babies

Finally, my tan female Sugar had her first litter. 11 healthy babies. Im so happy. Is that a good first litter? I picked them up and she did not mind, so well see if it all goes well!!!! More food for the balls!

11 is a decent litter for sure! Try and give em a couple days before you handle em too much though

11's a very nice first litter, she sounds like a good breeder. Make sure she's very well fed and always has a full water bottle, that's a lot of energy output to nurse 11 fast growing baby rats. I usually handle our newborn rats within 8 to 12 hours to check for genetic/birth defects, count them and make sure everyone has milkbands but my breeder females are all hand tamed so it's never a problem here.

Its gonna be hard not to hold them but Ill try. They all look good. I had to weigh them out of curiosity, they are 5 grams each, except one at 6 grams. No runts!

Like Jo, I handle the baby ratties after about 12 hours or so. I ususally go in to give the momma a treat and I check out the babies while she's off snacking. :D