# A sad story and a LOT of questions :/



## hannah (Mar 19, 2010)

As a regular volunteer at my local animal shelter, I noticed right away when a large tank of rats was brought into the back with a number of reptiles. The rats were obviously feeders, but they were seized during a neglect case. The reptiles were soon rescued out. The rat tank had three adults rats and two litters of babies. The younger litter and their mother were separated so that she could raise them in peace, and the mother of the older litter was left with the babies for a few more days until they could be weaned. The male was adopted out. The mother of the older litter was also heavily pregnant, so I took her home as a foster.
The poor rat has clearly been bred for her whole life, because she was pregnant and still nursing her last litter. We are also not sure about the heritage of any of the rats because the group was kept together. Some of the babies from the older litter were already old enough to breed when the shelter received them, so inbreeding is a very likely problem in the mother rats background.
For now though, Dolores, as I have come to call her, can look forward to delivering her VERY LAST litter in a safe and quiet environment where they will not be periodically taken away as feeders. The only problem is, though I have had rats my whole life, I have never had a mother and babies. I'm not sure quite what to look for because nobody knows how pregnant she is. She is also nervous around people, and seems to resent them, which I understand because her babies were constantly being abducted. I try not to handle her because she isn't used to it and I don't want to stress her out unnecessarily. She does seem to have large prominent teats, but I have noticed them for the past three days, and still no sign of the babies. She is as big as a house and looks ready to pop any day. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time, I know this was a long post... :-\


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Give her lots of soft fleece or tissue for bedding so she can set up a nest just how she wants it. Also maybe offer her a treat such as boiled or scrambled egg, for a little extra protien. 

I find you will be able to see the babies moving inside the mom about two days prior being born. If you cannot hold her, then all you can really do is wait and periodically check up on her. She should do most of the work, and after all babies are delieved you should try give everyone a quick once over, including mom. She should be a good mother, since this isnt her first litter, but at least this time she will get to enjoy it a bit more.


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