# Hairless Mom Rat



## MomOfTheMischeif (Jan 10, 2016)

We were sold a very young hairless rat as a boy (to go with my other boys). I discovered that "he" is a she. She had 10 babies on 01/04/15. We're down to 4 babies...I found 2 that had passed and the others "vanished". Has anybody here had success with a hairless momma rat? Idk if it matters but she has a little bit of fuzz on her face & she IS lactating but I'm unsure of how much. Thanks in advance.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

If you've lost that many pups, she's probably not lactating enough to sustain many pups. You may lose a couple more until she gets to a point where she can manage the number...or you may lose them all, you never know. Lactating in hairless females can be extremely unpredictable which is why it's not recommended to breed them, but I've seen a lot of accidental hairless pregnancies that you could basically flip a coin to guess if the litter would make it or not. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is. If you have the time, you can supplement the remaining pups with kitten milk or soy human infant formula. Best method I've heard of is dipping a very small paint brush in the milk to feed them (people swear by it, but I've never had experience doing it). If you notice that some are more plump and active than others, you could try only supplementing the smaller, less active ones to see if you can bring them up to a normal weight....or you can supplement the larger ones and let nature take its course with the others. It's not a pleasant thing, but sometimes it's necessary.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Being a young rat as well she had a lot of things against her successfully raising a litter.


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## MomOfTheMischeif (Jan 10, 2016)

Yeah, I was so nervous when I thought she was pregnant, then for a little while I thought we lucked out...then she got huge, a week passed and along came the babies. I knew the odds were stacked against her...I never planned to have baby rats because they're so readily available elsewhere...and being hairless AND young is like begging for heartache. :/ When I called the pet store to speak with a manager after finding out they sold a female...in an all male animal store, their "resolution" was to get a new cage (which I already had, and she was already in)...until they found out that she may have been pregnant and then they were all for taking her back in to switch out for a male...but she was/is already part of the family...so instead she (& her female babies) will be moving to TX with my mom in February since my mom has all females, and my mischief are males.  The 4 babies are alive and well right now, I check on them once a day. I rehabilitate wild animals and I've done so with mice, but her babies seem fine until they just vanish...only one was on the small side prior to.  Maybe it's something she can sense that I can't see...idk. They're adorable little things, as most are...and I really hope she can pull them through. Does anyone here know when they will start weaning? And what foods should I offer at that time? My mischief are on Oxbow Adult Rat Food.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

4 weeks is usually when they start weaning.. They begin trying solid food before that. You can supplement the pups and mom's diet with extra protein / fat to help her produce more milk (possibly) and keep her from loosing weight. I feed my does boiled eggs (in addition to regular blocks, grain mix, and veg), and I also feed them and the pups a slurry made of soy milk and lab block powder. They can eat other protein too, (i.e. boiled cooked chicken or tuna) but you have to make sure to limit salt and additives. I gave my does about 1/4 a boiled egg a day and did the slurry every other day.. but you could do that more often if the pups will drink it. 

Good luck with the rest of your litter. I hope you have some pups survive.


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