we bought a rat a long time ago to try and breed with a male, well two months later nothing happened so we got ride of him. We kept the female cause I liked her so we didn't feed her as food. Than 4 days ago she gave birth unexpectly. She never showed signs of being pregnant and now she has 14 babies. Are the babies the same as mice when they grow up? I have bread mice for awhile and I know alot about them but when it comes to rats I really don't have a clue. I know today I think the babies are 5 days old Am I able to change her bedding, she lets me touch them sometimes and trust me, but her cage is getting pretty rankie and I want to known when I am able to change the bedding. I normaly change my mice bedding 2 weeks after birth. And than does she need any thing special I am so clueless on what to do for her.