# I Was Given 3 Babies & Momma (Baby Color Help & Momma Sore Spot Help!)



## Anemone (May 12, 2013)

If this doesn't belong here I'm sorry!

Yesterday a new friend of mine I've only known for like a week gave me one of her rats and three babies. She had a boy and a girl. She said she'd gotten both of them from a pet shop and they were in the same tank. She told me the girl was pregnant when she got them. She had them in two different 20 gallon tanks at her house so I'd like to believe her about that but even if that isn't true she didn't seem too thrilled with it so it otherwise would have been an accident. It's just three babies. She said there was a fourth one but it had been halfway eaten by the time she realized there were babies. She asked me if I wanted to take the girl rat and her babies and I did. I would like to keep the girl rat and one of her babies. I looked up how to determine the sex of baby rats and it looks like there are two girls and one boy. Then again I've never had to sex baby rats before so I could be very wrong. I've only owned one rat before which was a boy and he died of old age. I was wondering what are they? Their colors I mean. The daddy rat looked like a Siamese. He is a creamy tan color with a dark brown on his face and above and around his tail. On one side of his face though he had a little white section of fur. His eyes are red. The girl rat does not have any dark color but she is the same creamy tan color (maybe a little whiter because it is lighter creamy tan but it is similar). Her eyes are red as well and she has a white section of fur on her face. It is barely visible but it is definitely white white.

Now the three babies are a unusual color to me but I guess they took after the parents. They are this creamy tan color. Sort of kind of looks like it's a little darker down their backs close to their tails but my eyes could be playing tricks on me. Their faces don't have any darkness to them. In fact all three have white on their faces! Each one has a different white section.

What kind of bedding should I use for them all? Should I buy some of that stuff you can get for rabbit's to make nests with? It looks cottony. My friend was using this recycled brown paper bedding from Wal-Mart but I heard that stuff has mites in it??? I have them in a small wire hamster cage right now with a piece of a towel I cut up. It's a cage I had in the garage. I will get them something better this Wednesday when I can get out of the house.

ALSO!! A very important question! The girl rat has a mark on her neck. It's smaller than a pea size but it's red. It looks like how a dog's or cat's skin gets if they scratch it in one place for too long. She has that on one side of her neck and an even smaller (much smaller) spot right under her neck. Anyone know what that might be? I hope it's just that she's itchy because if she has a disease or is really sick I can't take her to a vet. We can't afford vet bills right now.  Any in store or home remedies to help her sore spot?

Here are pictures!


----------



## PandaBruja (Feb 10, 2013)

Any type of bedding you buy has a possibility of carrying mites. to kill the mites you are supposed to freeze the bedding before you use it. I use aspen mixed with newspaper. For something to make a nest, the simpler the better. You dont have to go out and buy anything, just put fabric scraps in there, maybe a rag and some tissue. The spot on her neck looks like a fight wound to me. Or maybe she is itchy and has been scratching the same spot. just wash it with warm water and maybe put some antibacterial on it. But if shes that itchy it could be mites or lice. look closely on her fur and try to find nits in her fur. Then we will go from there.
as for the babies WOW they are adorable! The coloring is awesome. its possible that some are siamese but you wont know for sure until they are older.


----------



## Anemone (May 12, 2013)

That's scary about the bedding.  I didn't know all bedding was like that. I just thought it was the recycled paper kind because that's what I see more about online. Our freezer is packed full of food so I can't stuff a package of bedding in there anytime soon. I wouldn't be able to attempt stuffing a package in there, haha! I'll just go to the fabric store and pick up some scrap fabrics. When I brought her in and cleaned the cage up I tore apart one of our towels. When I had my boy a long time ago my dad would shred paper for him but we don't have a paper shredder anymore. Augh! Since she has babies I didn't know if she'd prefer to have some of that nesting cotton stuff like rabbits use. Thanks for the advice. If it's a fight wound then that's some crappy news.  My friend only had the two rats and these babies there when I visited. Just two tanks and the two rats separated. I guess she had them together recently. I don't want to ask about that because I'd feel like I am interrogating her about what she told me about them.
I'm sorry for that poor quality picture of her. She was squirmy in my hands and when I put her down she wants to move right before the picture takes. Sooo I just held a vanilla wafer cookie above the cage for her to be distracted by then took the picture.
I would actually be happy if it was just a fight wound and not mites. I'd be confidant in getting it all healed up if it's a fight wound. A mite wound makes me nervous because I would worry if I've gotten them all off of her or not and if the way I treat for mites or lice would be successful.

