Raising Rat Pups

[Jay_Bunny]

My friend's rat has a litter of pups. She originally had 10 (this would be her first litter) and she has killed 3. They are almost 2 weeks old (2 weeks old as of Sunday). The mother rat has become very aggressive. My friend is trying to leave her alone except for feeding and changing her water but she is worried she is going to continue to kill and eat the babies. I'm going to get a weight on the babies when I go to visit on Sunday (if I can get there in all this snow. Grin). We are wondering if it is possible to hand raise the pups from this point on. How often should they be fed. What milk replacement should be used? What temperature should they be kept at (if on a heating pad)? What other things should we do in order to help them survive. We could keep them with the mother but my friend would like to hand raise them if possible.R

[steveboos]

Its only because she is stressed out, tell her to move the cage to a closed off location and just have ample food and water available, she'll do her job.

[kc261]

If the mother has successfully raised most of her pups for 2 weeks, I'd doubt that she'd suddenly turn on the pups without reason.

Are they overcrowded? Underfed or unbalanced diet? Not enough water? Too much stress caused by your friend checking in too often or anything else that would reduce security of the mother?

If you do decide to hand raise them, I believe they have a good chance at this point. Google it and you'll find a few good articles on raising orphaned rats or mice. I will mention, however, that I believe they'd be better off left with their mother.

[Jay_Bunny]

She is going to try and move her to a darker place and see if that helps. I think if she continues to kill and eat the babies she is going to try raise them. I found a great page about raising the babies. Feedings every 2-4 hours, stimulate them to urinate and go poo. It said at this age, they should be able to regulate their own body temperature. We shall see what happens. Thanks for the replies!

[bokuza]

I wouldn't ever try to hand feed a rat pup really, it's very hard and around the clock work. They cannot regulate their own temperature yet and at this age they still very much need the Mom. Not sure where you read that but it's a nightmare and I really beleive your just prolonng their death while doing this. Keep in mind Mom rat may be doing it because she senses something wrong. As much as it sucks, LEAVE IT BE. Like you've already been told, calm her down and place her somewhere quite and dark. Try a warmer area too. This way if she does leave the nest while freaking out the pups won't be cold and she won't need to spend as much time on them. She might just be an easily agitated Mother, I personally don't agree with breeding rats like that.

[Jay_Bunny]

This is the rat's first litter, so she's going to try her on one more litter and if she continues to kill babies and be aggressive, she is going to get another female.

[bokuza]

This is the rat's first litter, so she's going to try her on one more litter and if she continues to kill babies and be aggressive, she is going to get another female.

Very good.

[Jay_Bunny]

The rat keeps biting to draw blood when my friend goes to refill her food dish. She is going to wait for her to finish raising the babies and when she does she's going to trade her back to the store for a new breeder.

[singingtothewheat]

She is going to try and move her to a darker place and see if that helps. I think if she continues to kill and eat the babies she is going to try raise them. I found a great page about raising the babies. Feedings every 2-4 hours, stimulate them to urinate and go poo. It said at this age, they should be able to regulate their own body temperature. We shall see what happens. Thanks for the replies!

Raising small creatures is no small feat. She would be much better off feeding of the babies, getting rid of momma and getting a different female if it actually comes to that. My female killed several of her first litter. She's a great mom now though. No problems

[Turbo Serpent]

If you do end up hand feeding, make sure to use soy baby formula. Apparently rats are lactose intolerant. We had to wean a litter last year because the mother died. It was messy and a lot of work but was also very rewarding. You could also try kitten or puppy milk replacement as I believe they are soy based as well.