# Baby rat not growing very quickly



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Sorry to post so much, but I'm new here and have babies for the first time (my first three were adopted in adulthood) so I have a lot of questions... My two newest are boys who were no more than 4-5 weeks when I got them almost two weeks ago. One of the boys has grown a ton--he's almost doubled in size since I got him, but the other doesn't look as though he's grown at all. I know it's normal for one to grow faster than the other, but is it normal for a baby boy to stay TINY for weeks? From what I can tell he's eating (though the larger one is eating more) and he seems fairly active, he's just very petite. Should I be separating them when I feed them? Should I be worried at all?


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

That depends, can you get some pictures? if he looks sickly, then it's an issue. if he looks healthy, I wouldn't worry too much.

Some rats grow slower, other's faster. Some rats hit their growth spurts at different ages.

Could also do with nutrition. my rat Niko was on a low protein diet, but his 2 brothers (who I took before him) I took the day they were weaned, so they never got on the low protein diet, and are much bigger then him. Niko who was the same size as them before weaning is smaller. But he's catching up in size. (note that this was about a 3 week difference of diet). I would suggest probably increasing protein levels. Whole grain pasta works, oats, nuts, seeds, and of coarse Boiled eggs and the rat favorite, Sardines. you can feed these with them together, or give him more protein apart from his friend.

Also, unless you know they are actually brothers it's possible one is actually older.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Slow growth is desirable for many different reasons. It's both genetic and environmental. When the two collide, results can be surprising. Added protein as mentioned above will help.


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Yeah, here are some pictures from when they were out last night.
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They've been eating a combination of rat blocks, puppy food, grain and nut mix, and fruits and vegetables. Fred (the little white one) does generally look healthy. He had patches of thin hair/near bald spots, but he's had them since I got him, and I think since before he was surrendered to the pet store in the first place, since my friend who I rescued him from said he'd been sold as a feeder because of the balding spots. He doesn't sneeze or show any other signs of illness, I just worry that maybe George is getting all the nutritious food or something because it seems weird that George is growing so quickly and Fred just... isn't.


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Also, it didn't occur to me that George might be older. I got them the same day, but from different places. They were exactly the same size when I got them so I assumed they were also the same age. Hmm...


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

If you could get a better picture of Fred that would help.

Honestly it looks like he didn't get enough nutrition as a pup, which would explain his thinner hair. my rat Niko also has much thinner hair then his brothers due to low protein. We've had him a little over a week and he is catching up dramatically, almost the same size as Liam now. his hair is still quite thin

In that case, it's just a matter of time of him catching up. Try to give high protein foods like nuts and sardines more often. If you want you can feed Fred separately that way you know he gets the same amount of protein, but honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about that. I would only feed them separately if you would feeding a treat like sardines.


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