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I got a fat rat!

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  • 05-23-2007, 05:11 PM
    frankykeno
    Re: I got a fat rat!
    You know funny enough I've never yet weighed a rat pink LOL. I really should do that one day. Basically as long as they are breathing, bright red at birth and shortly thereafter you see milkbands then they are doing fine enough. They will lose the really bright red look very quickly but you can see visible milkbands for the first week or so prior to them getting their fuzzy coats in around day 8.

    Pictures to illustrate:

    Female with young that are less than 12 hours old (note the top baby with the big milkband....good momma rat!)....
    http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...eandbabies.jpg

    Pinkie rats with milkbands in the red circled areas (these are pinking up and are more than 24 hours old)....
    http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../Milkbands.jpg

    These babies are about 4 days old, you can see their eventual coat patterns developing in their skin colors and they are now pink instead of the bright red of their birthing...
    http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...withlitter.jpg

    Rat fuzzies at about 8 or 9 days of age....
    http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...izasLitter.jpg

    The female should normally deliver them without a lot of blood loss. You may see more issues because she is young and perhaps not in the best physical condition and she may lose some of them. Unless she's in major distress do NOT interfere. Wait until she's completely finished birthing and then quickly and quietly remove any stillbirths and bloody bedding if she's kicked them/it from the nest area.

    My females are used to me handling and checking their young within 24 hours of birth but since this rat does not "know" you, you might want to be careful there. She's not as likely to reject her litter if they carry your scent but she may be quite aggressive to you.
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