# Tricked Into Taking Two Pregnat Rats



## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

Well I've been talking to someone all day and I helped take two hairless rats off her hands. We met up and and she seemed in a hurry to go so she just handed me the rats in a container and left. When I got home I examined her and her sisters sides and noticed her side were sticking out like crazy!! With closer expection I recognized the familiar sight. She and her sister were both pregnate! I tried contacting her but she has ignored my texts and calls. So now I have two pregnate female hairless rats. I will never use craigslist again. I'm a little rusty on taking care of rat babies because it has been 3or 4 yrs. what do I do??


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

I don't trust craigslist either honestly. Went to buy a critter nation off someone and they gave me a time and a public location and it was an hour drive there and I mentioned that before she ever gave me a location and when I arrived I notified her and waited for hours for no one to show up or respond. Has ignored me entirely ever since. We wasted two hours driving and over two hours waiting 

As for the rats I don't have much advice. Might be able to find the babies homes after they are weaned or find a new home for the pregnant girls in a way that doesn't involve what that person did to you.

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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

I'm already in love with the girls an I don't think I could give them up they are so sweet and loving! And that sucks!! I had a similar experience when I was trying to get rid of a kitten 2 hrs and 30 min their and the same back!! They ignored my texts and calls and I wasted all that time. Luckily for me this time she was originally wanting me to take four from her and I almost did but decided against it. So I almost had 4 pregnate rats!!


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

Oh jeez! That would be a lot of rat babies. I can't help but to wonder why they were all pregnant though. 
That really bites... At least there is a valuable lesson to be learned when people blow you off like that. I just can't understand how people can do that.
What did you name the girls btw?

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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Unfortunately this happens quite often--it's one of the many reasons you should really only get rats from reputable breeders and from reputable rescues, especially female rats. 
As both your gals are hairless there is a high probability one or both will have trouble feeding their young and will reject them. Your best bet is to find a very knowledgeable breeder in your area so that you can get the babies to foster if they need it and also have a good resource in case any other issues arise. 
Otherwise you just let the moms do their thing. When they're close to giving birth be sure to post about it on here so people can give you advice on hand raising orphaned litters, etc, in the event that you'll need to hand feed.
I'm not trying to scare you, by the way--this might go very smoothly and you'll have two great litters and they'll find good homes and all will be well. But it's good to be prepared and know up front that there is a high chance of some issues, so if you can get in touch with a breeder in your area you absolutely should.
Good luck and keep us posted!


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## Ltukey (May 28, 2013)

been there, but in my case they were dumped at my door at 3am. get formula on hand start the extra protein&get ready fro grandratbabies


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## CapnKennedy (Sep 30, 2012)

Jeez, that really stinks..I would have been asking questions right away when she was acting scetchy like that. But keep us posted on the girls!


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

Thanks everyone for the advise! I will defently be using it! I named them Delilah and Sophi. I had a rat a while back named Sophi and she was just the most amazing rat ever so I am naming one of my new rats in her memory! I will defently keep you guys updated and post some pictures soon!


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

I don't know why but some of my post keeps getting cut out I had wrote a lot more but it cut it out.


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## Limouri (Apr 19, 2013)

oh my gosh! Im so sorry that is terrible! I know nothing about keeping litters also or i'd help ):


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## Mousey (Oct 23, 2012)

As Rumy stated, hairless are notorious for not caring for their young - depending on the genetics. Do not limit yourself to contacting breeders only though, contact rescues as well, they may have nursing mamas that may accept your babies if needed, and volunteers to help bottle feed if needed as well. 
For now - get them situated in their own separate cages with plenty of nesting material, in a quiet area so they are comfortable and situated and less likely to abandon their young because they are uncomfortable in their enviornment. 
Also get them on a high protein diet. Scrambled eggs, chicken, sardines, mackerol, high quality kitten food (BLUE is a good brand - you can get the wet kitten food too and add some oils such as flax seed oil or cod liver oil for their skin). 

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## Flora (Aug 30, 2012)

Get your birthing cages ready! Tanks are OK for a momma about to give birth. It will also keep the babies in! Do not keep them together. If they are showing then it should be coming soon. With in the next few days. Hairless rats have lactating issues. The babies cant get the milk they need. Try and see if anyone has a mommy rat still producing milk. Most rats have no problems taking in babies that are not theirs. 

Please keep us updated and take photos! We all love seeing it here!


