# My rat escaped and now just had a HUGE litter! Help me!



## julierose (Jul 7, 2010)

My rat escaped 4 weeks ago, I caught her when she was trying to break back into her cage 1 week after she disappeared. Now today, exactly 21 days after shes back she had a HUGE litter of I think 15-17, I cant be sure... I live in an apartment above a restaurant, so she must have gotten prego by a wild rat? There's other apartments in the building, I've only ever see mice in the building though, never rats. This is so weird and I do not know what to do, I didnt notice her being pregnant at all. Huge shock this morning. Any advice? I read the thread about accidental litters, but I'm just so confused about how she got pregnant? I tried finding information about wild rats breading with pet rats but most said its not likely...

Any advice? On what to do with all these babies! I do NOT want to give them to a pet store...


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Wild rats will breed with pet rats! However I would treat the baby like any other baby rat, but be sure to handle them really well so they will be tame. Give mom some treats such as boiled egg, salmon or chicken. She will do most of the work, once the babies are 5 weeks old you can rehome them. Yeah don't give them to a petstore because the majority will end up inside a snake!


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