# omg need help!!



## sweetdelilah (Oct 20, 2007)

hey my rat is pregnant and i dunno what to do.
she's in a 20 gallon aquarium, would that be ok for her & the babies?
i think she's due in a few days, my stupid brother (hes 10) decided to put his rat with my rat for fun and they mated!!! 8O 
he wont be doing that anytime soon after i yelled at him and practically tore his head off but i need to know what i should feed my rat (she's on reggie rat now) and if i shoud add anything?
im new 2 rats, my bro & me just got these rats a month ago from a petstore 'cause i heard they were better than hamsters and smarter and stuff..
and they're on pine bedding, should i add newspaper or something for a nest???!


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

ok, first take a deep breath and try to relax just a bit. 

next please read through this section. a lot has been covered in regards to rat pregnancies and probably just about all you'll need to know is within this section. 

next, get her off pine RIGHT NOW. pine is like a poison to rats and WILL damage their lungs, liver and possibly their kidneys. alternatives are aspen, carefresh and yesterdays news (YN being my favorite for odor control).

next you'll want to read through the health section for a proper regular diet for rats. there are NUMEROUS posts about it. reggie rat is not really recommended though there seems to be a bit of a debate to is its ok at all. ideally you'll want a lab block like harlen tekland, but yuo can find more about all that in the health section. 

now, you'll want to start advertising your babies now to get homes lined up, expect at least a few to back out so get back up adopters as well if you can. you'll also want to get a large cage for girls and a large cage for boys. aquarims are ok for mothers and babies of a very young age but are not meant for long term housing. you'll also want to be cleaning it at least every other day in order to keep on top of the amonia build up. and a deep clean too, not just trading out litter. 

after you finish your reading, if you have anymore questions or need clarification don't hesitate to ask.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

oh, and i forgot to add, that if at all possible go for the e-spay over letting the pregnancy come to term. its much cheaper in the long run of things. it also seems as though you are just beginning in ratty care ownership, so i babies (average litter size being 12) is not something you need right now. 

also, does your girl have a rat friend? rats do MUCH better in pairs then alone. though obviously you'll want another girl for her or a neutered boy so there won't be more babies.


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## sweetdelilah (Oct 20, 2007)

SHE HAD HER BABIES LAST NIGHT!! 9 fat healthy lil ones w/ milk bands ( i did loads of research, so i knew wat to check for!)
luckily i took her off pine just in time! (the reason she was on it was bcuz my friend had a rat who just passed away at 2 years and she had a lot of pine left over so she gave it to me and said it fine...i feel so bad about it  )
i have delilah on carefresh ultra now..i think that's better, altho it was kinda expensive. :? 
and i have around 7 poeple wanting ratties, so i'm good to go, i think..especially if someone takes pairs.
and my girl doesn't have a friend..i thought she would be fine w/ my attention but now i know more so im gonna keep one of the girl babies for her and a boy for my brothers rat.  
thanks 4 your help!!


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

sounds like things are going well then. 9 is a small litter in comparison to average, you're lucky. when i had my surprise litters (2 rats a day apart) one had 13 and the other 12. so i went from 5 rats to 29 rats in 2 days.... finding homes for 24 babies was NOT fun.... and where you'll be keeping 2 anyway that means you'll only have to find homes for 7. then if the people you are giving rats to are first owners, you'll want to make sure they go in pairs especially means you'll only need 3-4 homes. that's pretty good really. 

have you started to look for new cages yet or are you going to wait to find out how many rats you are going to end up with? 

oh, and what diet do you have her on now? a hard boiled egg would probably be greatly appreciated now. the first days right after birth are probably the hardest on any mom so some treats and a bit of pampering would probably be very nice. also the egg offers a nice healthy dose of protein which she'll need so much more right now to feed herself and her babies. 

anyway, good luck with the whole process and please continue coming to the forum so you can share baby stories and we can all share our information. 

PS. baby pictures are always welcome :wink:


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## KimmiesGuineas (Jun 14, 2007)

I don't know much about rats so all I can add is two things-

1. I know that rats are like guinea pigs (my expertise) in that they need to have a same-sex buddy. Therefore, adopt out the babies in pairs and if there's any odd ones out then adopt them out to a home with a rat already. That way if you're keeping one for your brother's rat, one for your rat, and double up, you really only need to find three homes (possibly four for the odd one out)

2. Baby pictures please!

Edit: typo


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## jellybeanqueen (Sep 6, 2007)

twitch said:


> sounds like things are going well then. 9 is a small litter in comparison to average, you're lucky. when i had my surprise litters (2 rats a day apart) one had 13 and the other 12. so i went from 5 rats to 29 rats in 2 days.... finding homes for 24 babies was NOT fun.... and where you'll be keeping 2 anyway that means you'll only have to find homes for 7. then if the people you are giving rats to are first owners, you'll want to make sure they go in pairs especially means you'll only need 3-4 homes. that's pretty good really.
> 
> have you started to look for new cages yet or are you going to wait to find out how many rats you are going to end up with?
> 
> ...


yeah, baby pics please!!


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## Maple (Jun 9, 2008)

my rat had 9 babies last night they are all healthy.
im glad that worked out for you. so you didnt know they would mate if you put them together? how long were they together? thats very funny  
And remember dont touch the babys for at least 5 days.   :mrgreen:


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