# Someone who knows about rats and births?



## aimleigh (Feb 7, 2014)

I really need help with my girl who's about to pop ( at some point soon), 
I need some expert support to give her the best care.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

Specific questions would be easier to answer lol, but I'll throw out some random tips.
Keep feeding mom higher fat/protein while she's nursing.
You'll want to leave her alone while she's giving birth and keep noise to a minimum.
Once you're sure she's done giving birth, make sure she's staying with them to nurse and after a few hours you can check the pups for milk bands which indicates that they're getting milk.
You'll want to lure mom away from the pups and put her somewhere else while handling them. This applies until the pups are moving around on their own and eyes are open. Trying to handle pups with mom present can cause her to try to take them from you which could potentially injure them or you.
Moms with pups tend to be a little temperamental. Lure her away from her nest before putting your hands anywhere near it.
If you've handled the pups, put them back in the nest for several minutes before putting mom back in.
You can hold off on cleaning for about a week unless it's getting nasty in her tank. If you do clean, keep a small portion of the soiled litter and put it back in with the pups after cleaning. 
Eyes open at around 2 weeks, give or take a couple of days. They'll start moving around and by 3 weeks should be going to town on solid food. You can make a mush of pellets and water or pellets and formula to get them started early.
I keep a can of human soy infant formula around just in case it seems like someone isn't getting enough milk, but rats make excellent mothers, so you may not need to worry about hand feeding. The formula is a good thing to add into the pups' diet and mom's while she's nursing; I've never met a rat that doesn't love soy formula.
You can move them into a wire cage at 3-4 weeks, just make sure the bar spacing is extremely small. There's nothing worse than a full litter of little escape artists 

I hope this helps, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.


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## aimleigh (Feb 7, 2014)

Well I woke up to squeaking little fuzzlets not sure how many but I'm not sure she is finished and want to give her some space. 
I am off to the shop this morning to get anything I'll need. 
aw I'm so excited to watch them grow :-D.
you got everything pretty much covered in your answer above. 
Thank you. 
I'll keep this post updated


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