# Babies!!!!



## warock8

Oh know my female rat just had babies and i dont know what to do?????
and it was only a litter of 4 and the male and female were brother and sister.


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## 2manyrats

Welcome to our forums! 

If your new mom isn't separated from the boy, you should do that as quickly as possible. They'll mate again right after birth.

Second of all, there's not much you need to do. Rat moms instinctually know how to care for their babies, so you can sit back and watch the babies grow. 

However, you can give the mom nesting material, like paper towels, fabric (like fleece that doesn't fray), or shredded paper, and a box so that she can have a nice, comfortable nest. At this point though, she'll probably not want to move her nest, just add material to it.

Also, make sure the mom gets plenty of high-protein food to help nurture those little babies.

Have you lined up people to take the babies?

Some info:
http://www.ratlovers.org/articles/pregnant.html
http://ratgrowth.homestead.com/


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## warock8

thanks for the information i got rid of the male rat because she had to wrestle him down to stop him going near her babies


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## 2manyrats

If they were together after birth, your mom is likely pregnant again.

It's especially important to beef up her diet at this point, because both nursing babies and being pregnant will take a *lot* out of her.

Also, if she's alone now, you should keep 1 or more or the female babies to be her companion.

Here's a quote from a website about diet for pregnant/nursing mothers:


> Pregnant or Nursing Females:
> 
> The big needs of pregnant and nursing females are adequate levels of protein and fat. These can be supplied using kitten or puppy chow, a good brand (such as Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, or any of a number of other good brands). Also table scraps can be useful, being palatable, as long as you avoid heavily spiced or salted or sugared items which are hard on the rat's system. (Note: avoid high fat foods.)
> 
> If a doe (female) appears to be expecting a good-sized to huge litter (based on the size of her abdomen), I will take away the lab blocks entirely in favor of the richer foods so that she has the best possible chance of providing adequate nutrition for the growing rat kittens inside of her. I will continue with this (with fruits and veggies, too, and sometimes a little grain mix or whole wheat bread) after the babies are born, but then I will add goat's milk for the extra protein, calcium, fat, and palatability. This is good for putting weight on a thin mother or helping boost up the runts. Sometimes a large litter will nurse the flesh off of a mother--she just doesn't eat enough to make up for what they are taking from her body by nursing. This is, in my opinion, VERY BAD for the female and should not be allowed. If necessary take the babies away for several hours a day and let her rest and eat--feed her lots of tasty food, rich food, eggs scrambled in butter, oatmeal with whole milk or goat's milk, canned kitten or puppy food, whatever she'll eat that's nutritionally rich. Meanwhile offer the babies the same foods separately. Hopefully this will let her catch up and quit losing condition.


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## Rodere

Where'd you take him? Or what did you do with him?

She could very well be pregnant again. Male rats will sometimes pursue a female even between babies, before the birth is totally finished. Did you not know that they would breed or did you not realize that they were not both one sex?

The babies will mature quickly and should be seperated no later than 5 weeks of age. Or you'll have a lot more babies on your hands before long. Definately do some research, there are a lot of good sites with the right info already on them.


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## warock8

Well u might not like this but I let him go cos dont have acess to pet shops 24/7.

She is still looking pretty fat so she might still be pregnant.
and Ill keep maybe two females for company.

Thx for the info


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## Forensic

You... you let a domestic rat go outside?

As in... outside. 8O


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## LizLovesRats5

Why did you let him go? Why didn't you just put him in a seperate cage or bring him back to the pet store? He's going to die out there you know.... poor little guy.


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## Stephanie

*grumbles under my breath* there are so many things i would like to say to you warock8 but i will refrain from it. Just know that you need to find those babies homes asap. seeing as you may just let the boys go if you are inconvenienced by them.


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## fallinstar

outside? r you kidding?


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## Ashadeen

8O Sorry what?!

That' s unbelieveable. How can you do this?!


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## Strike2

Outside, and you live in Austrailia? snake food before the night ended no doubt.


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## DarkDesires814

You just put one of your pets outside to die? Wow.. I'm not even going to start with the irresponsible breeding stuff. You need to find homes for your rats before it's too inconvient to take care of them and you end up throwing them out too.


