Mother died 9 days after birth-need Help!

[Jolynn_2003]

So I was trying my hand at breeding my own feeder rats, and so far its not going so well. One of my females had her first litter of 11 on May 24th. Everything seemed to be going well until this morning when I went to check on her and found her babies nursing on her dead body. None of my other females are nursing at this time, we have one that might possibly be pregnant... Can any one of them become a surrogate mom or do I need one that is already nursing a litter? Is there any other way to raise them up? Should I feed them off..even tho they are really tiny still? My snakes usually eat pups and smalls... Please help!

[littleindiangirl]

Try and nurse her babies out to other females, ones closest to popping.

Also, not doubting you or anything, but make sure the mother is actually dead. I've had quite a few scares with my own nursing females. They sleep some hardcore sleep when nursing. I've even picked them up and handled them before she woke up and we both freaked out.

[Dcommander]

lol that must've been hilarious connie

[littleindiangirl]

lol that must've been hilarious connie

If rats flinging themselves through the air is funny! Hahaha... yea, they've gotten both me and Chris. You get so used to them running to the front of the tub, begging for treats.

Your heart stops thinking "Oh NO! She's dead!" when they don't greet you.. laying splayed out on their backs, looking very deceased.

Then you pick up their limp body gently, just to have them jump awake and try flying.

[frankykeno]

I had to laugh Connie because that still gives me a start. Walking in to find one of my best female breeder rats flat out on her back, looking dead to the world is a heart stopper. I've seen them do it either with a litter or when heavily pregnant. A quick rap on the enclosure tends to wake them enough to give me a glare and then they pretty much go right back to sleep.

If the female is really dead, the only thing to do is either feed off the offspring or you can try putting them with the female that is closest to delivery. She's the most likely to be able to produce milk for them. The only problem is that once she delivers they may push her new pinks away from the available teats but if you feed pups then you really only need them nursing on her for about a week or so anyways. If she ends up with a dual litter like that, make sure she has TONS of food and water all the time. You can also remove the bigger ones a couple of times during the day to allow the newborns to get full access to mom. She may well split them up into two nests but just keep an eye on the newer ones that they have visible milkbands during the pink stage.

If possible it's always best to buddy breed your female rats so you can have at least two with babies the same age. That way if you lose a mother or need to even up litters, you can easily move them around.