# Birth in My Bathtub



## Dark_Sama (Mar 14, 2015)

Okay, so let me give you a little background on this. I recently took in a pretty PEW girl (and a couple boys) from someone who had too many rats and needed homes for them. The person I got her from said that she was skittish, but not too bad. Well I took her home and noticed pretty fast that she was probably pregnant. I have extra hospital cages, but I didn't have a cage that was safe enough for the little momma, so I had her temporarily set up in my bathtub (with food and water and fleece and a hidey house and all that). Well I got home from work today and went to check on her and give her a little treat and lo and behold, there were seven little pinkies in there with her. 

So I have a few concerns. As soon as I get the cage set up for her, will it be alright to move her and the babies? I've only had her for three days and don't want to scare or stress her out too much because she's not used to me yet, and I don't want her to hurt the babies on accident if I try to move her or them too soon. Should I wait a few days? I'm not really sure what to do!


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## InuLing (Dec 26, 2015)

Well first you want to get in there and get your hands on those babies. Lure mom away and put her in a carrier or maybe that other cage you have set up for her. That way there's no worry about her getting protective and trying to bite. Check if the babies have milk bands and if any are significantly smaller than the others. You may need to help some out.

If it effects the safety of the rats then go ahead and move them. Put mom in a carrier again and move the entire nest, bedding, dirtiness, and whatever hideaway she had them in included. This will serve two purposes. 1 it shows mom that you respect her nest and won't destroy it, and 2 it keeps the scent the same so the babies won't wander out of it.

Make sure that whichever cage you put them in has a deep base and no bigger that 1/2 inch bar spacing. Give mom a second water bottle in case one stops working she won't get dehydrated. Keep an eye on her and see what she does. She should go right in and check on them when you put her back. Don't keep mom away from them for more than 15 minutes.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

If you can make a bin cage even better, this way she can't throw her babies through the bars. In many cases, if it happens the baby might have genetic defects that makes it unviable, but in some cases the mom is just inexperienced and the baby could have survived if left in the cage. If it is a genetic defect, the baby won't survive anyway. Just an extra precaution.


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## Dark_Sama (Mar 14, 2015)

Update: mom was totally relaxed when I picked her up to put her in the carrier. I don't have the cage completely set up yet, but I'm working on that now, so I can move momma and the pups into it tomorrow (my day off). I checked on the babies as soon as I got home from work, and instead of seven like I initially thought, there are eight! They all had very clear milk bands, and only one was smaller than the rest, though even that one had a clear milk band. I'll try to sex them tomorrow, though I've never done that before. ^^;

First picture is from last night when I first discovered the pups, second two are from today when I checked on them.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

That's great you can take the 3 smallest babies and let them nurse alone with mom for 5-10 mins a few times a day until they catch up with their siblings.


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