Help! Skinny Babies!

[sweety314]

I have a couple of baby rats that are MUCH thinner than the rest of the litter. It's momma's first & she had 13. They had seemed to be thriving, but now that they're fuzzies, I've found two (or was it three??) that are too thin. Any ideas or suggestions? Momma gets all she can eat mazuri blocks and seeds/nuts/corn/cheerios, banana chips mix and then I give the two nursing moms dog treat chicken strips about 3x/week. Vitamins & vanilla in her water. She hasn't lost a lot of wt, but babies seem to be. I gave her some oil-soaked bread and thin p butter today to give her some extra fat. Can I give her honey?

They're still a little small for nibbling on their own. Just two weeks old today. I have another rat with a litter. They're only about 4 days older, but much, much fatter. Peekaboo only had seven this time (five surviving) so they're fat little porkers w/eyes open. Are the sizes too different to try and graft the little, skinny ones on to Peek?????

I could gas & freeze them, but was hoping to save them (fatter) first.

Thanks! Your help is really appreciated!

[frankykeno]

If you're concerned that the skinnier babies aren't getting enough milk from that female due to the fact that's there's 13 competeing for what's available you could try to get the other female with the small litter to take some on. If her small litter is so much bigger you could try it two ways.


- either take some of the large ones from the large litter and move them over...that way the smaller ones don't have bigger littermates to compete with

- move the small ones over to the female that you think has a better milk supply for them

However you do it you can also remove all the young except the smaller ones for a couple of hours a day twice a day (just keep them warm) so the small ones get all the available milk for that period of time each day.

When I have to foster out rat babies I take the fosters and pop them in a small container that is lined with used litter from the new foster mom's enclosure. Then I put in a couple of her own pups and let them co-mingle their scents. Then put them all back in with the female and it usually works really well. Just watch for her to start nursing them and licking their butts and you know it's a go.

Sometimes the runts just don't make it though that's not all that common with rats but it does happen. I have one extremely small rat wean, it was born tiny but is thriving and very healthy...just for some odd reason it's half the size of every other wean in the colony. I've decided to name it Miny Me and see what happens as it grows up since I've never seen one so small that was otherwise healthy.

[sweety314]

thanks Jo. I was going to dab their noses and butts with the vanilla. That's good for mares and orphan foals or calves and sheep, too......


Since I fed PS one of Peek's babies, she only has four now, so I think I'll try putting the two or three tinies in with her and see how it goes.

Oh, BTW...Peek's first litter was 11 and they all did just fine so I'm hoping by xfering the babies, they'll thrive better.

[jglass38]

Jo is the queen of rats!

[sweety314]

Oh MAN! that's tooooo much!


I'm glad I checked in before heading home from work. I was REAAAAALLY hoping someone here would have some ideas and could help.

THANKYOU thankyouthankyou Thank you!

You guys are AWESOME ....I loooooooove this site!

[frankykeno]

LOL ty Jamie! I do love breeding and raising the 's!

Sweety, you will find some females mother better than others, whether it's richer milk or a better natural instinct or consistently big healthy litters. I have one female beige hooded that's just amazing....big litters and never a lost pink...she starts nursing her pinks before the litter is even finished being birthed....her last litter of 15 she nursed to weaning and didn't even lose an ounce of her own body weight....top it off she's not a nippy female so makes life easier on me. I was advised here on the forum to keep some of her daughters back to raise for future breeders as this sort of superior mothering is genetic to some degree. I have two of her girls from the last litter growing up right now (funny enough they both look just like their momma LOL).

I have another female that is topnotch at fostering other litters. She's a nippy, overprotective female albino but she'll nurse anything, anytime, anywhere LOL. Snowball earns her keep around here even if she is the bossiest female rat ever born!

Hopefully your fostering efforts will go well, they usually do for me if I do the scenting thing with the bedding and pups from the fostering female. It pretty much seems once they let the fosters latch on and start licking butts, it's like they birthed them themselves.

[recycling goddess]

oh i'm glad you got the help you needed... sorry i couldn't help you out just don't know much about ratties since i've never bred any.