# how old is this baby ?



## sand (Feb 20, 2017)

found this baby laying on the ground in backyard. i mixed up kitten formula & used a tiny eyeliner makeup brush to try to feed her. she mostly just licked her lips. since she seemed ok i put her back where i found her, but hours later she'd only moved closer to the house in the same area. this is the fourth time in 6 months i've found baby rats in my yard. wheres their family? i always leave them and they die. my husband said this time why dont u try to feed her and keep her. . shes so small & when i hold her she falls fast asleep. if i put her in a tiny cage i have for traveling with my parakeet, she moves around a lot. she's so thin.
people spray their weeds and stuff maybe the moms are dying??? i live in pinellas county florida. we have a lot of wildlife, i've heard the local rats called fruit rats, on account of all the orange trees etc around here and they like oranges i guess.


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## Asiposea (Dec 16, 2016)

Poor unhealthy baby, I'm not knowledgeable with wild rats but that looks like a wood rat to me. My wild guess is 2-3 weeks? Maybe people are putting out rat poison and this is the consequence?


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## sand (Feb 20, 2017)

my real question is should i keep TRYING giving her the kms kitten formula i have (ive several times fed her, it's not easy  or should i give her food? i've looked at tons of pictures, i'm guessing she's between 14-18 days. *her eyes are opened & she has small teeth* that she makes content noises with when i hold her to my chest (after i ...dip the brush in warm food, then put it in her mouth, she looks like she's sucking it, then i have to pull it out & redip and do it all over again. she only tolerates me doing that about three times, then she fights hard to get away. so then i wipe her face and chest with a warm wet cloth, cuz the milk is all over the place. i know those pictures are horrible & she looks dead, but she is alive!


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## Asiposea (Dec 16, 2016)

If you're asking for an opinion on that, then I'd say no, you should really find a wildlife rehabilitator to take her in.


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## sand (Feb 20, 2017)

Thank you.


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## WelshRat (May 3, 2017)

You should be really careful with wild rats as they can carry fatal diseases such as weils disease and salmonella. When I was a child I remember someone died of weils disease after taking part in a rowing race in the local river, it's passed to humans through rat urine.


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