# WHAT DO I DO? 4 Wild Babies, 2-3 weeks. Hand raise?



## Berkshire (Oct 19, 2010)

My sister found 4 babies in our barn, and pleaded with my mom to keep them. She said for only 2 weeks. 
















I have never done baby rats before and would like some help. 
What is the first thing to do? We have them in a cage in our basement, it's very warm down there. Mom won't let us have them in the house.

They were too frightened to drink milk (store-bought cows milk, what is the best? None of our goats are producing right now). 

I need to know everything about how to care for them. And then what to do about them later (we already have many rats and I don't think we can handle any more long-term). Is there any way to relese them later on? Would they make it? Could they be adopted?

Please help! I want to make sure these little ones will make it!


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

ack... you probably should have left them there. momma may have come back for them after a while, but it's too late now. wild babies taken in don't have too great of a survival chance.

luckily they look old enough to start weaning now or soon... cows milk will not work. they need a meal replacement formula like boost or ensure, or human infant formula. you can place it in a low dish in their enclosure which you should keep warm, dark, and quiet. give them a couple of lab blocks or something to nibble on along with it.

wildies do not really make good pets, and i doubt you will find anyone interested in keeping them long-term. very few rat rescues, if any at all, would take them  rehabilitating them in the winter months will be tough... your best bet would probably be to hand them over to a wildlife rescue as soon as possible.


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## karinulph (Jul 19, 2010)

First off they are very cute
When feeding babies you should use a soy infant formula though these guys should be able to eat solids. I don't like ensure or boost
You can soak a couple lab blocks in formula if they aren't goin for them right away


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

Just half wilds make difficult pets, especially once they hit puberty. A full wild should definitely not be kept. In the future, leave them, the mom will come back for them. Too late now though, so call a wildlife rehabber so these babies have the best chance at a good life.

Also, watch your rats for signs of illness, wild rats can carry all sorts of diseases .


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## eluin (Jan 25, 2010)

If you are feeding lab blocks, you should mix the ensure in with the blocks. It will make a soft mash which will be easier for the little ones to eat. You can also use Kitten Milk Replacer, which is good for little guys. If they seem to be getting dehydrated, you can also syringe pedialyte into them VERY slowly in very small amounts. Remember that babies that size have itty bitty little tummies and too much too fast can burst their tummies. They can also get asperation pneumonia if you don't syringe it into them right (if it goes into their lungs instead of their little tummies, you may have a problem) and that is probably going to be fatal for them. If you can't find a rehabber to help you, your next best bet is to see if you can't locate a nursing mom with babies around the same size. The problem with that system is, depending on where you get the mom, you can be bringing even more chance of disease into your home, you are responcible for finding homes for her and the other babies now as well, and you still have two very potentially feral babies on your hands that your mom doesn't want in the house. After they've been bottle fed, it is going to be hard to release them into the wild if it can be done at all. Your rehabber will have to help you with that, since they'll be so used to people and not used to finding their own food. My rehabber here works mostly (read: almost exclusivly) with raccoons, but if you really get desperate, give me a shout via and I'll see if she can give us some information. This is the rehabbing slow season in my state, so she will probably have some free time on her hands to answer questions. I know the basics of bottle feeding and how much to feed, but you are going to need a really accurate scale to even measure that out properly.


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