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## ladylady

Eeek!
Now you know what to do in future. He might have been lucky and been found by someone its not unknown.
Please post your availiable rats on the "rats needing homes" section and I can advertisethem on the myspace. I'll have to make some down under friends 
There is a link for most rat issues on the myspace (see below) please have a look (you dont need to be a member to view the site or if you are maybe you could be my friend?).
Anyhoo, dont be a stranger and we will give you inforamtion and support to make sure the rest of your rats are healthy and happy


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## warock8

sorry it was letting him go or feeding him to the dog I was hoping thjat nature would take its toll and i wouldnt have to watch him die.


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## warock8

He was pretty fiesty and didnt like me but my mum and dad told me to


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## Rachel-Phantom

That is the most horrible thing I have ever heard anyone do. He was your pet, how could you leave him for death. I'm sorry but this makes me truly upset. I'm actually not mad at you but truly truly sad about that poor boy. Its sad to say but I care more about animals than people. You care enough about your female and babies to keep them safe, but let the male who is her brother fend for himself. How horrible. Oh and I just read the thing about the dog. You probably didn't do a thing to stop it, did you? I love all my pets so much and I don't understand how people like you have pets, when you really don't care. I shed a tear for the poor boy and mourn for the better life he could have had with a rat mommy.

I'm sorry if others find this rude. I gave one of my babies to someone and they lost her outside. I never forgave her for that and others should NOT follow her example.


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## Stephanie

*walks away from this posting for good* i will only get myself in trouble if i try and educate you warock. take this peice of advice though. . . NEVER let domesticated animal run free in the wild. You wouldn't do it to a dog don't do it to a rat.. and when i say you wouldn't do it to a dog i mean you wouldn't take your dog out in the wilderness and leave him/her. it is ridiculous and absurd. If you needed to get rid of him that badly you go to a petstore or a rescue you keep him in a tank or seperate cage untill you find a place that he will at least have a fighting chance at surviving. Years of breeding have made it that our pet rats are not as instinctual as their ancestors there fore not as wiley in the wild. Your boy is in some snakes belly right now! ugh ok i have to end this before i get heated


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## Stephanie

ok so silly me didn't read the last post on the last page OMG take all of your rats and give them to the nearest pet store you should NOT own rats you were going to feed him to your DOG!!! *screams* how terrible of a person are you I know i should not attack you at all and i am sure you are a young person that doesn't know any better but if your parents told you to just let it go then you need not have pets such as rats!!!! ok now i wash my hands of you and i am sorry to anyone who reads this and thinks i am a horrible person but i needed to say this and i am sure i will get penalized for it but i am willing to take that chance


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## fallinstar

stephanie u are right! im sorry but as soon as i meet / get an animal i get a strange bond with them, to me animals are people and i love them even if they dont like me, and i hate to see harm come to any one all ive got 2 say 2 you warock8 is a few quick things if u had a baby and got bored with it or didnt get on and u just let it go you would be arrested also i never thought i would say this i dont think you should keep rat i really feel for them take them to a rescue center but fgs DO NOT put them outside have you no heart at all?!!?!


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## Stephanie

thankyou fallin! I recently came across a posting on craigslist and i will be getting four girls because the owner can not care for them anymore. I mean at least she had the heart to post about these girls before just sending them off to their death's. I would be crushed if any of my boys, my friends boys, and ANY rat for that matter came to harm because of a persons choice. I hate reading the rainbow bridge because my heart breaks any time one of these little ones passes wether i knew tham or not. Warock8 you need to find a local rescue NOW and give all and i mean ALL of your ratties up!


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## fallinstar

stephanie wen ever i come online the 1st thing i do is scroll 2 the rainbow bridge and if its no new post i feel so happy but if there are i get a sinking feeling inside and just pray its some1 posting on an old post! i class what Warock8 did as very bad animal crulety wich i am strongly against


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## Forensic

Feeding it to the _dog_???

Heck even a bucket might have worked until you could get another cage!


