# Surprise Babies after 1 week!!!



## Sue1208 (Aug 4, 2021)

Hi My granddaughter just purchased 2 female rats about 3 weeks ago. Everything was going well until about a week ago. She found out one of them were pregnant. Well a few days ago Bee had 6 babies. At this point they are in a 10 gal fish tank and the other female is alone. When can they all be put back in the large crate? We have never had rats before and are new to all of this. This is all new to us we have had fish hermit crabs cats and dogs but never rats. Any suggestions would be most welcome.


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## ratbusters (Aug 28, 2020)

Hi and welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new rats.
When the babies are just under 5 weeks old, the boys will need to be separated to avoid more pregnancies. One suggestion is to introduce the mum and baby girls back with the other female at this time. 
There are lots of youtube videos and other forum members who can give you advice about how to re-introduce when the time comes, but for now you are probably just concentrating on looking after the mum and babies.
If you post an update closer to the time, we can help you to tell which gender the babies are if you're not sure. Also if you wanted to check the other female was indeed a female just post a pic.
You've probably noticed that the mother eats like a horse and drinks a lot!  Free feeding (unlimited access) is great for this time. Cashews are supposed to help milk production... sorry if you already know this!
All the best with the little ones.


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## Sue1208 (Aug 4, 2021)

ratbusters said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new rats.
> When the babies are just under 5 weeks old, the boys will need to be separated to avoid more pregnancies. One suggestion is to introduce the mum and baby girls back with the other female at this time.
> There are lots of youtube videos and other forum members who can give you advice about how to re-introduce when the time comes, but for now you are probably just concentrating on looking after the mum and babies.
> If you post an update closer to the time, we can help you to tell which gender the babies are if you're not sure. Also if you wanted to check the other female was indeed a female just post a pic.
> ...


Thank you so much


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## Sue1208 (Aug 4, 2021)

My granddaughter was out of town for the first 2 days. The mother gave birth on Tues. She and the babies have been in the fish tank. 
She put both female rats(15 weeks old) in for a little while to give the mother a break. Now she put the mother back with the babies and she is only interested in getting out of the tank. Is this normal? will she settle down and feed the babies? If not what do we feed them??


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## ratbusters (Aug 28, 2020)

Hi Sue1208.
I wonder whether the mother might be better off having her break times free roaming by herself, for example on a bed.
Having another rat to play with might be making her a bit restless and wanting to leave the babies. 
Regarding the babies not being fed, I would be very hesitant to hand feed them, although if it was absolutely necessary of course you would need to. But it is a very specialised area to hand raise babies so young.
If the mother continues to reject feeding them, one option would be to contact a local reputable rat breeder for advice. You would want someone quite experienced to guide you about that, I think.
Hope it all works out. Keep us posted.


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## Sue1208 (Aug 4, 2021)

ratbusters said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new rats.
> When the babies are just under 5 weeks old, the boys will need to be separated to avoid more pregnancies. One suggestion is to introduce the mum and baby girls back with the other female at this time.
> There are lots of youtube videos and other forum members who can give you advice about how to re-introduce when the time comes, but for now you are probably just concentrating on looking after the mum and babies.
> If you post an update closer to the time, we can help you to tell which gender the babies are if you're not sure. Also if you wanted to check the other female was indeed a female just post a pic.
> ...





ratbusters said:


> Hi Sue1208.
> I wonder whether the mother might be better off having her break times free roaming by herself, for example on a bed.
> Having another rat to play with might be making her a bit restless and wanting to leave the babies.
> Regarding the babies not being fed, I would be very hesitant to hand feed them, although if it was absolutely necessary of course you would need to. But it is a very specialised area to hand raise babies so young.
> ...


Thank you I will pass this on to my daughter and granddaughter


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