Woke up to my first litter. Help!

[Mchristy]

I generally feed frozen but I had a few picky eaters a few months ago and ended up buying two rats that didn't get eaten. I woke up today to nine babies!!! I have no idea what to do. I don't want them to die without a chance. Any advice on how to handle an unexpected litter?

[MootWorm]

First, take a deep breath! Mama rats are pretty good at doing their job Just make sure there's plenty of food and fresh water, you can even toss a hide in there to make her feel more secure. Some people leave the sire in with mom and babies, some don't, but I haven't had any issues either way. I like to toss in leftovers, like plain pasta noodles, veggies and sometimes scrambled eggs to boost protein. All in all, taking care of a litter isn't much different than taking care of adult rats. Good luck! And post pics when they're all cute and squirmy lol.

[Mchristy]

Thanks for the information. My rats were on pine shavings before and yes I do understand pine can damage their sensitive respiratory systems. I want to move them to a paper based cat litter but I don't get paid for another week. In the meantime, will the pine shavings hurt or kill any of the babies?

[satomi325]

Congrats!
Just let the mama do her job. She knows what to do. I like to offer Ensure to the mamas to give them a boost.

My rats are on kiln dried pine with no issue. As long as the pine is kiln dried, it is safe to use. Untreated stuff is harmful.

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[MootWorm]

Yep I keep mine on pine too, no issues as of yet. X2 on the Ensure, you can offer it plain or soak their pellets in it (which they go bananas for!).