# Mother not caring for her babies????



## littleangel (Jan 9, 2016)

Hello, this morning, i woke up to find 14 little baby rats in my big girls cage. I transfered them into a cage alone so the other girls wouldnt attack the babies but since then, the mother wont nurse or feed her babies... she just stays in the opposite corner of the cage (even if I put her on them or when i tried to put them together in a box.) Please help me! I tried introducing the babies to my other rats (who had a lot of litters when she was in the pet shop... ) but it didnt work... please help, i dont want the babies to die!!!!!!????????????


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

We just adopted a rat from our breeder, that turned out to be pregnant, she didn't always stay with her pups, but for the first day or so she was pretty much constantly with them... 

I've also hand raised pups pups from 3 weeks old on CMR using a syringe, but that was a lot of work... 

There are a few people who breed rats around, maybe they can help. I suppose you might be able to borrow/rent a wet nurse from a pet shop or breeder that has one available if you can find one and your mom doesn't get with the program.

Best luck.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

Sometimes in nature there are bad moms, even more so if they are young themselves. 

Check the babies for milk bands. It will be little white bands across their tummies. If theyhave that, then mom is feeding them and all is well. You won't see mom with them all the time and she may take alot of breaks. But with such a large litter it is likely that you will lose a few babies with an unattentive mother.

make sure you put her and the babies in a quiet room without much traffic, noise, or other animals. You do not want her stressed out. I would make sure to give her lots of nesting material & perhaps even cover the cage with a blanket for darkness.

If she just had the babies, you have done alot & it may just be alot for her to handle all at once.

First check for milk bands & go from there. 

If there are none you can attempt to hand feed them but know it is difficult and some may still be lost if not all  Just dont get your hopes up
http://www.afrma.org/orphanrm.htm


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