# A big pile of babies



## dkirschling (Mar 20, 2007)

Beezus put all her babies in Rose's nest last night. Is she trying to get Rosie to take care of her babies? How many babies can a momma take care of at one time? I'm worried that Rosie might try to take care of all of them herself. Will she have enough milk?


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

You really need to separate the females. Pregnant moms or moms with litters need to have their own cage and to live by themselves. Generally, 20 gallons are recommended for litters and mothers.


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## dkirschling (Mar 20, 2007)

I put them together because I read on the forums that the moms will often help each other raise their litters. I am concerned that Beezus is not raising her babies. I put her and half the litters (12) in another tank about 15 minutes ago, and she is not immediately attending to them. Wil she come around? If not, can Rosie handle raising them? There's 25 of them!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

You have to be very careful when having 2 females in with one litter. Sometimes the "aunt" will keep the babies to herself but not be able to nurse them herself, then the babies can start dying...its always preferable to have momma by herself, plus she may start taking care of them properly if she's not around another female. When a wild rat has a litter she keeps the babies away from all the other females until they are old enough and their eyes are open.


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## dkirschling (Mar 20, 2007)

How long do I wait to see if Beezus takes care of her babies? She's been alone with them for a couple of hours. It seems like Rosie is nursing constantly, and Beezus is not. How long can thay go between feedings?


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## IceLore (May 13, 2007)

One rat cannot take care of 25 kittens. If your second doe does not start feeding them, you may have to try hand feeding them, and giving a *few* more of them to the other doe to raise. Over burdening her though will be bad on all the animals involved.

Did you breed these litters? Are you prepared to hand feed?

Across the babies tummies, there should be a white 'milk band', that will tell you if she is feeding them or not.

Since you didn't separate the mommas and their litters though, if this is her first litter, she may not have imprinted on them and for that reason may not take great care of them. Before they were born maybe you should have done some research..... :/


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## dkirschling (Mar 20, 2007)

I guess you've not caught a lot of my recent posts-these are rats that I rescued from people that did not care enought to properly care for them, and both came to me pregnant. I would NEVER breed rats and all my rats are kept away from the opposite sex at all times. I am not an experienced breeder, I admit that. I'm only trying to help these babies and learn what to do. I understand that you are trying to help, but please don't give me a hard time without understanding what's going on.


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## IceLore (May 13, 2007)

I didn't give you a hard time...I only asked one question pertaining to whether or not you bred them because I was curious. Other then that, I answered your questions about them, feeding them, what to do, and separating them. If you are referring to to me saying that maybe research was in order, I'm sorry, but I gathered that you knew the girls were pregnant before the litters appeared. I wasn't rude about it at all. But I'll leave you be. Hopefully another experienced breeder will be along to help you. Until then, good luck.


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## dkirschling (Mar 20, 2007)

Beezus started to take care of her babies! I went out this morning and got formula for them because I was so worried they wern't getting enough nutrition. I was unable to get them to eat. I switched them around and put Rosie on Beezus' babies and vice versa, just thinking at least Rosie can feed them. Well, Beezus finally came around and has been feeding them practically all day. I couldn't be more relieved. They are so cute!


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## lina (May 28, 2007)

May I ask how old are they. Can they eat any rat food/kitten food yet.

You do sound like both you and your rats have your hands full. Hope it all turns out for you all ok.


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## dkirschling (Mar 20, 2007)

The babies are 5 days old. I did get some Isomil baby formula and a tiny syringe to feed them myself, but I didn't have to. They seem to be off to a good start now; they're moving around and eating a lot. I will post some pictures of them soon and hopefully can more accurately sex them soon.
Thank you for your kind thoughts!


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## lina (May 28, 2007)

I'd love to see some pic's of them. Hope they all do well.


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## hwt2752002 (May 14, 2007)

Do you have any updated pics? I hope mom and the babies are doing well.


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