# Happy birthday!



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

My rat just gave birth. She just became aggressive last night, so now I can see why she was getting aggressive so suddenly. She keeps them underneath an old beanie that I put in her cage to keep her warm. I count 10 pups. I saw one who might not have made it though judging from the color, but further inspection shows that I might have been just my imagination. I'm paranoid since while my apartment is kept at 70 it feels a lot colder than that.


Soo... what temperature should I keep the room at? Also when should I start helping the babies get used to humans?


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

Also is there noises the rat babies make that I should be worried about, and ones that sounds like I should worry but shouldn't?


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

mine where born 2 hours ago!! yay! ive already handled and counted the pups. i took momma out to stretch and the i looked over her babies, when she was still giving birth i noticed that one of the pups had a bit of paper stuck on its mouth so i reached in and pulled it off, Roxy move to intercept my hand but she just sniffed it and licked it and let me pull the paper off the baby. i was half expecting a bite tho lol


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

im pretty sure 70 is fine as long as they arent near drafts and open doors ect, and that momma has warm bedding, she will keep the temp good for the babies im pretty sure


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

I try to cover the cage a little to prevent drafts blowing through, but I make sure it's ventilated. It's a shame that I couldn't modify or even find a friend who had a glass aquarium that I can use... but now I don't think I should move them. At the very least the cage is big enough for the female, yet the bars are close to each other enough to keep the babies in when they start exploring. Once the rats get big enough to make the cage cramped, my plastic cage should be modified and ready to house the mother and her babies in a mansion. x3


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

yup it sounds good to me!! i moved my babies cuz i had momma in a carrying cage incase i had to make a mad dash to the vet, so just move them into the 55 gallon glass cage. my pups are either very squeaky or they are quiet, i kinda think the loud ones r females lol who knows tho haha


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

It just makes me worried, though I know I shouldn't be. xD


----------



## JessyGene (Feb 27, 2012)

Congrats on your babies both of you! I hope you take lots of pictures as they develop


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

i know what cha mean!! roxy buried her babies and is sleeping in a diff area and i checked on the babies and they were kinda cold so i turned up the heat lol i already have kitten formula tho so if i notice her not feeding them ill start lol i betboth of ours will do fine, they r just so little and helpless i cant help but worry!


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

Gah, now she's making a mess. D: 

Her kids were in a neat pile, now they're a little spread out. = 3=;


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

i think or rat moms r gonna drive us batty! Roxy is now acting scared of her babies!! and wont go near them... i had to hold her and pet her while the pups nursed! now im getting kinda worried about why Roxy is acting scared of her own kids lol


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

Well she's starting to act more motherly. I mean she stopped nipping when she started to move stuff around her cage and burying her kids, but after I fixed this with a towel and setting up the beanie with a wind guard to make a small room(need to modify it so that she can't uncover the babies, but keep them covered) she's gone back to being nippy. ...Which I'm a little frustrated... but that shows me she cares about her babies again, so... good enough, I suppose. = 3=;;


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

ya i just did some research on roxys behavior and it said that she no longer is attached to her babies, she doesnt think they are hers! :-( i wanna cry!! im freaking out :'(


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

I heard that sometimes first mothers feel overwhelmed, or something like that. Just keep looking for solutions, or maybe ask around. ^ ^


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

i just posted about it so hopefully somebody knows something.. i read online to put her in a very small critter carryer that will force her to sit on the babies and keep them warm, it will allow for them to feed and hopefully her instincts will kick in and she will take them back... i feel like this is all my fault, i was the one who adopted a male rat and i just should have gotten the emergency spay :-( im just in a terrible mood now lol :-/ thank goodness u r still up, i was freakin out ha


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

Well I'm sure you can take care of them.


Me on the other hand I still haven't found any takers. @[email protected]


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

i just lucked ou that alot of ppl wanted pet rats in this area.. but now i dunno if ill have any rats who will make it til tomorrow even :-/ meeeh


----------



## Arashi (Feb 4, 2012)

Congratulations on the new rats!


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

Well another one had died today, though I think it was because it was left out of it's mother's warmth. It's a shame really since it doesn't seem like she's disinterested in it. D:


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

So... my rat had taken all of her babies out of this super awesome nest I made for her(After a few hours of her using it too! D: ) and managed to get underneath the towel and put it there.


....'cept they're all fine and every single one of them is alive.


= 3=; At this point, whatever with the bedding. As long as it's not in shambles, or if there's poop where the babies are(she doesn't poop in the cage so I have to take her out for bathroom breaks.), or if there's no babies left out... I'll just let her do what she wants.


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

Oh HEEEEEEEEEEEEE(ck) YEAH! It seems like finally me and the mother have agreed on a system. While I had made a nest involving using a different towel, the beanie, and a bandana to make a warm hidey hole for her babies, she decided that her babies would prefer to be underneath the towel. ...However it's warm. I touch where the babies are through the plastic bottom, and I can feel warm heat. With the many times she's been underneath there there's like... a raised part of the towel where her babies are. Not only that, but she uses the nest as a Hammock... which is not it's intention, but that has been the first time I've seen boggling so intense. And now that I let her out for bathroom breaks, it seems like there's finally a working system in between the two of us.


----------



## therathugger (Feb 9, 2012)

Great! Be sure to post alot of pics!


----------

