# Found Hurt Wild Baby Rat



## nmdx123 (Nov 21, 2012)

I found a baby or maybe young rat at work today inside of a trap with his/her right leg broken. I called the vet and they told me that all i can really do is give it water and food and watch to see if leg gets worse. I was hoping to get some advice on what i should do to help it heal, like medicine and other stuff.
I have four rats of my own at my house and they are all fairly young still 4 months, 3 months, and the other two are 1 month old. I do plan on keeping the rat, so any information on how to go about fixing him/her up would be greatly appreciated.
When i am able to get home from work I will post some pictures of the rat and the leg.

Thanks!


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## Poisoned (Nov 17, 2012)

If you call the vets (which you should do again, a different one), don't tell them it's a wild rat. Many vets will NOT treat wildlife from personal homes. And make sure it's an exotic vet..

With a broken leg, he needs pain control. and possibly to have it set - how small is he? 
Food and water won't heal a leg or prevent infection - most of the time with these traps the bone is shattered, and infection can easily get in. IT may need to be amputated.. if you can't do this, the kindest thing may be to euthanize him.

And read this. He's also likely in shock.
http://www.ratz.co.uk/ailments.html


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

I agree with Poisoned.

How old is he? do you know (Pictures can help us if you don't know). If he's a wild rat it is probably best not to keep him as a pet. If his leg needs to be amputated I would take him to a wild life center that will keep him (and not use him as food) simply cause wild rats are scared of people and do not make good pets, it's not fair to the rat or to the person, or you can have him euthanized properly instead of giving him to a wild life center (if his leg needs to be amputated). If he is a baby he Can be kept, but he's wild so he wouldn't make a good pet.

If his leg doesn't need to be amputated and just needs medicine, when he is fully healed I would released him back into the wild.


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## Poisoned (Nov 17, 2012)

As said ^^

It takes a LOT of work to make a wild rat comfortable enough to be kept as a pet without causing them severe stress. But it can be done in many cases.. But it may never be able to be handled, or enjoy your presence. And with a wild rat, I would try to give him the biggest enclosure you can with lots of cover and hiding spots to make him more secure.

If he's older, and the leg heals right (meaning not bent or not able to be used properly) pick a place away from people with plenty of cover (like tall grasses and brush, woods, swamp), and easy access to food and water until he figures out the area. If he lives that long - realistically, a wild rat isn't going to live too long especially without his group. It's tough for males generally, more so than females being re-released.


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

I know that our local wildife rehab would help him as they did with a wild rat baby that was brought in so contact a wildlife rehab facility in your area.
And I would never call that vet again


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## nmdx123 (Nov 21, 2012)

Thanks yall for the replies, here are some pictures.


















I think may be a month, what do yall think? one of my coworkers called pest control to kill it, and so i was pretty much giving them the round about of where i "released" it. thats why it has taken me so long to get these posted.
i've put tamatoes, celery, and some rat diet dried mix in there along with a cap of water. And surprisingly it ran right up to food and started eating before i even put it all the way down. what kind of pain killers should i give him?


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## nmdx123 (Nov 21, 2012)

I can try to get better pictures of the leg, if those arent enough.


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## Poisoned (Nov 17, 2012)

A decent vet will prescribe you something.That's great that he ate.I'm posting from an ipod, or I'd give you a longer reply, sorry


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## Charliesmom (Nov 13, 2012)

*Yeah thats a baby field rat. That poor thing has been through a terrible amount of stress. just like for humans, lavender oil is very calming for small animals. you can get some from the supplement section of most stores. It will also cover up your scary human smell. Yes I agree he needs treatment, and that he most likely will not make for a good pet, it has been done, but it's very hard. My suggestion, is call your local game wardens office, and ask for the phone number of the local wildlife vet. mostly these are wildlife rehabilitation and release programs. they would be able to fix his leg, and get him back where he belongs. *


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## nmdx123 (Nov 21, 2012)

If it would be happier at a wildlife center, then i will do that. My second oldest rat, I found when he was just opening his eyes, and bottle fed him back to health. He is pretty calm when i come in and climbs onto my hands when I go to pick him up. Was kind of hoping i might eventually be able to get this one to be like that, but it must be to old for me to be able to trust train him, right? 
With tomorrow being thanksgiving i probably wont be able to find a vet to take him to till friday. so I will give the lavender oil a try and keep an eye on his leg till then. 
Thanks for the help and information.


