Syringe feeding a baby! Help!

[TechnoSkittles]

Dear spirits, what have I gotten myself into?

A baby rat was brought into the shelter I work at today. And to avoid our wildlife rescuer taking it home and becoming food, I volunteered to foster (meaning I'll probably end up keeping it). Previously, I've only rescued adults. So this is very new to me. I've read up about care and such online, but was wondering if anyone out there has more personal advice.

From the pictures I'm seeing online, it appears to be 11-13 days old (eyes not open yet) and possibly a female. The coloring is of a wild rat, but almost has a berkshire pattern (which is odd, because she's supposedly wild born). I've been feeding the powdered puppy formula in a 1cc syringe (only about 0.3 cc every 4 hours or so), and helping her go to the bathroom. She is set up in a critter keeper with soft cloths, on top of a heating pad.

Please keep your fingers crossed and send some good vibes her way. She seems to be doing good so far, but rats are fragile little creatures. I will try to post a picture as soon as I find a camera that takes non-blurry close ups.

 

[amanda1472]

I saw this on another thread about feeding baby rats and so here you go, and technically you should thank SQ since it was posted by SQ =)

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=27608

 

[TechnoSkittles]

Yea, that's the article I got most of my information from originally. I already knew how to syringe feed and help them go to the bathroom, from handfeeding orphaned kittens. Just wasn't sure if kitten or puppy formula was best.

She already associates the syringe with food. During her last feeding, she got so excited when I put the tip of the syringe against her lips that she let out this little happy squeak and latched on. Guessing her enthusiasm is a good sign!

 

[SQ]

Soy infant formula is the best.
It can be purchased at grocery stores and pharmacies.

 

[TechnoSkittles]

Soy infant formula is the best.
It can be purchased at grocery stores and pharmacies.

Thanks! Hope the stores around here sell it. What kind of protein/fat percentages should I be going for? The puppy formula has protein at 31%, which seems WAY too high.

 

[KatTheHippie]

My Rhydian is a little wild born baby, who my cat brought home when he was around two weeks. Check the baby's feet and see if they're black on the bottom, Rhydian's are I believe it's a characteristic of a wildie (Plus it's super cute) I was lucky, atleast his eyes were opened.. it took him a little while but he got really good with feeding too. I used Gerber Goodstart soy infant formula, it comes in a blue containter, and my little boy's now around 10 weeks old, and growing like a CHAMP!

Good luck to you and your sweetie!

 

[TechnoSkittles]

Check the baby's feet and see if they're black on the bottom

Nope, they're pink. She's got two white socks on her front feet and a white belly. But it's not like a berkshire belly, because the brown fades into white gradually. Guess I'll discovered what she really is as she gets older.

But yaaaay! She survived the night! I'm so happy! :dance: And she was so eager for her formula syringe this morning. She acts like she's not getting enough to eat, but I'm giving more than recommended by the Rat and Mouse Club's guide to feeding orphans. I'm so glad that I went out last night and bought a good heating pad ($40, ugh!), that doesn't have an 'auto off' setting. I had been microwaving a rice sock for her to lay on, but you have to reheat it every hour or so.

 

[KatTheHippie]

Yay! Congratulations! That first night is so nervewracking, lol. But baby should be old enough to be okay with your help and without mom.. little eyes should be opening soon Rhydian's markings are sort of like that too, he's got a mainly black tail, little black feet-bottoms, and he's got a whiteish belly and agouti for all the rest. Maybe your girl's a halfie? I guess we'll find out, like you said! It's fantastic to hear she's eating so well, it sounds like she's a fighter who has a great chance! :heart:

 

[TechnoSkittles]

I've noticed that her bottom incisors are gaped. Her right incisor isn't matching up with the top, which has left it about half a millimeter longer than the left. Will her teeth correct themselves as she grows? Or should I look into teeth trimming while she's still young and easy to handle? I didn't even realize rats brux at such a young age, until I heard her doing it. (She is just a few days shy of her eyes opening.)

I've switched her over to the soy infant formula this afternoon and hope that there won't be any negative side effects. Thankfully I was lucky enough to have this weekend off from work so I would watch her like a hawk all day. Good thing I work at an animal shelter so I can take her to work with me until she can eat on her own. :thumbup:

 

[KatTheHippie]

How's she liking the new forumla? Is she gobbling it up as good as she was the other stuff? And as for her teeth.. unless they're really inhibiting her, I'd leave them until she gets a little bigger, and see if they correct themselves. She's still so little, the stress would be really scary for her. Are her eyes opened yet?

 

[TechnoSkittles]

So far so good on the new formula. Her poop is slightly loose, but nothing serious. I'm sure it will clear up with a few more feedings, as her system adjusts from a milk based formula to the soy.

And no... her eyes haven't opened yet. :? Maybe I miscalculated her age, since I was going off of pictures online. It can't be more than another day or two away.

She is the fussiest little thing though! She doesn't like to sit still when I'm stimulating her to potty. And for a critter that can't see yet, she sure thinks she's ready to toddle around and explore. She's going to be a handful once she gets older.

My boyfriend and I are currently discussing name options. He wants to name her "Dib" after a character on Invader Zim that gets teased for having an over-sized head. :giggle: She'll grow into that big noggin eventually!

 

[KatTheHippie]

Yeah, her loose stool should clear up relatively quickly, just keep an eye on her to make sure she isn't getting dehydrated, but you'd know it from having to handle her so much with the feedings. And Dib would be a HILARIOUS name! Baby rats really are just all head and feet, aren't they? It's adorable :heart: :heart: And don't stress too much on the age factor, the only thing that really matters is that she's healthy and happy, so long as that's what's going for her, she'll grow up just fine in your care. Are you planning on keeping her?

