# 3.5 weeks. Preparing.



## Neverstrayed (Jun 16, 2008)

Can i just say thank you for everyone's sound advice to help me through the scariest part of Pandora and her babies development.

The babies are 3.5 weeks old and really really active, at the minute they are in a small tank cage until we have the big one reinforced with mesh and i've been giving them at least an hours i interaction each night. Aunty Merrick (poor little pud) has been in a separate cage since Pandora had the babies but she had been with the pups in free range time and it's soooo funny watching them hound her like she's a new toy.

There's 5 Boys and 4 girls, i think! I'm planning on seperating them when they are 5 weeks by moving the boys into another cage then putting Merrick back with Pandora and the girls, is this wise? Merrick seems very patient with the babies and they'll be bigger and tougher by this point anyway, throughout she's had supervised contact with the babies from a week old.


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## A1APassion (Jul 29, 2007)

just continue with intros & see how it goes

as I mentioned before, Merrick may take the brunt end of hyper inquisitive babies but turn-about can be rather stern if she has her fill. I have seen females take to babies as if they were their own & I have seen females make sport of baby-tipping (toss them off a shelf) or baby-bashing (just kick the stuffing out of them) No blood on that one but just beat the crap out of them & send them off to hide. Just be ever so watchful & be preparred to separate them if necessary. With the added wild factor I really don't know how well this will go & if it does go well at first, not sure if it will be a happily ever after story or not.

You've done wonderful with them but as some of us pointed out in the beginning these babies may revert to their wild instincts. There is no way to know whether they well ever maintain a "pet quality" so you need to be prepared for that possibility of all of these babies remaining with you for life. They are ultimately your responsibility, well that is a consensus often accepted by the pet community as a whole. Because of this you may need to keep checking on them with anyone you would place them with because it will require some good rat-skills & rat-know-how to ensure these little guys stick with their domestic traits & not revert to their wild side. 

I know I have been sending out positive vibes as well as many others here at ratforum.


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## Neverstrayed (Jun 16, 2008)

What i'll prob start doing then is even when they aren't having free range time i'll start putting them all ion one big cage all the time i'm in (obviosuly without the boys) and then at least if something goes wrong i can just reach in. When i'm out of the room/house i'll put Merrick back in her cage, when i seperate the boys i might seperate Pandora from the girls too and put her back with Merrick then at least all of the rats have at least one cage mate...phew this is getting confusing hehe

The people who are adopting them are close friends that are just a stones throw away and i've been keeping each person informed on the babies progress. I will also ask that they bring them back to me if they feel they can't keep them and i'm willing to care for all of them if i have to. I've also said that they are free to call on me any time for support with them. 

And Many thanks for the positive vibes, I've needed them! This is the first time I've had any experience with animals, birth and the first few weeks of life and i'm just so happy that all the babies survived and that everything went well.


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## Neverstrayed (Jun 16, 2008)

Right so it's 4.5 weeks now and i've seperated the boys from mum andthe girls and Merrick is in with the girls (she spent an entire day with them supervised and she played with them and slept with them) i think she's relieved to not be alone any longer (o: anyhoo i decided to take a chance because i feel i know my ratty and she's been fine for the last 3 days in with them.


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## Bojan (Jul 24, 2008)

Neverstrayed said:


> The people who are adopting them are close friends that are just a stones throw away.


I'm confused by this. If you have close friends who are adopting them, why are you advertising them for free on Preloved.

http://www.preloved.co.uk/fuseaction-adverts.showadvert/index-1031483038/b400b37c.html

You are obviously not listening to people who have told you that these babies need skilled care and may not be suitable pets.


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## tdnrat (Jul 23, 2008)

Bojan wild rats can make suitable pets if socialised... I'm not agreeing with preloved though sweeti, maybe you should reconsider. (Lots of ... snake lovers on it) :shock:


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## Neverstrayed (Jun 16, 2008)

I've just posted a reply to the issues with my post on preloved. To be honest i didn't even think about anyone wanting to feed a snake a 6 week old rat. I won't go into detail on here but read my post that's on the 6 weeks thread in Meet my rat.


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