Small Pups Dying Off

[littleindiangirl]

If I read this correctly, they are about 1 1/2 weeks old right now?

I think from what I've read that they'll start nibbling on solid food right around when their eyes open, which is around 2 weeks of age. So if the problem is with the mom not supplying enough milk, you don't have long to go to get past that. So you could try hand-feeding them if you want.

However, I think it is more likely that they have some sort of birth defect affecting them (does megacolon show up this young?) or they have been affected by the same illness your other rat has.

Joanna's idea of separating the 2 strong ones for brief periods could help with either the "not enough milk" situation or "can't compete due to illness" situation, so if it were me I'd try it. Just be very careful that you don't do it for too long as a time or let them get cold, because that would just make the strong ones susceptible to any possible illness.

As far as getting medicine to them through their mother's milk, I don't think that would work. Based on research I did when I was breastfeeding my daughter, very little in terms of medications gets passed through the milk. I'd assume the same would be true for rats.

Very good points, I thought these animals were less than a week old. I must not have read good enough.