# Rescued two females -- possibly pregnant



## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

Hi everyone!

I found two female rats on craigslist the other day who were free. I contacted the poster and they were getting out of feeder breeding and wanted the girls to go to a good home. A series of bad events lead to her deciding to give them up, including frequent cage escapes.

Both girls were housed with an adult male for at least one week, if not more. They were also housed with at least one 5 week old male, who she was keeping.

I'm weighing the girls daily to monitor weight gain. They are quarantined for my other girls for at least 4 weeks. I'm hoping they are not pregnant, but odds are high they are both expecting. The older female (Latte) seems a little plump in the middle and gained 6 grams since yesterday. According their previous owner her last litter was only 4 bubs and they all died. 

I'm fully prepared to care for them as well as any babies that may grace us. Any helpful tips for taking care of moms before birth?

Mocha is the black hooded female. Latte is the brownish dumbo.


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## InuLing (Dec 26, 2015)

Make sure they stay well hydrated. My nursing female gets baby food with some olive oil mixed in daily. Also make sure they get a high protein snack on top of their blocks to help with milk production. Egg would be your best bet because it is such a pure animal protein. Also you probably want to keep them in separate cages just in case because two nursing females in the same cage will sometimes try to steal each other's babies. This can lead to a tug of war that can cause major damage to the infant's tender skin.

Also my nursing female is named Mocha too lol


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

An option to consider is using galastop (cabergloin) a course of this effectively ends any pregnancy. I wouldn't use it very close to birth however if you catch them early it could be helpful for at least some of the rats, save putting them through that risk.

Failing that the main tip is to feed them highger protein food but make sure you don't feed them more. Many pregnancy complications come from the mum getting overweight and as there appetite shoots up they often over eat when pregnant. You want them to only gain baby weight, not food weight. This can be hard to judge if you don't know them, but try not feed more than 15-20g per day, possibly less depending on what you feed normally.

Id separate them into an appropriate birthing cage / tub when they look like they've swallowed an orange, bearing in mind that the belly drops down before they birth and they look more pear shaped. If all have litters you can merge them together when the youngest babies are around 3 weeks, and the mums often enjoy raising the kittens together but to do this make sure the mums spend a short amount of time together each day (in a carrier or separate cage for a short meal say when your checking on the babies), not so important in the first week as the babies cant be left for long, but after this point it is useful and they appreciate it


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

InuLing said:


> Make sure they stay well hydrated. My nursing female gets baby food with some olive oil mixed in daily. Also make sure they get a high protein snack on top of their blocks to help with milk production. Egg would be your best bet because it is such a pure animal protein. Also you probably want to keep them in separate cages just in case because two nursing females in the same cage will sometimes try to steal each other's babies. This can lead to a tug of war that can cause major damage to the infant's tender skin.
> 
> Also my nursing female is named Mocha too lol


Thank you!  

They were up 21g and 24g this morning, so I'm pretty confident they are pregnant. Now to wait and see how soon we get babies. Latte is super round already, so she may be further along than Mocha.


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

Our brown dumbo female had her litter about an hour or so ago starting at around 1:00 PM. I peeked earlier and she has at least 13 from what I could count.


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

Lucky number 13.


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## keegen456 (Mar 2, 2016)

So many!! You are going to have your hands full, especially when the other momma gives birth!!


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Do they all have milk bands? Any much smaller than his siblings?


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## InuLing (Dec 26, 2015)

They're going to be so much fun as they grow up! I don't know how many you plan to keep, if any, but with that many babies you're going to want to go ahead and start looking to see if you can find people to adopt, especially with another litter coming. Get your hands on them and check for milk bands, white lines accross their abdomen. You'll want to lure mom away first since she may get protective and bite. Put her in a carrier with a favorite treat for just a few minutes while you handle the babies. If there's no milk band they haven't gotten milk from momma and they might need you to help. Female rats only have 12 nipples so she has more babies than nipples. If there are any that don't have milk bands you'll want to remove a few, about half and try to take the bigger ones with milk bands, and keep them warm. This way the others will have a chance to get milk too. No more than 15 minutes away from mom at a time at their young age.


