# assistance needed with raising orphaned rat



## msPharaoh-Moan (Jun 2, 2013)

Hello all! Ms Moan here:

This is my first post and while I have read the rules I have an emergency on my hand and so am not interested in testing the boundaries of talking about feeders. Once I understand the rules surrounding what I am and am not allowed to talk about (after all, I don't want to offend anyone), I will gladly expose how I came to have Julia - until then, I will simply state that I recieved a wee baby rat today and I need quick help!

She has fuzzy fur, open eyes, a cuteness factor of 'adorable', and so far just seems interested in sleeping.
I have a gram scale - she is approximately 20 grams.
I have kmr ready and am frantically searching for some sort of syringe...
I am looking for a bin or box for her to keep her in for now - how active is normal for a rat as big as she?

I have raised baby mice before but not a baby rat - the difference in proportions is amusing... Such long feet for such a young little lady!

I need information! And help with how much to feed her! Also, I know that because mice are so wee, you have to feed them slowly so they don't aspirate - is aspiration a large issue with baby rats? She's so huge compared to a teeny fuzzy mouse I don't want to over estimate her drinking abilities, haha.

Thanks so much! And it's a pleasure to meet you all.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Here are two articles on it if you haven't already read them. (if you've hand raised baby mice you might have already read the AFRMA one)
http://ratfanclub.org/orphans.html
http://www.afrma.org/rminfo8.htm

at eleven days old she should not have her eyes open. sounds more like she is around 2 weeks, or even 3 weeks (can you post pictures of her?). At this age she should be able to lick the formula out of something like a lid of a water bottle or baby food jar. (To help with age - http://www.afrma.org/babyratdevdaily.htm)

at 2 to 3 weeks she should be starting to explore, so you will need to get a bin cage or wire cage with 1/2 inch bar spacing very soon. she will most likely eat through a box at this age.

The articles should answer the amount to feed, but some rats will eat more some less. As for aspirating rats typically do not have a problem with it from what I've read, and if she is 2 to 3 weeks it shouldn't be an issue.

And Welcome. To my knowledge talking about feeders is only prohibited if your actually talking about it and what goes along with it (does that make sense? basically don't go bragging about feeding rats to other animals or stuff like that.). if you got your girl from a feeder bin or as a rescued feeder it's ok to mention that. I'm not a mod but you shouldn't get in trouble for just mentioning/talking about how you got her.


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## Mousey (Oct 23, 2012)

Can you post a picture of her? I could give you a pretty good estimate of her age by a picture. At eleven days she would not have her eyes open. Do you have a tank you could keep her in? A box won't do. A syringe or an eye dropper will work for feeding - wrap the baby up in a warm wash cloth fresh from the dryer and drip the milk into the mouth, aspiration isn't a big issue for a healthy baby. How is she doing now? Have you tried feeding her yet?


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## msPharaoh-Moan (Jun 2, 2013)

This is she, taste testing my pinky! Yes, I searched for pics of elevan day olds and she certainly does not look it... I do not have rattie food just yet but I do have a seed mix for my mouse that I have available in her temporary bin home... I will add a low saucer of KMR. What do you think of how big/old she is? I do have small hands but she is being compared to a 120g container of KMR... 

As for behaviour I have a few questions:

I have noticed she blinks a LOT. No visible wounds or protrudences. Is this just because she's still getting used to sight after having been blind/eyes closed?
Also, she chatters! If I hold her in my hand and support her head, she relaxes completely and begins moving her teeth! While I know what bruxing is, is it normal for it to be so dang loud? lol maybe I'm just used to mouse bruxes. It only happens with she moves her jaw and I'm holding or petting her... How can I tell between clicking from illness and bruxing?

Thank you for the links... And yes, she was taken from being a feeder  thanks for clearing the rules up as well, I just didn't want to offend or alarm anyone.


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## Mousey (Oct 23, 2012)

That baby's eyes just opened, I would say she just turned 14 days old today, and yes she is blinking because she is getting used to her eyes being open, and the skin is still pulling apart and allowing her eyes to open. And I disagree, I do not think she is old enough to be eating out of a saucer yet, although you can try leaving one in her "cage" with her, you still need to be syringe feeding every couple of hours. Have you fed her yet? How did she do?
Do you have her on a heating pad? You need to be keeping that baby warm - the only time I had a baby chattering like that was a baby with pneumonia, so get that baby on a heating pad right away and monitor the heat. What do you have the baby in right now? A box? What kind of bedding do you have down? Put a blanket down and make sure the heating pad doesn't get too hot.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

I would say around 13 to 15 days old as well.

If she's doing it when your holding or petting her I would say she is bruxing/boggling. At this age heat shouldn't be too much of a concern since her fur is grown in. If you use a heat pad try to keep it on a low setting and make sure she can easily get away from it if she gets too hot.


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## msPharaoh-Moan (Jun 2, 2013)

Okay the syringe has been acquired after lots of scrambling around the house, and feeding has commenced. She despises being wet! The moment the formula spills over onto her chest she squirms to clean herself! How much should I be feeding her? She's still a bit shy of her new nipple but I'm confident that she'll warm up after she learns it's food, not evil.

She's being kept on Kaytee Soft Granule Blend, a paper by product. I'm at the end of the bag and have carefresh as well waiting for the next cleaning. However, she was being kept on some sort of wood before - she smells like wood... The shavings were white and red and very pungent. I plan on giving her a fleece blanky to snuggle between feedings.


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## msPharaoh-Moan (Jun 2, 2013)

Okay I descovered her/him lapping up her/him formula so I'm just leaving that for her/him... unsure of gender so i'll be posting a pic of that tomorrow... still very overwhelmed! Is it normal for her to be very sleepy? she seems a bit boney how can I fatten her/him up?


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