Yes, they still need mom at that stage. I had an incident back a few years ago, where a nursing mom escaped and left her litter behind. They were about the stage of the 4th pic above that Jo posted. I got some lab block and Cheerios and other things that I mix into my rat feed mix (Kashi cereal, oats, etc) moistened it with warm water and fed that every few hours. Eventually they got the hang of eating that, and learned to use the water bottle, and they all lived to be hoppers (then they got fed off Just make sure that they can reach the water bottle, and you actually see them eating and drinking. If they are younger than this eyes-open stage, I would not even recommend trying to keep them.. too small.