# Emergency advice please respond-accidental litter



## rampantrodent (Oct 27, 2017)

So I was woken up from a nap today by my boyfriend screaming that my youngest girl shadow just had babies in her hammock. She was the runt of a litter and a rescue and I didnt think she was quite breeding age yet but obviously she was because she just had about 14 babies. I immediately made a separate tub with carefresh for her and the pups but she would not put them in on her own so i had to move them myself. when i did transfer them, she was not aggressive or protective at all..she didnt even try to move any on her own or even acknowledge them. When I put her in the tub with them she started running all around looking for food and ways to get out..even stepping over some of the babies. she found the food dish i put in but has yet to pay attention to the babies and they're quite cold to the touch but still moving and squeaking. do i need to do something? is this normal or are the babies in danger??? im so worried she isnt going to nurse them...any suggestions or advice asap would be a huge help im freaking out here!!!


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## Phoene (Dec 21, 2017)

I don't know anything about this but I found a link to someone who posted about the same question on yahoo answers. The answer to this question was: 
"Okay, just calm down. First off, rats are NOT like birds and will NOT reject their babies if you touch them. You can handle the babies only hours after they're born, and every day after that. It's actually better to do that, because it socializes them and gets them used to human contact. 

How long has it been? My rat didn't feed her babies till hours after they were born, she was more interested in building a nest and feeding herself before she worried about her litter. Did you know your rat was pregnant? During pregnancy, rats need extra nutrients and protein to stay healthy. Try giving her some bread (preferably wheat, but white is fine) soaked in milk, that will fill her up and give her lots of protein. Make sure she has plenty of water, and put a pop tart box or something in the cage. Momma rats like to keep their babies in dark spaces, and usually feed them there as well. If you don't have a small box, get an old shirt and rip pieces of it and throw in there. Cloth, toilet paper rolls, shredded paper, etc. If you give her nesting materials, she'll likely set to work on a nest, move her babies there, then feed them. But some rats don't nest at all. 

If it's been 12 hours or longer, the babies' health is critical. Newborn rats need to be fed every 2 hours. Go to Petco/Petsmart or a pet store and get a can of Goat's Milk. Get the smallest eye dropper you can find and take it home. You'll need to hand feed the babies. Suck a LITTLE bit of milk into the dropper and hold it to the baby's mouth. They will start to suck so slowly and gently press the end of the dropper to make more milk go through. Just do a little bit per rat, then look at their tummies. If you see a white band, they've had enough for now. Whatever pet store you get the milk from should be able to give you more info on how often you need to feed them as the weeks go by. If not, call your/a local vet and ask someone there. 

Rats are very instinctual and make good mothers, even first-timers. Just make sure she has nesting materials/a box and food and water. If she eats her fill and still doesn't care for them, run to the pet store. i know it's hard, but try to leave the room after you give her what she needs. Some rats need their privacy when nursing and won't do it if someone is watching the whole time. Give her her stuff then leave for about half an hour. Check back in, but only just to peek. 

If hand feeding is not an option (we don;t all have the time), call around to pet stores in your area and ask if they have any lactating/new mother rats. Buy one and put her in with the babies (but keep the biological mother in a separate cage!). Rats will often foster a litter of babies if their real mother won't do it. Good luck!!!"
Good luck from me too!


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## rampantrodent (Oct 27, 2017)

THANK YOU. This was reassuring. To answer some of those questions if anyone wants to chime in that knows about rat pregnancy, I did move the mother and babies to a small sterlite storage bin that is usually my quarantine cage. i have carefresh in there and i put a bowl of her normal food as well as some higher protein dog food mixed with a little ensure and mushed up so she can get some extra nutrients while she's lactating. I also put the scraps of fleece that she gave birth in her original cage in there with her and she's made a nest for the babies. I can't quite tell if she's nursing or just keeping them warm, she's sort of sitting on top of them like a chicken with hatchlings but im afraid to disturb her. 

Should I check the babies for white bands? Will this indicate if she's been feeding them? I dont want to disturb her more than I have already but i'm still worried. 

**Also** there are two pups in the nest who i believe were stillborn. 

I didn't want to remove them because I've heard about rats eating their deceased young for the nutrients and I thought I should leave it up to her what she wants to do with them, but am I risking anything leaving them in there? I've had hamsters give birth before but never to stillborn pups so I dont know what the protocol is here.

Any advice or input on this would be really helpful, these next 24 hours I think are going to be critical for their health. I want to make sure i'm not overlooking anything.


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## evilcb (Dec 15, 2017)

I don't have any advice about the possible stillborn pups, but if she is laying on them they are most likely feeding. I had a hard time telling with my rat what was going on for sure (she gave birth 1 week after I got her. First rats of my own and first experience with female rats) but the key things are if she's keeping them warm and the white band on the stomach. My momma seemed to leave the pups in their nest a lot more and earlier than I thought she would, but she still made sure they had enough to eat and were safe.


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## evilcb (Dec 15, 2017)

This is my momma after having her babies. You can see the white band on their stomachs that you want to keep an eye out for. They also squeaked a storm if she moved while they were trying to eat. If your rat will let you, you can check on them every few hours to make sure they're eating and warm. Mine was very protective of hers (my hands suffered many, many hard bites) so if I wanted to check on them I usually had to bribe her with a treat to distract her enough.

I got a lot of advice from a breeder I know (not the one I got my girls from) and he said that if the mom is caring for them the first day, its very unlikely she will abandon them or stop caring for them after that. So if she's keeping them warm and fed now, chances are they'll be fine. He also said that there isn't much you have to do once the mom's are caring for them, other than making sure they have enough high protein food and water. Thankfully rat mom's seem hardwired to just know what to do most of the time.


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## blackjack (Feb 5, 2018)

How did everything go with the babies?


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