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

I've been looking around on craigslist and the only person with rats is the person I got my rat from  i put a post about needing some mothers to take in the babies hopefully someone will contact me!!


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## Limouri (Apr 19, 2013)

Wet pet and critter, the local pet store breeds rats in their store, not the best way but they usually have a mother rat i know because i asked to see her and they said i couldn't lol, try calling up there and even tho petco may be bad, i know one woman, Keria who is a manager there and she has rat breeder contacts, beacuse thats how i got my dumbo


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## glider11 (Sep 7, 2011)

I don't have any advice, as I've never had a litter but I just wanted to say that one of my girl ratties is also named Delilah!
Also, good luck with all the babies! I hope they all find good homes!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Oh wow.

Sounds like they are close to giving birth though. Try to get them into a tank or bin cage. In case you are wondering on why everyone is saying to keep them separate, it's normal practice to keep them apart since they might steal or cannibalize each others young (and it's easier to tell who is the mom of who).

Hairless rats often have Lactation issues (not mothering issues, most will take care of their young but since they aren't producing milk it doesn't do anything. They have the same chance of not actually taking care of young as other rats), meaning that even if they give birth to a large number most of the time only a few will survive. Though if they are actually double rexes (pictures?), they shouldn't have lactation issues.

Get them onto a high protein diet. Eggs, Sardines, Tuna, a bit of chicken breast (or even chicken liver), or some turkey baby food would help.

Since you Could end up with a lot of babies, might be good to post on here (https://www.facebook.com/CentralTexasRatRescue). It's the central Texas rat rescue, they are located in Austin but might be able to help. At the vary least it should help get the word out about it since there are many people in the Dallas area that look on their page (judging from many of the comments). You can also post on the Texas rat association page but I can't find it.

Also, since from the situation it sounds like all the pups will probably be hairless. Hairless rats develop fur but at around 3 to 4 weeks old start to loose it and normally it's all gone by 6 to 8 weeks.


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## scarletbegonias (Oct 24, 2012)

wow im sorry she blew you off like that. everyone has given great advice but i just wanted to pop in here and say my two hairless girls had gotten pregnant (i can only assume mating though cage bars DOES happen) but they were fantastic mothers who could successfully nurse their pups. hopefully your new girls can nurse their babies all on their own. definitely separate them though, because my girls accident happened when i couldnt immediately get a spare cage and they were stealng eachothers babies.


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## Debra (Apr 28, 2013)

I went through something similar. I got a hairless rat that had babies shortly after I got her. I was lucky enough to find a rat breeder who took all the babies and put them on one of her females who just gave birth.

You might have to get a furry feeder rat who just had babies. Try calling reptile stores. 

Or adds on craigslist selling feeder rats.

But you might have to end up giving all the newborn babies to a breeder or a store because a lot of places won't sell nursing females. if you find a breeder you might be able to get the babies back if you want.

best of luck

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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

Sophi just gave birth and Delilah gave birth 3 hrs ago. I'm really worried about the number of babies they had. Sophi had 5 and Delilah only had 3. Is their a reason why they had so little babies? I'm worried they might have health issues!!


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

My thing says you posted that January 1 St 1970 

I don't know anything about litters but I've heard of rats giving birth to very few babies. 

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## CapnKennedy (Sep 30, 2012)

Lovingly said:


> Sophi just gave birth and Delilah gave birth 3 hrs ago. I'm really worried about the number of babies they had. Sophi had 5 and Delilah only had 3. Is their a reason why they had so little babies? I'm worried they might have health issues!!


Anything new happen since your last post? Still 5 and 3? I read somewhere that the typical litter size is about 8 to 12.


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

I talked to my cousin and her friend breeds rats and has agreed to take the babies and find them homes when their older. I'm going to miss the little guys but I must do what's best for them. I have a quick question will the loss of their babies depress my rats?


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## Debra (Apr 28, 2013)

I took the babies away just two hours after birth. Louise searched for them for a few hours then slept for nearly 24hrs. 

Super duper deep clean the cage when the babies are gone. 

other than that they might seem a lil down for a day or two or they might just be really tired from giving birth. 

don't be surprised if they act a little... off for a week or two as they recover.

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## Limouri (Apr 19, 2013)

Keep us updated, im slightly interested in maybe getting one more rat, i'd love to see colors and such when the grow more!


