surpise litter - possible bad mom - need advice asap

[temblabamomo]

My friend L who does rescue got to animal control over the weekend to find one of the new females had given birth to 15 babies. Thank goodness she was there, because the last litter they had at AC (my Helo's babies) disappeared, and we have just learned another worker used them for food :sad3:

This litter is safe now, still not sure if L has them at home or has just done what is needed to make sure they will not be taken for food at AC. Neither of us has much experience with babies and she is a bit freaked out. She believes at least two of the babies have died (cause unknown at this point). She said this morning mom (aka Pearl) was sitting atop the entire litter and she heard squeaking. Is this normal mom behaviour?

Pearl also wreaked havoc on her new cage, it was a huge mess this morning. Do new moms tend to do this? I'm wondering if she is young and not knowing how to handle kids.

Can anyone advise?? What can L or I do to make sure Pearl is being a good mom? In the event she rejects her bubs, I'm not sure we have another mom to try to put the babes with. What can we do???

 

[ratkin412]

I don't have much experience with rat litters, but it sounds like Pearl is doing a good job. She is tearing up the cage because she is 'nesting', and she is sitting on the babies to feed them. They are 'eeping' because they are babies, and that's what they do. If your friend feels comfortable doing so, she can check the babies for 'milk bands' ... their skin is translucent and you can actually see if their bellies are full of milk by looking for a whitish stripe on (actually inside) their bellies.
The two that died might have had something unknown wrong with them. It's not uncommon for one or two infant rats to die.

Make sure Pearl has lots of healthy, nutritious, good food to eat.

 

[SQ]

Make sure Pearl has lots of healthy, nutritious, good food to eat.

As you likely are aware, Pearl needs regular diet of good quality blocks (Harlan Tech 2014, Oxbow Regal Rat, or Livingworld hamster extrusian blooks) available at all times
and daily fresh or frozen/thawed fresh vegs.
She also needs 2 or 3 sources of fresh water available.

Pearl also needs her regular diet supplimented with nutritious food.
It is recommended to give nursing mamas, infant soy formula thickened with baby cereal, a couple of times a day.
A bit of scrambled or boiled egg once or twice a day is also good.

Hopefully Pearl is in a relatively stress free environment.
Hope the babies (little eepers) all have good milk bellies.
(Mama will be cleaning baby butts after nursing to stimulate the babies to eliminate)
Very very sorry about the babies that died. I hope the rest of the babies do well.
btw, shoe boxes make great nest boxes for mamas, but not necessary.
It sounds like Pearl is doing a good job making a nest.

Here are links to info about babies and mamas: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=17673

Here is a link showing baby growth: http://ratgrowth.homestead.com/

Here are a few baby threads you may find interesting:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6369&hilit=milk+belly&start=15
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23281&hilit=miriam&start=60
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=29099&hilit=easter

 

[temblabamomo]

Many thanks for the prompt and detailed responses. It is sounding like maybe Pearl isn't being a bad mom. I do not take girls, and L has never dealt with a mom and babies, so between the two of us we're short of experience and don't know how to interpret anything. You would think after all the threads I've followed here that I would have a little bit of knowledge, but I guess it becomes quite different when the situation is happening for real, and not just a thread being followed.

I have confirmed that Pearl was taken home to stay with L. Knowing L, she probably has Pearl put in a quite room, away from the rest of the animals.

Will pass on the info about supplementing the diet, and follow up on the links. I think right now, the panic is passing. L has just gotten off of baby watch for another girl, who has not given birth and may be officially Not Pregnant. Going from the huge relief of that to walking into AC and finding 15 eepers was just kind of a shock, I think. I think we're all calm enough now to follow up on some of these links.

Thanks again!

 

[SQ]

Hope you are able to share updates and pics with us :cheeky:

 

[jorats]

I agree with the others, sounds like Pearl is doing a good job.

I'm still a bit shocked by the bit posted about the shelter using babies for snake food. Very sad.