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## warock8

But but SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY


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## warock8

i PUT HIM IN A SHOE BOX THEN HE RAN AWAY it wasnt REALLY my fault it could have been the babies that could be killed i had a choice + My female rat is alot happier now


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## warock8

can you just forget about it


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## JennieLove

Thats is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of! Oh yeah, you put him in a shoe box...outside, so either he could die there or escape and die outside? And the thing about that dog eating a pet that your are "suppose" to love...thats just cruel. Obviously your too young and irresponsible to have pets and need to get rid of the ones you have now. Pfft, you need to grow up, im sorry.


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## Stephanie

sorry doesn't cut it when you murder your pet warock! and yes YOU MURDERED your rat!!!


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## DarkDesires814

You're asking all of us to forget that you killed your rat? I'm guessing that you've already forgotten about it and moved on. How easy was it for you to just forget that you were willing to feed a defenseless pet of yours to a dog? I can't believe someone could kill their own pet and then forget about it without so much as feeling guity. That is what some people might call sociopathic behavior. Look it up, get some help and give all your pets to people who will care for them while you're at it. It's too bad you aren't in the U.S., I'd be more than willing to take all your rats just so I could be sure you wouldn't kill them as soon as they became an inconvience to you.


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## Stephanie

If warock was in america charges would be pressed and fines would be issued if not jail time for cruelty to animals, animal endangerment, animal abuse! and i think i would make sure of it honestly


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## DarkDesires814

Animal abuse is never punished as much as it should be here. Some guy beat his dog with a board with nails in it in my backyard, I threatened to take the same board to his manhood and he left. But he was never charged with anything because he was only "correcting" his dog for running away. I doubt anything would come of turning this kid in for letting his rat go. Too many people see them as pests.


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## ladylady

please make the details of all your rats avaliable and I'll get them matched up with someone. I can advertise on myspace but I suspect you will need to contact rescues personaly.


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## Stephanie

yeah PA is bad but in cali they are SUPER strict!!


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## warock8

im relly sad aswell but its the past and i will never do it again


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## DarkDesires814

Why in the world would you keep a male and a female together anyway? And have you found homes for the other rats yet?


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## warock8

I didnt know i thought they were both female


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## fallinstar

how old were your male n female cuz i have 3 boys and these r my 1st boys by bloodly **** u can tell they are boys! not 2 get in 2 2much detail but boys have huge testicals you can not miss them! what are you doin with the babies?


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## LizLovesRats5

Waroc, you need to give ALL your rats to a petstore or an animal rescue, ASAP. You are not fit to care for any animals as pets. Honestly, this thread makes me sick to my stomach. Usually I try to refain from judging newbies and their often ridiculously misinformed ideas, but you really are the worst I've ever read about. Seriously, people like you and your father, who are willing to kill animals rather than deal with the responsibility you took on when deciding to get them as pets, should never be allowed to touch another animal EVER AGAIN.


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## gems2022

I just want to say that its not all Warock fault. He/She is just a kid after all. What about the parents? Parents are ultimately responsible for any animal that comes into the house. As a parent it is my responsibility to make sure that the animals are getting what they need, including feeding, cleaning and any vet appointments, not my children. My children are responsible for the most of it to a point. If I see something not quite right, its up to me as a parent to make it right. If my children cannot share in the responsibility and take care of their animals properly, then its up to me to either take care of them or to find homes for them. It's my job as a parent.

So with that said Warock made a mistake and knows that he/she did. Now there are babies and he is just trying to do the right thing and find out what to do with them. Lets try and help from this point on instead of the whole bashing thing. That really doesn't help anyone and only alienates the people who need the help.

Warock how are the babies doing? When were they born? Do you know how many she had? Do you have access to a digital camera? Are there any questions you have? I do not have vast amounts of knowledge about baby rats but alot of people on here do.


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## ladylady

Yes I second that.
How are things going. Have you researched. You'll get alot on google "rat pregnancy" "rat labour" "rat litters" ect.
And yes. Start a piccys thread QUICK!


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## fallinstar

im not bashing warlock im just stunned any1 could do that


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## Forensic

There's any number of good links on how to sex rats like this one. Please carefully sex all the babies. The males will need to be separated from the females before they're five weeks old, else you may have more litters on your hands. 

