# Emergency help!



## AnimalWhisperer21 (Nov 5, 2021)

We adopted a pregnant female rat from a very irresponsible owner about a week ago, and we set her up in a maternity cage.

Yesterday at 8am she gave birth to 15 pups, all alive and healthy! Everything was going well, she was nursing them, cleaning them, she was sleeping on top of them. It was perfect until an hour ago. 

She covered them with a fleece blanket that we left for her, went on the opposite side of the cage to eat, and now she's been asleep for about an hour. Babies are asleep as well, but is this a normal behavior?? Did she reject them or is she just taking a break? Should we be worried?? 
Please help!


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## Rats4All (Feb 4, 2021)

Is she still away or is she back with them??


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## AnimalWhisperer21 (Nov 5, 2021)

Rats4All said:


> Is she still away or is she back with them??


She was asleep for two hours, and as soon as she woke up she went over to her babies and started nursing them. She's been sleeping A LOT in-between feedings, on her back, paws in the air, completely passed out. If she's sleeping for longer than two hours I need to wake her up, luckily she goes straight to her babies every time. Is it normal to be tired like this?


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## ratbusters (Aug 28, 2020)

Congratulations on your babies! It sounds like mum and babies are doing great.
We had a female who had 15 babies - it is quite a big litter. I don't remember her conking out with her feet in the air LOL! But I do remember her resting a lot even as the babies nursed. She also ate like a horse and drank a lot. Is your rat a very young girl? Or could she have had a few litters already? Maybe these suggestions could explain why she is so tired. 
I hope they are all doing well - they sound delightful.


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## AnimalWhisperer21 (Nov 5, 2021)

ratbusters said:


> Congratulations on your babies! It sounds like mum and babies are doing great.
> We had a female who had 15 babies - it is quite a big litter. I don't remember her conking out with her feet in the air LOL! But I do remember her resting a lot even as the babies nursed. She also ate like a horse and drank a lot. Is your rat a very young girl? Or could she have had a few litters already? Maybe these suggestions could explain why she is so tired.
> I hope they are all doing well - they sound delightful.


Thank you very much!  
Oh yes, she eats like a horse too lol, and we need to fill her water bottle twice a day. 
As far as we know, her previous owner kept her and her brother in the same cage since they were babies. He thought because she's an albino rat that she couldn't get pregnant (don't even get me started on that). Then he bought another male that ended up fighting with her pretty severely, we figured he could sense her pregnancy? Anyway, it's her first litter and she's about four months old from what the vet told us. She's the sweetest little thing. This is our first pregnant rat, so I'd like to know if it's too early to let her explore and play on our bed, she looks like she wants to come out this morning?


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## ratbusters (Aug 28, 2020)

AnimalWhisperer21 said:


> Thank you very much!
> Oh yes, she eats like a horse too lol, and we need to fill her water bottle twice a day.
> As far as we know, her previous owner kept her and her brother in the same cage since they were babies. He thought because she's an albino rat that she couldn't get pregnant (don't even get me started on that). Then he bought another male that ended up fighting with her pretty severely, we figured he could sense her pregnancy? Anyway, it's her first litter and she's about four months old from what the vet told us. She's the sweetest little thing. This is our first pregnant rat, so I'd like to know if it's too early to let her explore and play on our bed, she looks like she wants to come out this morning?


I think as the babies get a little older and stronger its good to take the mum out for a break and run around on her own. I can't remember what age we did that with our girl, but I guess at 2 days old the babies are still quite new and needing to feed quite often. Maybe play it by ear and try a short break out to see what happens. I'm still smiling picturing a mother rat asleep with her feet in the air with a pile of 15 babies nearby!


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## AnimalWhisperer21 (Nov 5, 2021)

ratbusters said:


> I think as the babies get a little older and stronger its good to take the mum out for a break and run around on her own. I can't remember what age we did that with our girl, but I guess at 2 days old the babies are still quite new and needing to feed quite often. Maybe play it by ear and try a short break out to see what happens. I'm still smiling picturing a mother rat asleep with her feet in the air with a pile of 15 babies nearby!


Thank you so much for all your help, it really took the pressure off! It's so nice to have knowledgeable people you can ask anything  Where I'm from you can only buy feeder rats, and there is only one girl that I know of that is trying to form a rattery, there are literally NO reputable rat breeders in the entire country. Unfortunately rats are really overlooked. It's going to be a pain in the neck getting them all into the good homes, but I've met the dad and he's really sweet and cuddly, mom is also such a sweetheart, I think the babies will be amazing temperament-wise so hopefully the adoption process will go a little bit easier. 
As for the passed out mom lol, I don't have any pictures because I didn't wanna startle her when the camera flash went off, but I'll try to sneak in a picture if I can


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## Rats4All (Feb 4, 2021)

AnimalWhisperer21 said:


> Thank you so much for all your help, it really took the pressure off! It's so nice to have knowledgeable people you can ask.


Not that I did much helping, but that's what the forum is for.


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