# Blossoms litter of 12



## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

Okay so I came home from work about 2-3 weeks ago to find our male rat in the cage with the females because the boys thought he was "lonely" and put him in there to play with them. Blossom was laying with him.

So 3 weeks later her stomach is the size of my fist and she lays around day and night. Everything Ive read says they get really active when they`re close. I`m not even sure if she is pregnant, because all the girls have put on weight, but not as much as her. She`s usually the most active. My concern is she`s really young..only 7-8 months. any help?


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

*Re: pregnant??*

7-8 months is a young adult an okay age for an oops litter.

It would be better to figure out exactly when she was exposed to the male, as a rat's gestation is 21-23 days meaning your girl could give birth tomorrow or in a week.

She would need to be in her own maternity cage/aquarium/bin cage a few days before the birth (another reason to figure out the date). The bedding should be not holey fleece, soft paper bedding, or even paper towel. I don't give my rescue mom's houses anymore, but lots of stuff to nest with like even more paper towels  I can watch and make sure there's no issues with the labour or the babies afterwards more easily.

She will need a good quality staple diet, lots of protein added to her diet, tons of good veggies. I have used baby cereal mixed with Ensure as well 

I also would put a lock on your cages if the boys happen to think the rats are lonely. Soon (if all goes well) you could have many baby boys for the lonely dad.


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

*Re: pregnant??*

ty so much for the helpful info. I have her in the old cage I used to have my girls in, so she`s sitting on top of the big girls cage, put the male across the room. I`m not sure of the names of rats but I think she`s a Berkshire? Shes black with a white belly and a black spot underneath, but shes also shiny like satin. The dad is a rex. so they should be cute

she`s got weird moodswings as well. Last night she wanted to cuddle and sit with us on the couch, and this morning she was biting the feet and attacking the other girls? definetly sounds like when I was pregnant lol. 

also having "Peagle" puppies in 2 months >.> Pit bull beagle...


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

*Re: pregnant??*

Oh yeah, she was pregnant. She had them at about 8am here. 13 of them that we can see, don`t wanna mess with them too much. She is having a hard time keeping them all underneath her, is this normal? One or two keep getting kicked to the side. Is it also okay that she is stepping on them? the one has a big scratch on its head. 
She hasnt eaten or drank anything in 7 hours, we have food and water in the pen with her so she doesn`t have to travel, but its well away from the babies.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

*Re: pregnant??*



Kihluna said:


> Oh yeah, she was pregnant. She had them at about 8am here. 13 of them that we can see, don`t wanna mess with them too much. She is having a hard time keeping them all underneath her, is this normal? One or two keep getting kicked to the side. Is it also okay that she is stepping on them? the one has a big scratch on its head.
> She hasnt eaten or drank anything in 7 hours, we have food and water in the pen with her so she doesn`t have to travel, but its well away from the babies.


Awww she hid them very well!

rats only have 12 nipples so they will shift feed litters bigger than that...whatever you do stop puting the abandoned ones back in teh nest with her, momma will glare and sigh, take care of them and do it again...generally they know what they are doing.

the scratch can be normal, mom may have pulled that baby out by her teeth (not having oposable thumbs and hands like we do)

she will step on them and they will squawk but that is normal as well.

make sure babies have milk bellies ( you will see a white or yellowish strip on their bellies or up their sides...their skin is very translucent at this age and you will be able to see the milk inside of them.

Put the food closer to mom and her babies...she might be tired as well after all that hard work! Make sure she gets proteins like eggs, chicken, lean fish, etc.


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

*Re: pregnant??*

Oh i havent been touching them. I put my hand in and pet her, she actually put one in my hand so I put it down next to her lol. Ive been handing food to her every couple of hours, we also have a heating pad on low under her cage to help whenever she leaves. They all look pretty healthy, all squeaking, no casualties so pretty good for her first and hopefully only litter. 
Ive already got a few people who want babies when they`re of age. I`m rehoming 3 of my females so I can keep more of the babies. the 3 I`m rehoming are loners, they dont mix well with the rest of the pack, never really have. I have so many questions but I`m slowly finding answers, I`m not sure what to do at this point, she looks so exhausted.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

*Re: pregnant??*

you just let her recover today...unless it is cold, I would remove the heating pad..its not needed. give her some papertowels to nest with and she will make sure those babies are warm.

offer her something like baby cereal or oatmeal to get her strength back up.


