# Well, Those Are DEFINITELY Babies... what now??



## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

I tried to make a bin cage, I had everything except something that could cut the plastic well enough but then Moya gave birth. What now?

I took a quick peek and they look like they have tiny milk bands. Note: Moya is a hairless rat so I am very worried about her ability to sustain them. What do I do??? I've heard that kitten milk can be used but I work and go to school so I don't know if I have the time to feed them if she doesn't seem to be doing it herself. Also how do I tell? Do i just look at them and see if they all look about the same size and are warm and round??? I have never had an animal have babies before so I'm very concerned. 
Can I move them to another cage at some point to make sure they don't fall out or would it be best to leave them? I know they get active pretty quickly would it be ok to move them then so they can't fall out? The bin for the cage they're in is pretty deep but I'm still worried...
Also when is it ok to handle them? Obviously they're very small and cute but I don't want to bother them before they (and Moya) are ready for it. I've read you should leave them alone for two days or so is it okay to touch them after that? Would it be ok to move them into a bin cage after that?
Please help.


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

I'd move them to a safe enclosure as soon as you can. You can handle them as soon as they are all cleaned up from Mom. our accidental litter I handled every day from the first. REally short periods at first, like head counts and looking them over, to a little longer as they got older.

Some Moms are more protective than others, so you'll have to see what Moya has to say about you touching them.

Use human formula if you are going to offer any. It's the closest to rat Mom milk.


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## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

Thanks, Mimsy.
Moya seems OK with letting us near her babies. I snuck a picture while she took a break to eat some egg.
I'm very worried about her not being able to lactate properly but there's not much I can do about that right now. I should leave it in her paws, I suppose.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

I would try and move moya and the full nest of babies (including the substrate surrounding them) into your new cage, then cover it over and leave her for a few hours to settle.

If she manages to lactate and feed them well for the next 24-48 hours then your probably out of the woods. The fact they've had a first feed makes a massive difference to there chances too.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

I handle my babies from day 1. It is fine. But just for short amounts of time to check their milk bands and see how they are doing.

I always remove mom from the cage first, lure her out with some yummy food. It may stress her out to see you handle them or take them from the nest. Even my most awesome moms that let me handle them usually prefer the babies to stay in their nest lol'

Some helpful links for the babies development & sexing:
http://www.afrma.org/babyratdevdaily.htm
http://tigertailrattery.weebly.com/growth-picture-journal.html
http://ratguide.com/breeding/baby_development/birth_to_weaning.php
http://www.onceuponamischief.com/p/sexing-and.html
http://mainelyratrescue.org/rattieblog2/?p=42


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## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

Alright thanks guys. One of the babies didn't make it through the night but the rest are very pink with milk band so I'm hopeful for them.


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## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

I took a look through the links. Very helpful, thank you. I'm pretty nervous about sexing them because I don't want to get that wrong, I'll probably start seriously trying around three weeks then separate them at 4. I'll keep everyone updated on the progress of the babies. If she still has some tomorrow night I'm hoping she won't have any severe lactation problems.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

ray said:


> I took a look through the links. Very helpful, thank you. I'm pretty nervous about sexing them because I don't want to get that wrong, I'll probably start seriously trying around three weeks then separate them at 4. I'll keep everyone updated on the progress of the babies. If she still has some tomorrow night I'm hoping she won't have any severe lactation problems.


honestly I prefer to sex them and continue to recheck to make sure. It won't hurt anything to check now. I actually find pinkies super easy, no fur to get in the way & spacing makes it fairly obvious. I sex all mine at 2 days old and haven't ever been wrong yet, even with my first litter. It helps to just pick one up & then compare all the others to it one at a time. When you see the difference it just clicks. 

At about 2 weeks is the best time to sex them. If they have different markings it will be easy to remember which is which (if not u can mark the base of their tail with permanent marker, like mark all the boys and then the unmarked would be girls)
Because at that age the girls nipples are easy to see before they get too fluffy. 

After 3 weeks it is usually easy as the boys should be showing.

It is just nicer IMO to know the sex as early as possible so u can start looking for homes super early. But that is up to u!

I would definitely suggest waiting until 5 weeks to separate though, 4 weeks is a bit early still and the extra time with mom is really important. 5 weeks is still very safe. 

have fun with them, they grow so quickly!


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

I was the same and really nervous about checking sexes. I also had my daughter do it, so we could compare. At a couple days old we believed we had 7 boys and 4 girls. When we separated them all, we had 7 boys and 4 girls. It was a lot easier t han we thought, but I did second guess myself till the boys got their parts.


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## ray (Nov 4, 2015)

We've lost two babies now. I'm gonna wait to sex them until tomorrow or the day after when we can be reasonably sure they'll make it. About the babies: they had milk bands and didn't seem particularly tiny. Any ideas what's happening to them?


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