Wild Baby Rescues, Please Help!

[Ruined]

Hi there!
I'm new to this site but not new to rats. I currently own 11 rats that are all happy and healthy.

My landlord has had someone come in to remove some garbage bins outside and in the process they found 4 baby rats. In the process they accidentally killed the mother. They look to be about 5 or 7 days old and I took them inside and got them set up immediately and I plan on keeping them if they all survive.

They however also found 3 more. Two of them look to be siblings of the same age, around 18 days old, and another one that looks to be maybe 4 weeks at most. One of them is injured with a small cut on his side. The other two seem to be okay and are already very friendly.

I'm not sure if I should try to keep these 3 or not. They all get along with each other and the one with the wound is incredibly friendly and immediately runs over for pets and cuddles. The other two are more shy but they have licked me and chittered.

Would these 3 be better released back into the wild? If so at what point? Should I put them all in one cage or keep them in two separate ones? Would the baby baby rats ever be able to be introduced to my other rats if I handle them constantly?

They are currently quarantined from my other rats and I'm taking all precautions as well.

Here's a picture of the babies! I believe there are two boys and two girls!

 

[breakthenight]

I am not sure how I missed this post! I hope things are going okay. The older babies ai would attempt to rehab and release. They should become a bit wilder if you minimize contact.

The four younger ones will likely imprint heavily if they survive. I have a thread going on here you can look for that details the process of raising my wild babies.

 

[Ruined]

I hate to say it but all 4 babies passed away, one each day for the last four days. The oldest girl was determined to get out and left. The two slightly younger ones passed last night. All 4 babies passed the exact same way; they started choking and passed from lack of oxygen. They were all doing perfectly minutes before they started choking too.

One of the slightly older girls had a seizure then a stroke yesterday, followed by another few series of seizures. Her back right leg was paralyzed so I did my best to administer her some tylenol to help ease her pain. She was in the worst physical condition and I didn't expect her to make it long.

Someone had found another girl outside who is between the ages of the babies and the other two youngest girls. She had a small wound that was mostly healed. She's doing well and the tylenol and polysporin have helped her a lot so far. She's running around and super friendly and is even starting to eat solid foods.

I'm worried that she might not make it either. I don't know if it's a genetic reason that they all passed similarly or not, or if they perhaps had a virus or disease or something.

I feel so bad I couldn't get them into the vet fast enough, they had no openings until this Friday. I at least made them all comfy and warm and kept them well fed so that they at least passed knowing they were loved.

 

[Kye]

I hate to say it but all 4 babies passed away, one each day for the last four days. The oldest girl was determined to get out and left. The two slightly younger ones passed last night. All 4 babies passed the exact same way; they started choking and passed from lack of oxygen. They were all doing perfectly minutes before they started choking too.

One of the slightly older girls had a seizure then a stroke yesterday, followed by another few series of seizures. Her back right leg was paralyzed so I did my best to administer her some tylenol to help ease her pain. She was in the worst physical condition and I didn't expect her to make it long.

Someone had found another girl outside who is between the ages of the babies and the other two youngest girls. She had a small wound that was mostly healed. She's doing well and the tylenol and polysporin have helped her a lot so far. She's running around and super friendly and is even starting to eat solid foods.

I'm worried that she might not make it either. I don't know if it's a genetic reason that they all passed similarly or not, or if they perhaps had a virus or disease or something.

I feel so bad I couldn't get them into the vet fast enough, they had no openings until this Friday. I at least made them all comfy and warm and kept them well fed so that they at least passed knowing they were loved.

I'm so sorry I also missed this, you did good by them despite what happened in the end. Based on what you've said I'm wondering if the mother(s) were actually poisoned beforehand and transferred that to the babies via milk, it would explain the choking, seizures, and even the stroke. If that's the case there was nothing you or a vet could have done to save them. I'm so sorry this happened.

 

[Ruined]

Oh my gosh I'm so worried. There's one other girl that's still alive that is from a different litter because she's a different age. I have a vet appointment for her tomorrow. She's doing so well right now, eating solid food and drinking water and running around. I hope she can make it to the appointment tomorrow and maybe they can try to run some tests and maybe give her some charcoal. I just hope I'm able to help her at least and try to save her.

 

[Kye]

Oh my gosh I'm so worried. There's one other girl that's still alive that is from a different litter because she's a different age. I have a vet appointment for her tomorrow. She's doing so well right now, eating solid food and drinking water and running around. I hope she can make it to the appointment tomorrow and maybe they can try to run some tests and maybe give her some charcoal. I just hope I'm able to help her at least and try to save her.