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## Charliesmom (Nov 13, 2012)

*With the holiday, you are right, most won't be open. Like I said, most grocery stores, pharmacies, and walmart I know carries lavender oil. it is usually in the supplement section of the pharmacy area, it will be in the area with sleep and relaxation aides. if you have a small stuffed animal, put the lavender oil on the stuffed animal *dab it like perfume out of the bottle* and place it in the cage. The baby is much to old to make a pet of him, he probably has been weaned and was fending for himself by this point *they mature faster in the wild* Cover the cage with towels or sheets, to keep it dark. put him in the quietest room in the house. this will also keep him less frightened. 

you will need to give him water via syringe *injured wildlife make themselves fast when injured, but this can lead to starvation, and dehydration* you may not be able to get him eating, but he must stay hydrated. pick him up with a soft handtowel so you don't get bit. If you can't find lavender oil, Johnson and Johnson lavender scented baby oil works too *somtimes better because the calming properties have been augmented by the chemists to be stronger*

As I also said, the easiest way to contact a wildlife rehab/veterinary center is by looking in your phone book for the game warden's number. it will be in the government section. Tell them you would like the contact information for any local wildlife veterinary hospital, or wildlife rehab center...they should be able to point you in the right direction.....

Hope this helps, and good luck with the cute little guy  *


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## Charliesmom (Nov 13, 2012)

*I just noticed something hun, you are very close to me....if you live in farmersville, I am in sherman. I know there is a walmart in greenville, and I looked up the closest wildlife rehab to you... there are several....I called one gal right in farmersville, but she is full up at the moment. here ya go: The main number to find out rehabs, and what they are excepting is,

DFW Wildlife Coalition: 972-234-9453
here is a link to the others, already personally called the peggy gal, and she is full up at the moment, but maybe the others might be able to help
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/rehab/list/counties/index.phtml?id=43&county=Collin

*


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

If he is that tame are you sure it is a wild one? one of my babies looks like a wild one but she is domestic.


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## nmdx123 (Nov 21, 2012)

I dont think anyone else at my work has rats. He must have been at least 12 or 13 days old when i found him and had probably been dropped by the mother during all the renovation of our building.


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## Cookie&Gible (Oct 26, 2012)

The poor thing I hope he gets better


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## nmdx123 (Nov 21, 2012)

Thank you for all of your replies and help, but the rat i found just died. I got a better look at her and the bone was sticking out from her knee area and she had blood stains around her anus. I didnt think the trap had hit her in that area since she was still able to walk with her other back leg. And this was one of those big spring traps for adult rats, so it should have probably shattered her whole pelvis area. Maybe something else happened before the trap.
But thanks for all the help.


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## Raturday (May 26, 2012)

Poor thing. You did a very nice thing trying to take care of it.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Having raised a part wild female rat I would like to confirm that they make wonderful and loving pets, if you get them young enough.

On the other hand my rat tore up my neighbors hand, killed mice on sight, and chased cats. She also moved into my neighbor's pit bull cage while she was living outside one summer.

I think that the best way to describe a pet wild rat is like having a pet wolf. If it adopts you and your family as its pack your safe and likely to have a lot of fun with your rat. On the other hand, wild rats are generally not trusting when it comes to strangers and downright hate other animals.

All in all, I'm pretty sure no two rats wild or otherwise are going to be exactly the same, but for the most part, wild rats can be safely kept as pets as long as you get them young enough and keep them away from strangers or other pets.


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## Jaysgirl71 (Sep 5, 2012)

Lol! Love that story Rat Daddy!


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