# Development Questions



## 3pidemic (Feb 22, 2009)

Here's the orginal topic about these babies, just so I don't have to repeat myself.

I have a couple of questions about what to do as the babies are getting older.

+ Is it okay to use carefresh in their cage? I've been using fleece, that Mommy Rat tears up all the time, since they were born, because I read somehwere that carefresh was bad for pinkies. They're a little over two weeks now and are pretty mobile, would it be okay to put carefresh in the nursery cage or should I wait till I seperate the boys and girls?

+ When the babies start eating solid foods is there anything special I should provide for them or is suebee's(which I feed my rats) fine for them to eat? Is there anything in particular (other than the general rat no-nos) that I should avoid feeding them?

+ When should I move them out of the nursery cage into a bigger cage? Should I wait till I seperate the boys and girls or go ahead and do it now that they're exploring more and becoming more active? They're in a small single level bird cage, so I'm not worried about ventilation, just stimulation.

Any other advice would also be awesome. They get taken out every day for socialization/play time and they're shaping up into very cuddly, friendly, ratties. I just want to provide them with the best I can and pretty much everything I've found online only covers caring for them as pinkies or is just a growth timeline.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Carefresh is fine, its bad for newborn pinkies since it sticks to them...

As long as their eyes are open, they are pretty agile in their mobility, and the spacing is small enough, you can move mom and the family. You might want to string hammocks near shelves just in case someone wobbles off by mistake...I am sure they will love the extra room and stimulation. 

I find that one-on-one time with each baby really helps. I hold them and gently "pull" their ears, paws, and tail. I hold them upside down, I dangle them, etc...anything you can think of to desensitize them as adults. I also kiss them all over. I try to do things that you may need to do in the future as adults...making them better pets...I even check tiny baby teeth.  Using these methods, my main adopter said "these are the nicest boys she has ever met!" and she has met a lot of rats and babies through rescue. So I was thrilled.


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## 3pidemic (Feb 22, 2009)

Awesome, next time I clean the cage I'll put a little care fresh in with them and see how they do with it. They're starting to chew on everything and I don't want them to eat it.

They cage I have set up for them is my old fraken-cage, that's made up of an old guinea pig cage(that I still need to mesh for them) and a birdcage. I have a couple hammocks in there, but I'll probably make some more for them, since they're already avid climbers and a couple are already turning into little troublemakers. 

When the boy and I take them out we make sure that every baby gets some one on on time, we've been touching their faces and ears and holding them in different positions and touching their belies and feet. It's adorable when they start to nibble/groom us. I'm so glad that they are turning out so friendly. We have a couple first time rat owners that are going to get pairs from us, so I want to be extra certain that their first expierence owning rats is a good one. I'm also going to print up a care sheet for them, so that they have the majority of the imformation they need.


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## tansy (Jun 2, 2009)

I think I shall try the "pulling" on ears, paws, and tail... I already make them lay on their backs, cuz I've ALWAYS wanted a rat that likes to have it's belly rubbed... none of them will lay on their backs so far though. haha I want my babies to be okay with anything that they may have happen with them. And I'm keeping my babies (since there was only two that made it) so I know they will be in good hands.


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## 3pidemic (Feb 22, 2009)

Even with us having held them on their back and such the babies aren't big fans of it, but it's more of them not wanting to sit still than discomfort. They're just too full of energy at this age to lay around for belly lovin's.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

3pidemic said:


> Even with us having held them on their back and such the babies aren't big fans of it, but it's more of them not wanting to sit still than discomfort. They're just too full of energy at this age to lay around for belly lovin's.


if they stay still even for a second on their back, praise them and reward them by letting them run around again  Try to pick times they are more sleepy than energetic


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## tansy (Jun 2, 2009)

Not even my fat year old boy rats like it. That's why I'm hoping to get the babies so that they will maybe at least tolorate it. haha


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