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

*Re: pregnant??*

well her cage is right under an air vent, and the baby has overheating issues so we cant bump it up any higher than it is at 78, and that spot is the best bc none of the dogs can get to her and the baby cant either so im not gonna move her, which is why we have the heating pad. shes got plenty of bedding and shes set up right ontop of the pad.


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

*Re: pregnant??*

okay so everyone made it through the night, thier bellies are yellow-banded and mama is still being mama. On first inspection it appears i have 9 girls and 4 boys, but I`m not too sure. If they`re darker skinned that means they`ll be dark colored right? and dad was a white rex/ mom is a black silkie berkshire, so im only working with 2 colors here right? they dont blend? i wont get say a blonde one somehow? 

on another note I did some research and snazzed up the ladies cage last night, wading pool, tube socks, toilet paper thingys and a basket to sleep in. they seem much happier. the male doesnt play with stuff, he wants to be out with us stealing our oreos and remotes so im not going to snazz up his cage till the babies join him.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

*Re: pregnant??*

Look at their eyes...do they have dark eyes or almost non-existent eyes? Black eyes can only be so many colours, and the light-eyed babies will be either pink-eyed or ruby-eyed.

As for what colors to expect? All depends on what each rat is genetically. They "carry" recessive genes, and when they are combined with the same recessive gene in the other parent the trait can show up.

the darker babies will start exhibiting real colour at 3-4 days and you will have a better idea. Can you take pics?

Feed lots and lots of food, since your momma is now feeding 14 (13 babies and herself).


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

*Re: pregnant??*

Its hard to get pics of them, but far I`ve seen we have 3 dark ones like mom, same markings. One died..we dont know why, she was just cold and off to one side, but looking at the bright side, now she has 12 which is one for each nipple.
They squeak day and night, we had to evict our male rat to give his cage to mama because she kept escaping and it took hours to find her each time. Curly now lives free range on the back of the couch, we hung his hammock up there by pushpins. 
They all seem to be eating well, idk whats up with their ears, but they`re huge, even though mom and dad aren`t dumbo-eared. we handle them daily, and the dogs still cant find the source of the squeaking. as soon as it starts up they stand in the room and look around, its so funny.


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

*Re: pregnant??*

1st pic is mama
2nd is a group shot
3rd is the one boy im keeping so far.
last pic is girls on the left, boys on the right


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

*Re: pregnant?? **Pics Added***

So its been a few more days, the younglings are starting to get their fur in. I`m worried about the runt: Dante that I`m keeping. He`s mostly black, smaller than the others. Where the others are covered in fur (peach fuzz) he only had patches, and black skin everywhere else. He is healthy, eats fine, moves more than the others. Got a personality, I was wondering if he might be partially hairless? Is that possible with his mother and father being fully "haired?" and also the babies all have weird ears, both parents are not dumbos.. ??
Ive decided to keep 3 boys, 2 blacks and a white one after they get their fur in. And possibly one of the girls who is growing "tawny" colored fur on her butt and is just too cute to give away. Which leaves me with finding homes for the 8 others.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

*Re: pregnant?? **Pics Added***

Runts are usually much slower in their development at this stage. His siblings will have a nice coating of fuzz and he will still have a big pink bare belly, etc. Don't worry, they DO catch up 

The pics shown look like standard ear or top ear babies.


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## Kihluna (May 27, 2011)

So just about everyone has their eyes open now. the pink eyed babies are almost creepy looking with only the slits open. Dante still has the same amount of fur as he did 3 days ago, but everyone else has longer fur that almost looks curly? the dad is a rex so how long will it be before i can tell if they`ll be rexes too? I`ve took a sharpie to the ears of the ones I`m keeping, just a dot so I can tell them apart. So far I`m keeping 3 boys and 2 girls. so Im looking for homes for the 7 others. 
is it normal for mama to be flipping out? she spends half the time running from one side to the other. Ive given her plenty of food, a wheel, toys to play with and things to chew on, but she chews on the bars of the cage instead, and just wont calm down. 3 times a day I put her back with the other girls to get away from the babies, but when I go to put her back she gets nippy, like she doesnt want to.

when do the babies start eating food? ive got them licking goodstart off my fingers, well a few anyway.


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