# Urgent - dead babies inside mom??!?!



## smoteymote (May 28, 2016)

Posting on behalf of a friend who's in a panic. She had two rats who came to her pregnant, one slightly farther along than the other. 1st mom gave birth twelve days ago and 2nd mom started to give birth last night. 

She wrote:



Friend said:


> Alright, I have a rat giving birth right now...she has had babies before but not in my care, but she is still in labor & has only cleaned her two newborn pups and then just left them...it is very cold out right now & the downstairs where they are is very chilly...needless to say, I think she is being a bad mom and I had two pups that felt like icecubes when I just took them out...I warmed them up and placed them in with my other momma with her 4 twelve day old pups and she took them right in...think they will be okay with her and her babies if I put the complete litter in there with her?...she is an amazing mom.



I was able to get her connected with a professional breeder who gave advice:



Breeder said:


> If they are 12 days old, these newborns will be struggling to get milk, could you put the birth mums cage in a warmer spot and give her back half of her babies for now and see how she's goes, a lot of mommas don't get their milk in for up to an hour or more after birthing so don't fret, also with the other momma ad her older babies, take the older babies out and let these new bubs nurse on their own, keep maybe one of her older bubs with her though so she doest fret
> 
> ad leave mum be too, don't go poking your head  every 10 mins, I know it's suuuuuper tempting but it will only stress mum out and do more harm than good, Let me know how she goes!





Friend said:


> Alright...I will leave them in with mom, since they have milk bands right now and see how they do tonight...thank you.





Breeder said:


> Okay great, milk bands are a great sign, check her in a few hours, I'm not sure what time it is other there though


Then this morning,



Friend said:


> **GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING** http://i65.tinypic.com/30m77tf.jpg
> 
> Baby stuck...help?!?!
> 
> ...


I'm on pretty constantly so any help would be appreciated and I can pass it on to her. The breeder lives in australia so she's asleep right now and the facebook group that could help - the admin are out so she can't be added until they return.


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## Paleo (May 21, 2016)

Veterinarian, NOW. Dead fetuses/babies in the uterus or birth canal is a life threatening medical emergency. And I am very concerned by the amount of blood in that photo and the mother rat being in enough pain/distress to bite. There is nothing your friend can personally do at home to remedy this situation that they haven't already done. A veterinarian will be able to evaluate what specifically is going on and can give treatment to restart labor or do emergency surgery.


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## Paleo (May 21, 2016)

I hope you will update us on your friend's rat no matter what happens.


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## smoteymote (May 28, 2016)

Mom is doing okay today! I don't have all the details - she spoke with a breeder for a while but her main problem is that her previous rat gave birth and had complications and she spent $400 on vet bills and was just was out of money (there were other things but they're more personal so I don't feel right sharing them here)

It sounds like things are going well though - I hope that it continues down that path!


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