Mom Stopped Birthing?

[sarahlovesmiike]

I have had two girls in with a male over a month ago. One of the girls dropped their litter yesterday so I knew that the other would be dropping any day now. She was looking HUGE this morning and I noticed that the had kicked the boy out of her nest before I left to take the dogs for a walk, and he had one pink under her. I assumed she would have more because she was wayyyy bigger than the other girl, who had seven, but I just checked and there is only one still. I see a bit of umbilical cord as well... I'm just a little puzzled. I've been breeding rats for a while now and I haven't had any of them take this long before. Is it normal or should I be worried?

[bsash]

No, they are probably stuck inside of her. I've heard people say they have massaged the rat's stomach to try and move the stuck baby, some say it worked others say it didn't. I tried it, but it didn't work for me and she passed away, but I guess it's worth a try. I wish you luck with her.

[Courtney281]

Ok I posted something like this a few weeks ago. My thing was she was HUGE like yours, way bigger then any of the other girls. She had 4 still birthed babies and nothing after that and was still on the large side. I though maybe she had one stuck breech but I didnt know. I left her be and to this day she is fine. No problems with her at all. Her tummy swelling went down and she is doing great. Ever helped take care of the other rats babies.

So not all hope is lost, she may be fine. Good luck and keep us posted

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

If she's a calm rat, I see no harm in messaging her belly a bit. May help ease any pain she's in, too.

[sarahlovesmiike]

I handle all by babies from day one, so they all fine with the picking them up and handling them. Problem is I gave away all my litters because my snakes went off feed and I had to buy new breeders. They are pretty spastic, and definitely do not like to be handled.

Should I give the baby to the other mom in case she passes in the night? How long can a pink go without the mom?

[bsash]

You can try giving her babies to another mom, they usually adopt each other's babies fairly quickly. If you can't massage her belly, maybe make her move a little bit, if she does still have any babies in her walking/ running could move them enough to get unstuck and allow her to pass the rest of them. Pinks can usually go about 24 hours with out their mom if they at least had their first meal from their mom.

[sarahlovesmiike]

Alright so after I got off here last night I got her out of her tank and made her walk around in a tote for a while. The pinks feet and tail were showing... if you know what I mean... I put a pair of tweezers in some rubbing alcohol and then rinsed them in reallly hot water. I grabbed the pinky and pulled on it, it came out about halfway but I couldn't get it all the way because it kept going back in. I had to do the same thing with my little sisters cat (not with tweezers obv), 'cause the kitten was completely stuck. The issue (with the kitten) was that the placenta was behind the rest of the kittens. The placenta came out with the last kitten and they all survived, including the stuck one. I wasn't expecting any of the pinks to survive considering they had been stuck for so long, but I guess I got things moving. I noticed she had abandoned her nest a few minutes ago and she dropped two dead pinkies. One was really mangled, so I assume that was the one I was trying to remove.


She was surprisingly calm throughout the ordeal. She is still really swollen... Do you think I should try her again or feed her off?

[snakesRkewl]

I usually give moms a 2nd chance to throw a good litter, if she throws back to back bad litters she food.

[Courtney281]

I usually give moms a 2nd chance to throw a good litter, if she throws back to back bad litters she food.

I agree! I always give moms 2 chances. We all have our moments of bad times and this could just be hers. I would say give her extra time to recover from this litter though before you breed her again. I gave mine almost a month off just to make sure she is healthy and ready to carry babies. She is now in with a male,so Imhoping for babies from her in a couple weeks.

I hope it all goes just as well for yours. Good luck