I really hope she makes it too, it sounds like you're doing everything right for her and even if she doesn't make it, she should know she was loved in the end. I hope the vets find nothing wrong but if they do I really really hope they can save her.

 

[Ruined]

Update!!
The vet said that she is doing amazing and is incredibly healthy! Her two wounds are healing amazingly and her only slight concern is if it gets dry and the scab comes off and it's a little fleshy but she's going to be calling to check on her over the week.
She said that the theory of poisoning is definitely likely, especially since one or their bellies swelled up as they were passing and turned darker in color. She thinks they likely bled out internally.
She said I was doing an amazing job and was really proud and to basically keep up the good work with her. Her nutrition is really well, heart and lungs sound amazing, and is doing so well. She said we would have found out if she had suffered poisoning by now too so we don't have to worry about that!
I'll send some pictures of her cute set up once I am home and of her! I'm so glad I was able to save at least one of them!

 

[Kye]

Update!!
The vet said that she is doing amazing and is incredibly healthy! Her two wounds are healing amazingly and her only slight concern is if it gets dry and the scab comes off and it's a little fleshy but she's going to be calling to check on her over the week.
She said that the theory of poisoning is definitely likely, especially since one or their bellies swelled up as they were passing and turned darker in color. She thinks they likely bled out internally.
She said I was doing an amazing job and was really proud and to basically keep up the good work with her. Her nutrition is really well, heart and lungs sound amazing, and is doing so well. She said we would have found out if she had suffered poisoning by now too so we don't have to worry about that!
I'll send some pictures of her cute set up once I am home and of her! I'm so glad I was able to save at least one of them!

That is amazing news! If you plan on keeping this one I would imagine you can introduce her to your established group seeing as they are the same species and she has a clean bill of health, it might help her be a little less wild too. I look forward to pictures!!

 

[Ruined]

I found one photo of her on my phone but I'll send more later!

Should I wait to introduce her to my other group of girls? She's still less than a month old (3 weeks at most) and I don't want her to get hurt. She's been being handled a lot too. I know she could act a little more "wild" at any point but so far she is very friendly and cuddly!

 

[breakthenight]

I found one photo of her on my phone but I'll send more later!

Should I wait to introduce her to my other group of girls? She's still less than a month old (3 weeks at most) and I don't want her to get hurt. She's been being handled a lot too. I know she could act a little more "wild" at any point but so far she is very friendly and cuddly!

Please keep us up to date. I'm currently raising my wildlings and it has been such an amazing, eye opening ing journey. I'd love to follow along with yours, too.

In terms of meeting your other females- too young. Not safe. I know with lone baby wilds they reccomend that you intro them to a domestic baby at around 4 weeks old to act as a companion- but I don't have any experience with introducing wild babies to adults.

 

[Kye]

I found one photo of her on my phone but I'll send more later!

Should I wait to introduce her to my other group of girls? She's still less than a month old (3 weeks at most) and I don't want her to get hurt. She's been being handled a lot too. I know she could act a little more "wild" at any point but so far she is very friendly and cuddly!

Very cute! I would wait a bit and I would definitely like more pictures specifically including the full head(ears and all) and the tail/body and tail if at all possible, for some reason this picture doesn't exactly look like a rat to me but it's probably just the angle!

 

[breakthenight]

Very cute! I would wait a bit and I would definitely like more pictures specifically including the full head(ears and all) and the tail/body and tail if at all possible, for some reason this picture doesn't exactly look like a rat to me but it's probably just the angle!

Definitely looks like a baby rat- but OP do you live in an area with only norway rats or also roof rats? What did the vet think roof vs. Norway? This will determine care going forward.

 

[Kye]

Definitely looks like a baby rat- but OP do you live in an area with only norway rats or also roof rats? What did the vet think roof vs. Norway? This will determine care going forward.

The nose looked too short but I'll take your word for it seeing as you're also raising smalls, it's been a while since I saw babies that small, let alone furred LOL

 

[Ruined]

We only have Norway rats here! She looks pretty similar to the other babies and when I got mine at 5 weeks. I'll post more photos soon of her!

 

[Ruined]

Here are some more pictures of her! I hope she is a rat since the vet confirmed it and I'd hate for her to not be lol.

 

[breakthenight]

Here are some more pictures of her! I hope she is a rat since the vet confirmed it and I'd hate for her to not be lol.

Definitely a baby norway! So cute

 

[breakthenight]

Definitely a baby norway! So cute

Oh and I would say 2.5-3 weeks.

 

[breakthenight]

I have sent you a PM. I see you are in the same province!

 

[Kye]

Here are some more pictures of her! I hope she is a rat since the vet confirmed it and I'd hate for her to not be lol.

Oh yeah definitely a rat, I just wanted to make sure! She's super cute