulder ride, but after a minute or so they will try bungee jump down so they can explore again.

My boys are just as awesome though. They do free roam, but after about 15 mins they find a comfty spot and sleep If I leave the room, they are generally where I left them - but I still watch them as they do sometimes get into trouble. They will sit on my lap and watch a movie (Ive taken them the movie theater before, hehe) Ride on my shoulder for hours, sleep in my pocket for days lol. I definatly have a soft spot for my boys.

Both my genders mark me, but its just a few drops and I find Ive grown very accustomed to it now. I find having a rat blanket on my bed very beneficial - I just wipe my hands on it when im done, then shove it in the wash. Ive had zero hormone/temperment problems and I would imagine if your getting your babies from a good breeder you wont have any issues either.

When I look at a litter, my pick will always be the biggest and healthiest bub. Or the friendliest. Colors is just a bonus. I look forward to seeing more pics of the two babies you pick

 

[Kaicy]

I got my babies today!

Introducing Bear (the black and white) and Remy (the brown and white one) Remy if after the rat in ratatouille
aren't they cute. They are already playing with me and sleeping on me. Not to mention using the facilities on me. LOL I'll just take a shower before bed

 

[jorats]

They look so young. Very sweet... how old are they?

 

[mamarat]

They are so tiny and cute. :heart: Congrats!

 

[Sillyfyre]

They are both so cute and congrats

 

[Kaicy]

Ok so I have a confession to make...

I bought them at a pet store. Not a Petco or Petsmart... It was a small local pet store that is owned by an old women. They told me the babies were weaned and were removing mom from the cage. The girl I was working with there was very knowledgeable and has her own pet rats. The place is very small and they care a lot about their animals. It's the only pet store that I will go to any more. Anyhoo... They said they were born March 6.

 

Rats are supposed to me with there mother for 5 to 6 weeks? I think it is ..If they were born March 6, shoulden't they still be with the mother?

 

[jorats]

Oh god... they are a little over 3 weeks?
That is much too young to be without mom... I hope you go back and educate these ladies about the importance of the babies staying with mom.
You'll need to make sure they are eating a higher protein diet for now and lots of socializing too.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

Yes, they definitely should be with mom until 5 weeks. It's unfortunate that pet stores don't know this, and just goes to show how little "decent" pet stores know.

 

[Kaicy]

Seriously...?!?! Geez!!! :wallbang: That makes me really upset. More at myself than at them b/c I should have double checked before I took them home! I should have known better. Ok so I need to give them protein...? Well I was eating chineese for dinner and gave both of them some of my egg from it. I heared it was good for young rats. Is there any other suggestions as to what type of foods I can give them to help? They seem to like Banana, Broccoli, and Carrots too. Are these going to be good for them while they are still this young?

What else can I do for them?

:gaah: Ok note to self never go there again and never trust any pet store no matter how knowledgeable they "seem" to be.

Should I be leaving them alone for the most part? The past 2 days I have had them out as much as I possibly can I even have the next 2 days off so that I could spend time with them... Of course I was making sure to offer food and water often... Mostly they seem to want to sleep.

Do you think mom will take her babies back if I go in and talk to them? She was very aggressive whenever I saw her... in fact I was not allowed to handle mom at all and they only touched her with gloves. But the babies were always sweet when I saw them. Is she just being overly protective (Normal behavior)?

You know what instead of wasting everyones time I am going to do some research. Maybe I can print out solid proof that the store wont be able to dispute. I am hoping that they actually care about the animals like they say and this kind of thing wont happen again.

God I feel like such a fool.
Forgive me...?

 

[Avatar]

In my experience with volunteering at Chelle's Critter Haven, none of the pregnant/nursing moms they have rescued ever needed to be handled with gloves, most never even bit... And some had come from very terrible situations, and had never been handled. This should have been a warning sign that something was "off".

Continue to handle the babies, this is when they need socialization the most. At CCH they handle babies multiple times daily from birth, right up until the day they're adopted out.

As for a nutrient boost, you can give scrambled eggs, a lab block with higher protein, etc. along with their normal lab block. You might want to offer Ensure and baby cereal or oatmeal as well... something "mushy".

 

[jorats]

You are certainly not a fool. Like many of us, you fell in the pet shop trap.

I'd get them baby cereal and give it to them every day and like Avatar mentioned a block with a higher protein %...something like 24% will be perfect.
Cuddle them as much as you can, have them with you several times a day. And don't worry, we've seen very young babies thrive and become healthy with the love and diligence of their humans.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

And don't worry, we've seen very young babies thrive and become healthy with the love and diligence of their humans.

:thumbup: I agree, with a little extra care your babies will be fine.

 

[Kaicy]

I hope they will be alright. They are very playful and friendly... they will play with and groom my hand. And they seem to like to be on my shoulder and will even sleep there. I just hope I am not socializing with them too much...? I am using fleece for there cage and yesterdays news in a ferret corner pan. Although I think their favorite potty spot right now is me... well and their hammock.

Oh and they really seem to like their crambled eggs

 

[Kaicy]

Oh another thing... I called the pet store and tried to talk to them about the babies being to young... they asked me where I got my information. I told them from the internet and from some "friends" on a rat forum that work with and have owned rats for many years. Their responce to me was that I can't believe everything that I hear from the internet and that they of course know better.

Well there was a lot more to it than that (including me telling them I wont be back b/c they don't know what they are talking about) but, yeah that was the ghist of it.

 

[Moon]

http://ratguide.com/breeding/figures/bi ... gure_4.php
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/pets/rat.htm
http://www.quite.co.uk/rats/#Growth%20and%20Lifespan
http://www.ratfanclub.org/repro.html
http://www.petrats.org/pro.html

Here's just a few links that say that rats should be weaned NO earlier than 4 weeks, and most mention that 5 weeks is preferable. Maybe you should print it off as a list and ask them to check out the information for themselves.

 

[daisylynn]

Don't be too hard on yourself, and if you're worried about the general health of the animals in the store, call the SPCA on them.
In the mean time, just keep an eye on your beautiful baby rats and enjoy their company

 

[jorats]

I highly doubt the SPCA will do anything since these rats are probably bred as food.
Hopefully these ladies will do some research as well and perhaps learn and do better.

 

[Kaicy]

Thank you all for your help

They seem to be healthy baby rats they are now 4 week 1 day old. They play and sleep a lot... and of course pooping and peeing everywhere too.
I have a pretty large computer desk that I let them roam on. They seem to like it. I have water and fleese out for any of there needs and give them broccoli and other yummies to snack on. Trying to maximize the time I spend with them. :dance:

 

yay for good news