# My new momma rat. It seems like she is pretty rough with her babys.



## Rat_Momma17 (Feb 11, 2011)

Is it normal for momma rats to be rough with her new babies? She steps on them covers them up with newspaper lays on them. This is my first rat litter and it was by accident. She had 9 but two of them died I threw them away because she just kicked them into the corner of the cage. I also moved her from a two story wire cage to a ten gallon aquarium.


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## Critter Aficionado (Jan 30, 2011)

I'm not a breeder and have never had an accidental litter, and I don't know if this is normal or not but it sounds like something could be up with the litter. I remember my fiance's father had a sick litter of feral kittens that weren't too well off and his father's wife of the time saw the mother cat dropping the babies on cold lenolium and sitting on them, but she'd taken care of the last litter (that they caught and had fixed) she had on the property just fine.


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

What you describe is normal. Mother rats cover their babies with bedding to help keep them warm when she's off the nest. Most mother rats are also not very careful about stepping on their babies - there are usually too many for them to try. As she gets used to having the babies under her, she will become more attentive. As long as she is nursing them, I would not be concerned.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Its actually pretty normal for a pup or 2 not to survive the first 48 hours, there likely was something wrong with them anyways.


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