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## CapnKennedy (Sep 30, 2012)

I'd like to see how they turn out too


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## Flora (Aug 30, 2012)

Hope the mommas are feeding them OK!


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

My cousin confirmed that the new moms took right to the babies and they are being feed. After trying and trying I finally got ahold of the woman who originally brought the rats to me and she swears she didn't know they were pregnate. She says the other two did not have any babies so either I got the unlucky pick of the four or she's lying. She said the other females really missed their sisters which I think is her lying trying to get rid of them, but I have decided she is in no way fit to care for them so I agreed to take the other two. I feel sorry for any animal she purchases!! So now I have four babies <3 Delilah, Sophi, Mia, and Blossom but I've considered envy instead of blossom what do you guys think?


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## CapnKennedy (Sep 30, 2012)

I like Blossom. When I think of Blossom i think of the power puff girl and happy things. When I think of Envy I think of jealousy.


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

XD I haven't thought about the power puff girls in years! Blossom it is


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## CapnKennedy (Sep 30, 2012)

Sounds like you have a crew going on over there XD


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

XD ya I will show you guys some pictures once I figure out how to post them : p


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## CapnKennedy (Sep 30, 2012)

You're going to want to look for these in the reply tool bar thing







just click on the one that looks like a box with a tree in it and that one uploads the pictures, the film strip is pretty self explanatory XD


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

Well it looks like I don't have Those on my reply tool bar I think it has something to do with my phone?


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## Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

so were the two new ones pregnant?

And please! Baby pictures! 

I am looking for a hairless but I live all the way in Florida.


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

No the two new ones were no but one of them dyed from internal bleeding her name was blossom  also I can't post pictures in posts my phone won't let me but I can put them in a album. Ill try and upload one now! Look for the one titled Delilah/Sophi Babies


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## Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

How sad, I am sorry for your loss.

Do you have a laptop with a camera? Most laptops come with them these days.


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

Ya I'm going to miss her she was a cuddle bug No I only have my phone it's a iPhone 4 so I don't know why it won't let me post pictures in posts : p


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## Limouri (Apr 19, 2013)

I have an iPhone 4 too. In the pic I attached the middle button that looks like 2 hills and a sun is how you attach photos, just click it and pick the pics


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

Whoa, she had internal bleeding?
I wonder what happened to her to cause that.
Also wonder what else could be wrong with your new girls.
By the way I wouldn't be surprised if they were pregnant and gave birth around the same time yours did and the girl did something with the babies. Perhaps that may have been the source of the internal bleeding as well?

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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Wow, I'm sorry. Internal Bleeding? do you know what caused it?

At least your two other girls are taking care of their babies. How's Mia doing?

Also an easier way to post pictures is to post it to a picture hosting website (like Photobucket) and copy the IMG code into your post. You May have to do some resizing though if your worried it's too big. I'm not sure if you can that though on an Iphone though.


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

-Update-Sorry guys I've been so inactive but now i will update you on what's happened so far. I took the girls to the vet all four when blossom was still alive. They all have upper respiratory infections and he said they had had them for quiet awhile. Blossom as y'all know had internal bleeding and had to be put down he said she had also had it for awhile and was in a lot of pain. Mia has a really bad eye infection and might lose her eye. My other girl also has one but not as bad. Since blossoms death Mia is being picked on by Delilah and Sophi so i got a new rat that will hopefully balance out the rats and hopefully they will no longer pick on her. I learned that blossom and Mia had infact had babies but I am unsure what the woman did with them. The vet said they were being used as breeder rats and by the look of them they had been breed back to back non stop. I can only imagine what I would do to that sick demented woman if I ever saw her again!!


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

I'm not sure if I forgot to answer anyone else's questions so please feel free to ask if your curious!!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

I'm Sorry. At least the other girls are still doing well. I'm going to assume she bred for pets or smaller pet stores since it's uncommon for feeder breeders to breed hairless females.

How are the babies doing though?


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

Last I talked to the girl she said only 3 babies had made it. She said they are really small and might have some medical issues. She said she's never seen such small rats before so I'm really concerned!!


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## CapnKennedy (Sep 30, 2012)

The poor things.. The girls are lucky to have you now though.


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## Lovingly (Jun 24, 2013)

And I'm lucky to have them!! They are my little babies and I can't imagine not having them!! I wish I could change what they had to go threw with that terrible woman! I can only imagine if she has anymore rats what their going threw!! Is what she doing consider animal abuse? Can I report her for animal abuse?


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