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

They all appear to have milk bands. Momma is being extremely protective so I have not handled the babies yet. She's spent her whole life having her pinkies yanked away for reptile food so I'm giving her space. 

I'll hopefully get a chance to see them closer later tonight or tomorrow.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Get her some extra protein like a 1/4 egg (yolk included for extra vitamins) and some veggies, greens, fruits...so she stays well hydrated. I'm looking forward to their adventures


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

I was able to coax her out and check on them. There were only 10 in the nest and I was unable to find the other 3 so she must have cannibalized them which is disappointing but part of nature. 

The other 10 weigh between 6-8g. There were two at 6g, seven at 7g and one at 8g. All have milk bands. 

I peeked at sexes and I think we have 8 girls and 2 boys but it's entirely possible I'm wrong. 

I'm leaving them be for the night. I'm excited but I can tell she's super stressed right now.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

waffles said:


> I was able to coax her out and check on them. There were only 10 in the nest and I was unable to find the other 3 so she must have cannibalized them which is disappointing but part of nature. The other 10 weigh between 6-8g. There were two at 6g, seven at 7g and one at 8g. All have milk bands. I peeked at sexes and I think we have 8 girls and 2 boys but it's entirely possible I'm wrong. I'm leaving them be for the night. I'm excited but I can tell she's super stressed right now.


They might have been still borns or too weak, or she needed some extra nutrition to be able to nurse the other babies.


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> They might have been still borns or too weak, or she needed some extra nutrition to be able to nurse the other babies.


Oh I know. If she had them at 1:00 AM when I got up at 7:30 AM I never would have known there were 13. It's the circle of life.


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## InuLing (Dec 26, 2015)

I found when sexing them the easiest way is to compare them to each other. I found one of each gender and then held onto the male to compare the rest to.

I wish you luck with these babies and look forward to hearing of them as they grow up.


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

We lost the entire litter. Latte is in an empty nest today. We gave her privacy in the nest yesterday, only opening her cage to put fresh food and water in. We are heartbroken, but I know she did what she felt like she had to do.

I'm going to try and weigh her today. She looks like she's skin and bones without that baby belly. Our goal now is to get her happy and healthy so she can live her life as a pet and not a feeder breeder.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

waffles said:


> We lost the entire litter. Latte is in an empty nest today. We gave her privacy in the nest yesterday, only opening her cage to put fresh food and water in. We are heartbroken, but I know she did what she felt like she had to do.I'm going to try and weigh her today. She looks like she's skin and bones without that baby belly. Our goal now is to get her happy and healthy so she can live her life as a pet and not a feeder breeder.


Oh no so sorry. She must have been malnourished where she was before and didn't have the strength to do it or they might have been born with defects due to malnourishment. Did she eat them all?


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> Oh no so sorry. She must have been malnourished where she was before and didn't have the strength to do it or they might have been born with defects due to malnourishment. Did she eat them all?


Yes, she ate them all.  I can't find any baby remains in her cage.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

What about Mocha, is she still pregnant?


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

Gribouilli said:


> What about Mocha, is she still pregnant?


I think she is. I contacted a breeder last week who tracks her litter weight gain in grams. Mocha is lining up with two of the breeders pregnancies. If she is pregnant I'd put her between 16-19 days along. HOWEVER, she's not showing much, if at all, so it could be healthy weight gain.

They've been with me 11 days now, so we should know in the next 10-12 days if Mocha is pregnant.


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

Here is Mocha today. She's getting that round baby belly in the middle. She is still gaining each day. I expect babies by early next week.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I see you have her nursing bin ready good luck to you and Mocha


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## waffles (Jan 15, 2015)

A few updates pictures from today. 11 days old. 

We are keeping two girls and two boys. The other six have homes now, too.


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