Rat Saga part two - babies

Steve Touchstone wrote:
It's all Jo's fault. As soon as she posted that she hoped the rat was
male and that there wouldn't be rat bitties, the rat started
delivering babies. I just came inside from visiting with a neighbor,
and there are two wee little ones, though one was stillborn. I
suppose it's better for her and her babies that she allowed herself to
be captured last night.

Well, now it's time to go back and do some reading on baby rat care. I
already checked and found that the average litter is 6 to 15 (and up
to 24) babies, so guess more are on the way. If this turns out to be a
large litter I may end up hand feeding the little buggers. Now it
looks like I need to find a cheap aquarium - or at least something
with a tighter wire mesh to keep the babies from crawling out through
the bars. From what I've read so far, once their eyes open at about
10-14 days old they will start exploring and be likely to get out if I
don't find something better to keep them in.

With most litters, mama does most/all of the work and all you have to do
is socialize the babies and feed mama. I would advise making up a tote
cage, though - take a tote about the size of a 10 gallon aquarium,
preferably one of the clear ones, cut a big hole in the lid and cover it
with hardware cloth. Secure with zip ties. Stuff with paper towels, and
voila, you have the perfect nursery cage. Start handling the babies as
soon as you can, starting with very short periods of time and making it
longer as they get bigger. More information can probably be found from
your local rat rescue, or the forum at www.jorats.com is an *excellent*
resource, whether you want to keep the ratties or find them good homes.

And, of course, so far it seems I'm doing everything wrong. The
article I read says cedar is the wrong type of wood because of the
oils in the wood - so of course that's what I have. Anyway, the
article suggests newspapers and paper towels with babies rather than
wood chips. Oh well, live and learn. Guess I need to get in there and
try to change the bedding before more are born. The article also warns
that momma rat may be very protective of the youngsters.

Good luck, and hope to see you on jorats' forum. I'm minnow there.
They're friendly, I promise.

Maeve ^..^
--
http://moonglowminnow.wordpress.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minnow/

"hopitus" wrote in message
...

Hopitus' advice that you never asked for and don't want: put an ad in
free pet ads (yes, beware of snake owners). IMHO there is only one
coexistence situation threatening sanity and a peaceful home worse
than simultaneous owning of cats and birds and that is cats and rats

________________________________

I have cats and mice! LOL Actually the reason I started keeping mice was
due to a "free" ad and I was afraid snake owners would respond. I'm on my
3rd set of mice now. They have such short lives, but I hope I can make them
happy ones.

Steve Touchstone wrote:
It's all Jo's fault. As soon as she posted that she hoped the rat was
male and that there wouldn't be rat bitties, the rat started
delivering babies.

Oh my goodness. Purrs that you can resolve this situation. Wish I had
any advice, but I really don't know anything about rats.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

This is wonderful it turned out this way.
"Steve Touchstone" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:32:43 -0700, "Jofirey"
wrote:


"Granby" wrote in message
...
Do you have a paper shredder? May have had more bittties out
before you caught her. Yes, we shall blame Jo! Well, you have
to blame someone. Just kidding Jo.

I can deal with the blame. I just somehow had a sinking feeling
when I read the word premature in the second rat thread. And that
was before I clicked on the pictures of the rather rotund looking
rattie.

Jo

Hope you know I was kidding;-) Like I said, I have absolutely no
experience with pet rodents. Both you and Hop spotted an obviously
pregnant rat - I had no clue. As I said in a new thread, I've found
someone who has several pet rats, and has agreed to take momma rat.
She promised an update Monday afternoon, but didn't sound hopeful for
a normal delivery because of the stress and heat the rat has been
under while in the Out. Mama and one live baby are now in their new
home.
--
Steve Touchstone
Little Bit, Sammy, Spotty, Princess, Furby
and Rocky (RB)
Pix at http://tinyurl.com/22pfn8
Vids at http://tinyurl.com/4yb6nj

On Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:25:43 -0500, Steve Touchstone
wrote:

It's all Jo's fault. As soon as she posted that she hoped the rat was
male and that there wouldn't be rat bitties, the rat started
delivering babies. I just came inside from visiting with a neighbor,
and there are two wee little ones, though one was stillborn. I
suppose it's better for her and her babies that she allowed herself to
be captured last night.

When I saw that big FAT tummy in the pictures I thought to myself -
looks like that rat's going to be a mama! And I guess I was right...

the thing you are doing right is caring, and that in my book trumps
everything else, maybe just slide in some newspaper over the chips for min
upset of the mom, good luck, Lee
"Steve Touchstone" wrote in message
...
It's all Jo's fault. As soon as she posted that she hoped the rat was
male and that there wouldn't be rat bitties, the rat started
delivering babies. I just came inside from visiting with a neighbor,
and there are two wee little ones, though one was stillborn. I
suppose it's better for her and her babies that she allowed herself to
be captured last night.

Well, now it's time to go back and do some reading on baby rat care. I
already checked and found that the average litter is 6 to 15 (and up
to 24) babies, so guess more are on the way. If this turns out to be a
large litter I may end up hand feeding the little buggers. Now it
looks like I need to find a cheap aquarium - or at least something
with a tighter wire mesh to keep the babies from crawling out through
the bars. From what I've read so far, once their eyes open at about
10-14 days old they will start exploring and be likely to get out if I
don't find something better to keep them in.

And, of course, so far it seems I'm doing everything wrong. The
article I read says cedar is the wrong type of wood because of the
oils in the wood - so of course that's what I have. Anyway, the
article suggests newspapers and paper towels with babies rather than
wood chips. Oh well, live and learn. Guess I need to get in there and
try to change the bedding before more are born. The article also warns
that momma rat may be very protective of the youngsters.
--
Steve Touchstone
Little Bit, Sammy, Spotty, Princess, Furby
and Rocky (RB)
Pix at http://tinyurl.com/22pfn8
Vids at http://tinyurl.com/4yb6nj