# My rats just given birth



## Fatt

at the moment i can only see two babies, however she is quite fat, i think that she gave birth at around 9am today (UK Time) but as i said it was only to two, unless she has eaten half her litter or something, but she does still look pregnant so im wondering how long she could be in labour for?, the rats arn't very old, about a couple of months at most, we just recently got them where the pet store owner said that he was told by the breeders that the female rat had been altered. Also, any advice that could be given would be great, ive read through the sticky etc and have just basically left them to it, i have put clean bedding in there as there was little bit of blood on the old stuff.


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## Fatt

We just had a look for about a couple of minutes to check, there is defiantly two babies, but one of them doesnt appear to have any feet and just like red cuts where they should be..., no idea what to do so any advice would be great.


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## lilspaz68

How long have you had your new rats? Are they both female? Are they both in the same cage right now as the little momma is trying to give birth?

The baby with no feet could've been born that way or mom is trying to clean up a dead up (they will eat the bodies so that predators aren't attracted to the weakened mom and her surviving litter/colony)

Has she had anymore?


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## pieandblue16

if they are that young...mom probably has NO idea what she is doing and overcleaned them and ate the feet


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## Fatt

We've had them around about a month now, we had a male rat/female rat put together but we was told before we bought them that the female rat had been altered, she hasn't had any more yet and tbh looking at her i don't think she will.

The male has been taken out of the cage now and put in another, so they are separated.


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## lilspaz68

Fatt said:


> We've had them around about a month now, we had a male rat/female rat put together but we was told before we bought them that the female rat had been altered, she hasn't had any more yet and tbh looking at her i don't think she will.
> 
> The male has been taken out of the cage now and put in another, so they are separated.


You need to examine mom and both babies. If Mom still has a belly full of babies, that one baby could've been stuck and she had to pull it out with her teeth (amputating the limbs)...I am worried 

Check to see if either pup is alive, and if she's relaxed and feeding everyone.


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## Fatt

it seems that she is still popping them out, just had a quick look in her cage and she now has 3, she might have more but after a couple of minutes of me looking she covers them up, so don't want to disturb her, at the moment she is just chilling in the nest she made and im pretty sure there alive and kicking, can hear a lot more squeaks than usual.


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## lilspaz68

Oh good!!!


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## Fatt

i think theres about 9 or so in there now ;D, although i think one of them has died , one of them is much paler than the rest, im taking that as a bad sign, i think shes still giving birth so don't wanna open up and see.


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## lilspaz68

Pale isn't good, but it does happen. She sounds like she's doing okay...no major blood loss, no lying around on her part breathing heavily?


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## Fatt

not a huge amount of blood, as far as i can see its just a bit here and there.., seems to be breathing as she normally does


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## lilspaz68

All well then *whew*


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## Fatt

Looks as though she has given birth to 9, one didn't make though and has been removed from the cage, and it seems that one doesn't have any back feet and two don't seem to have any eyes, the one that doesn't have his back feet is also one who doesn't have any eyes... is this normal? im guessing it isn't, any suggestions on what to do or just leave them to it?

Oh and they all have milk bands on them, the mum is also fine and acting as she did before


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## lilspaz68

Fatt said:


> Looks as though she has given birth to 9, one didn't make though and has been removed from the cage, and it seems that one doesn't have any back feet and two don't seem to have any eyes, the one that doesn't have his back feet is also one who doesn't have any eyes... is this normal? im guessing it isn't, any suggestions on what to do or just leave them to it?
> 
> Oh and they all have milk bands on them, the mum is also fine and acting as she did before


Oh wow, and that little one without back feet or eyes is still alive? It seems that your litter may have deformations in it. These special needs rats can grow up and be well though, so leave your lovely little mom to it.


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## lilspaz68

*doh*

If the eyes look non-existent, that means they are pink or ruby-eyed babies...the dark eyed babies will have black eyes...THIS is normal...

I should've realized this a second ago. 

the 2 babies on the left ended up ruby-eyed, and the 2 on the right were black-eyed. Is this what you are seeing?


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## Fatt

haha yeah makes sense, the thing is they are my sisters rat's and she thinks she knows everything when in reality i know she hasn't got a clue what to do, its frustrating talking with her about it lol, which is why im on here bombarding you guys with questions, thanks for the answers though been really helpful.

She also has said that your not allowed to touch the babies until after 3 days or else your 'scent' will be on them so she will just eat them, sounds a bit extreme/implausable i think, just want to know if theres any truth in this?

Also, when should i clean out the nest she has made?, atm she doesn't like people touching it at all but its a bit of a mess, but not in the center of it as she has cleaned it herself.


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## lilspaz68

I handle my rescue pinkies from day 1...it's actually better to as they get used to you, your smell, your touch, etc. I start serious socializing at Day 4 (before that I just hold them in my hand, take pics and sex them quickly..you have to make sure they don't get cold, as they cannot regulate their temp yet). Mom rats are not like hamsters and eat their young if they are handled. They are MUCH better mothers. I think I am going to need to teach you to socialize these babies so they are good rats when they grow up and easier to find homes and keep them there.


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## toyxxhearts

As mentioned you can definitely touch them. I handled mine day one and mom was more than happy to continue to care for them. Hopefully some people on here can help you out with getting them social so they do end up being the amazing companions they have the potential to be!


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## Fatt

Hey, they seem to be coming along well now, quite a few of them have turned blue, some are still pink, few of them are fatter than others but i guess all this is just normal

Could do with some advice on socializing them early on i suppose, when ever i hold them they just sit on my hand laying still, it seems a bit pointless at the moment, or am i wrong?


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## smesyna

Nope, it's not pointless. They are getting accustomed to being held, humans scent, etc.


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## Fatt

How often would you recommend handling them - and for how long?


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