# PLEASE help!



## Cingrata (Jul 19, 2011)

Hi all, I desperately need some help/advice please. Long story:

I'm not a rat keeper. I had a rat as a kid who I loved dearly and all my life have loved all animals regardless of what they are, but have never really been a big rodent keeper since I began getting into certain other pets.

Today, though, at work, a colleague of mine discovered a young baby rat crawling across the floor in our cellar downstairs. Before doing anything, he came upstairs and told me there was "a baby mouse" crawling across the floor and asked if I wanted it as food for my snakes (I keep reptiles, however they are only fed on pre-filled, frozen mice as I see live prey as unnecessary suffering and stress for all involved) as our boss had instructed him to kill it. I told him I'd put it outside (have done this with numerous older rats I've discovered at work) and went downstairs. 

I discovered a tiny, barely fluffy grey baby rat crawling across the floor directionless and scooped her up into an empty box and took her upstairs. 

She survived my 9 hour shift in the box and I have now placed her in a tubberware dish with airholes melted into the lid with a hot water bottle underneath and some aspen wood shavings inside. 

I really want to rear her to full size as I'd hate to see her die. Can anybody please help me with what kind of provisions I should be making for her? I've given her a small meal of sugar water (I finished work at midnight and couldn't buy anything for her) for now and am planning to do so again in a few hours, but provided she survives the night I want to make sure I give her the best chances. She has fluff on her but her eyes are still fused shut, guessing she's around 12/13 days? 

Please help asap!


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

Get her warm, she needs constant heat, get her on fleece or other baby safe fabric. Start her on pedialyte, or if you don't have it, sugar water will do, but make sure it is warm. Whenever she is fed she must be stimulated to go potty using a warm, damp Q-tip. Rub it along her genitals like a mother would to lick and she should both urinate and poop. 

In the morning start her on KMR. I have found this is best since rats live on it well and that is the only thing mice can have as babies, so no matter what rodent it is, it will survive. You need to dilute it a LOT at first and feed one drop at a time with a syringe. Here's a link to help you further-

http://www.ratfanclub.org/orphans.html


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## Cingrata (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks for the quick reply. After her last feed I stimulated her to go potty and she urinated but didn't poop, am I not doing it right? I don't have any fleece, was considering a blanket used by my puppy but it's polyester. Will aspen be ok for her for the night? I tend to use it with my snakes as it's a good insulator over their heatmats, so assumed it'd be good over her hot water bottle for tonight too. 

Not meaning to sound ignorant, but what is KMR? I'm going to try to get hold of it in the morning but have no idea what it is. Read somewhere online that infant soy formula works if it's diluted, any opinion on this if I can't find KMR? Thanks again. 

EDIT: Have just realised it's 'kitten milk replacement', is there any specific brand I should be searching for or will most be ok? I don't think I know of any that are mainstream available where I'm from aside from Wiskaz or welpo...any preference?


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## A.ngelF.eathers (Jul 6, 2011)

My friend raised an orphan mouse once. It was *extremely* tiny
they kept her in a little container with a heating pack in the bottom, like the gel packs you can freeze or heat for pain. 

As Kinsey said, it will need a lot of warmth and stimulation without a lot handling.

Wish you the best of luck


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

As far as I know any brand.

They don't always go every time.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

For a mouse it MUST be the brand "KMR". It's fairly common, petsmart has it, that's where mine came from. If you absolutely cannot get that then get the closest you can, and be sure it is powdered, Can we have a picture of the baby? We can likely tell you what it is.


No, they don'y go every time but keep an eye out for bloating. I have an orphaned mouse who has bloating trouble, and it's very tough to care for her. If you don't have poop two or three feedings after starting formula, and the baby seems a bit fat, quit the formula for a while and give it a 50/50 mix of WHITE karo syrup and water until it poops. 

Good luck feel free to PM me, too.


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## Cingrata (Jul 19, 2011)

Hi all, quick update on Ratty - eyes are completely open today and she's feeding really well on the milk replacement, which I started giving her around 20 hours ago. She's only pooped once since starting formula but is peeing regularly. I'll upload a pic a bit later, would be interesting to see what she is! Thanks, all!


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## smesyna (Nov 22, 2010)

Aww glad she? is feeling better.

When you take the picture, make sure to include something for size reference like a cd, coke can, etc.


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## Cingrata (Jul 19, 2011)

Hey guys, finished work really late tonight so haven't been able to take a picture but Ratty seems fine. She's really active today and as I type this I can hear her making her little squeak noises; she's become a lot more vocal today! She's pooped twice today as well so hopefully all is looking good!

Only thing I'm slightly worried about now is after a feed/when i expect her to sleep, she's making a strange kind of noise, it's not like her teet clicking or squeaking she normally does. It's kind of slow and drawn out, with a couple of seconds between each noise. At first I thought her breathing was slowing down, but I got her out asap and she was fine again. Anything to worry about or is this normal? It's difficult to describe, but it's not her normal squeaking or teeth grinding.


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