THis means you'll have to go get a second cage to keep the males in. You may also need a larger cage for the females, as there will be more - very hyper - rats in the cage. 

Please post pictures/descriptions and consider posting them on myspace. 

Search the web, there are numerous rat clubs and rescues in Australia.. contact one or more of them. Along with possibly being able to take some of the kittens when they're old enough to leave their mother they can give you pointers on how to raise your litter.

Handle the kittens often, to get them hand tame. That makes them easier to find homes for.

No more shoeboxes.


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## Stephanie

gems2022 said:


> So with that said Warock made a mistake and knows that he/she did. Now there are babies and he is just trying to do the right thing and find out what to do with them. Lets try and help from this point on instead of the whole bashing thing. That really doesn't help anyone and only alienates the people who need the help.


Yes i agree that a mistake was made and I agree that we should not be "bashing" on him/her. But the best thing for warock to do is give ALL of those rats up before he/she murders another of her/his pets. I'm sorry if it seems like i am bashing on anyone I don't mean it to but when I read what warock did I was in shock that a person could behave this way to an animal and have ABSOLUTELY no remorse whatsoever. it took how many posts before there was a half of an attmept for an apology? is there anything posted in the rainbow bridge?? there is no remorse in warock's posts and i would not be surprised if those babies have already been tossed out the door. So yes do your research warock and then please please please give up ALL living things in your care immediately. You do not take proper care of your animals and it needs to stop now. I could not imagine if my son did something as cold and heartless as what you did. I would turn him in myself! Now i will be done with this post and hope to god that the rest of the rats get placed in a LOVING home where they will be safe from the likes of you!


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## LizLovesRats5

I second that, Stephanie. Well said.


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## JennieLove

As a parent...you have the responsibility to teach your children whatâ€™s right and whatâ€™s wrong. YOUR the one who has to teach your child how to properly take care of their pets. Sure youâ€™re the one who has to pay for their vet bills and such, but when it comes to feeding and cleaning...you should be one the sidelines for that stuff, not doing it yourself! Thatâ€™s how kids learn! Of course when theyâ€™re not doing something right, them step in. Obviously warock8's parents didnâ€™t care for the safety of the animals or responsibilities that come with letting their child have pets. I donâ€™t see why parents think that when their children want pets, that the parents have to take care of them. If there not old enough to understand the duties that come along with owning a pet and then they should have pets at all! I see too many pets that ultimately get thrown outside to fend for themselves, who get set to the pound just to be put down, sold to stupid peopleâ€¦and you know what theses pets were suppose to be? They were pets for their children. Fact is warock8 shouldnâ€™t have any pets, he/she canâ€™t care for them properly and their parents canâ€™t care from them properly.


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## ladylady

True it would be tough careing for animals without the suppot of your parents


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## JennieLove

Whenever I wanted a pet, my mom said thats fine, but you have to make sure you really want it and care for it right. She was always there for me and made sure that it was being cared for, but she NEVER took over my responsibilities for it, she never steped in, only watched to make sure it was being done properly. Im greatful that she did that, becuase I learned instead of relying on her for everything.


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## ladylady

We've allways had dogs-they were never anyones in particular. I played with Bessie and took her for walks, did her breakfast and dinner but I would say my Mum did most of the work


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## Rodere

Warlock.. I'd really like to throttle you right now.. but I figure you've had enough of that for now. Let us just say that I agree with what has been said, mostly.

You are young yes, but that doesn't excuse a mistake that costs another living creature it's life. From how you've acted and what you've said, rats to you are throw-away pets and that's not right. I'd have torn myself up inside if I'd ever so much as lost track of one for even a few minutes outside, let alone willingly and without remorse. Be it the past or not!

You definitely need to get new cages. Don't just get aquariums. You need adequate cages, whether you must buy them or make them! Babies become sexually mature as early as 5 weeks of age. So you'd better start working on that now.

I am appalled.. and you really should be ashamed of yourself. He was doing what his instincts told him to do. Some males don't even harm their own pups. He may have just been trying to sniff them. And you more or less killed him for wanting to look at his children despite the mom not wanting him to. That's just horrible...


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