 

[lilspaz68]

rats have a natural splay in their teeth due to the cartilege that joins the front sides of the mandible together...it usually goes back to normal once they have stopped moving/struggling or gripping something (the reason they have it in the first place)

 

[TechnoSkittles]

Are you planning on keeping her?

We haven't decided yet. I'm getting attached to her, so I'd hate to release her once she's old enough, knowing that she'll end up as food for another animal. :sad3: But we're also not sure what we'd do if we keep her. We have 4 adult girls and 2 adult neutered males right now. One female is super aggressive and all attempted intro have ended in bloody messes. So I'm not sure how intros would go between a youngling and my adults.

rats have a natural splay in their teeth due to the cartilege that joins the front sides of the mandible together...it usually goes back to normal once they have stopped moving/struggling or gripping something (the reason they have it in the first place)

Thanks for the info! Fingers crossed for normal teeth as she ages!

 

[Joanne]

Oooh! Another orphaned baby! Great job on getting her through her first weekend with you. You are totally going to have to keep her! Make sure she gets a lot of one on one time with you. She is still young enough that hopefully she will bond well with you. I'm really hoping you will post pictures of her though.......

 

[KatTheHippie]

Just my opinion, I'd keep her. She's a single baby and she's going to really bond to you, you're not only the first thing she's going to see, you're her provider, her feeder, even the thing that helps her eliminate, you're her whole world right now. Not only that, but she doesn't have a mommy, or even brothers or sisters who can help her keep her wild roots.. she's not going to know how to forrage for food, or handle predators.

If you plan on keeping her, here are some tips I use/d for Rhydian, and so far he's actually MORE excited to see me than my tame girls. One, if you can afford it, or if you'd like to, a tame baby who's her age, once she opens her eyes ofcourse and can eat mainly on her own, would be ideal to help her realize how hand tamed babies should act. If that's not an option (It wasn't for me, I wasn't prepared for 1 new rodent let alone 2) Handle her AS MUCH AS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE. Whenever I'm home Rhydian is tucked away in my shirt, or pocket, or seated on my shoulder. He's always, always with me, and he's got one of my old shirts in his cage to keep my scent around him at all times. Also, even when she's past the point of needing regular feedings, still feed her from your hands, I.E. Babyfood, yogurt, or other treats that she'll need to lick from your fingertips so she'll trust you as much as possibe. Plus, you=food, which equals a positive thing! I've done all of this with my little boy, and he's always climbing the cage bars and reaching through to get to me when he's not there, and whenever I open the door to the room I keep him in, he automatically runs to the cage door.

All in all, good luck with your sweetie If you have any questions feel free to message me, and if you're curious, I have all of Rhydian's growth, from 2 weeks until now, documented in a thread:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=30255

 

[TechnoSkittles]

Unfortunately, we simply don't have the space, time, or money to get a companion for her. I hope that once she's full grown I can try to introduce her to my others, and see if she could fit into any of my groups. Thankfully one of our back-up cages is the "rat starter cage" from Super Pet with the 1/2" bars, so I won't need to buy one. :thumbup:

She has gotten progressively fussier these past two days. During one of her feedings tonight, I got a better look at that crooked tooth that I had asked about. WHOA! :thud: Not only was it way longer that her other bottom incisor, but the corner had been filed down to create a fang that had left a hole in the roof of her mouth! Our vet was already closed for the night and the emergency vet in the area doesn't handle exotics. I had no other option but to trim the tooth myself or risk losing her. I've helped one of our shelter vets trim rabbit teeth, so I knew the basics. The only thing I had that was small enough and sharp enough was my manicure scissors. With my boyfriend's help holding her, we got the tooth evened out and she is having a much easier time during feedings.

STILL waiting for those eyes to open. Wondering how she possibly managed to grow such ridiculous teeth before her eyes were even open. I will try to get a few pictures loaded up in the next day or so. But in the meantime, I believe my boyfriend and I have settled on a name. Well, more like he started referring to her by a name and it just stuck. So we compromised. Diblet! Dib, for short. Named after a character with a really big head, off the show Invader Zim. :lol:

 

[KatTheHippie]

Oh goodness, I'm glad you got her tooth problem sorted! Poor baby.. She's lucky you've got her. How's she doing today? I can imagine her little mouth must be sore :/ And don't sweat the companion bit, I couldn't make it work for Rhydian either, and he's doing fine. I wish you all the best luck with your sweetie.. keep me updated!

 

[TechnoSkittles]

Her feedings today have been much smoother now that her mouth is healing. And her eyelids are starting to show signs of separation! :dance: But now she doesn't seem to want to poop! She eats and pees normally, but very little solid waste is coming out. :gaah: I can never have an easy furkid. Haha! I might try to give her a dab of mineral oil and see if that helps.

As soon as I figure this Photobucket thing out, I have a few pictures of her. I'm going to wait to post a picture on the Rat Shack facebook page, because my darling mother is nosy and opinionated. I'll never hear the end of it when she finds out that I've taken in another rescue. :roll:

 

[TechnoSkittles]

UPDATE!

Diblet gave me a scare the other morning. Woke up early to feed her like usual, and she was barely alive. I had to force feed her some formula then gave her subQ fluids and nutrical once I got to work with her. After about an hour, she was able to lift her head and take more formula. By the end of the day, she was almost back to normal. :joy:

She has since fully recovered and is now taking her first nibbles of mash (crushed Total cereal soaked in soy formula). Once she gets the hang of using her jaws to chew, I will switch to crushed Oxbow soaked in formula.