I will give her a bath and clean her wound in the morning and get a new and better picture on here by noon. 
Thank you for the reply!

By the way is the rat in your avatar yours?


----------



## Flora (Aug 30, 2012)

Oh cute babies! I am not sure on their coloring. However Mommas sore does look like its from mites. :-/ Search on here for treatment of lice and mites. They are step by step treatment options.


----------



## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Do not use the cotton stuff. It can cause major issues for rats like suffocation or if they eat it bowl issues, especially in babies. If you can't freeze bedding bake it in the oven for about an hour (for paper beddings try to do it at the lowest temp. it will go, for aspen you'll be safe at around 200 degrees)

To be honest, They all look like High white blazes. High whites often develop a condition called Megacolon, which is where their bowels either do not develop right or the lining gets extremely in flame. This often leads to extreme bloat since they can't go to the bathroom and often have to be put down before 8 weeks due to extreme bloat. Not all develop it, so it is possible that they all will survive. It's just a possibility. 

Here is more on it (http://www.spoiledratten.com/highwhitecont.html)

Can you get a picture of mom though? It is possible that they are just weirdly blazed Variberks (which would be a recessive blaze) But they don't have the wedge blazes normally, wedge blazes normally are only on high whites.

Can you also get a picture of each baby? especially their face. One of them has a wedge blaze but it looks like another one has a Lightning blaze which would most likely be a recessive blaze (recessive blazes do not have the mega colon issue).

btw, they are all Siamese.


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Ditto to the above post--they are all Siamese but it looks like they have high white markings. That means when they start eating solid food you need to be watching out for bloat. They might be fine, but I'd get as educated on the subject if you can just in case. It is a real risk.
They are super cute though!
Mom does look like she's got a really bad case of mites. You want to freeze or cook ALL your bedding before you use it to avoid this in the future. For now try to get some kitten revolution and get everyone treated right away.


----------



## Anemone (May 12, 2013)

I'd planned on taking a picture of the girl rat the other morning but I was really busy. I then forgot to take more pictures. I am sorry! I forgot to take a picture of the girl rat a while ago before I put olive oil on her. I read that if it is lice then olive oil might work. I thought to try that and see if it does anything. If it's lice then that might work. I really like her. She is sweet just feisty. I will still try to get a picture of her once I clean the oil off after it's on her for awhile. I did just now take pictures of the white on the babies.  So if they have white going up their face it means they will get sick? That's horrible! I really wanted to keep one of them with the momma and find good homes for the other two. So.. does this mean I have two choices? Take them to a vet or give them to someone who knows more about it? I can't afford to take them to the vet right now so the only think I could do would be to find a breeder to give them all to. I really want to keep the momma though.


----------



## Reikiru (Apr 9, 2013)

Okay so, I dont really know much about them, but its_ not _definite that they will get sick, mine have white going up their faces and all 11 are healthy (touch wood they stay that way as all have homes lined up). Though mine come from a Roan and Black Hooded. Yours are really cute though, i hope they are all healthy and that momma is lice free soon.


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Olive oil can work for lice/mites, you just need to leave it on for at least 30 mins three times a week until they're gone. Make sure you hardcore clean the cage with a dish soap mix and wash anything that can be washed to get rid of anything living in the cage. She'll need a bath after every olive oil treatment, and a dab of dawn dish soap is the best soap to use for that.


----------



## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

White going up the face (called a blaze) doesn't Always mean high white (that they will get Mega colon) but in this case, they look like High whites.

Just because they are high whites doesn't always mean that they will get Mega colon. If they make it pass 8 weeks your good and they should be fine for the rest of their life. (It Is possible that their bowls can get inflamed later in life but normally it's not a major issue, normally just requiring eating soft foods for a few days.)


----------



## Anemone (May 12, 2013)

I haven't been on here in awhile, I'm sorry! I've been busy! I will get a picture of the momma in a moment as well as her babies now. I don't think they are Siamese even though my friend's boy rat is one so I don't know what to tell people they are when I list them for adoption (which I will be doing on here in the adoption topic! c


----------

