Orphaned baby rats

The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MrsLyda

Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2017
Messages
7
Location
NULL
I've got two female pet rats so when a friend of mine found a nest of babies (after her dog killed the mother) she decided to come knocking on my door with these little guys. There are 14 baby rats! A few have opened their eyes, a few haven't yet. But I'm not sure how to care for them at this age? I know that once they've been raised by humans they won't survive when they're released so my plan is to raise them and find them homes. I'm just not sure what to feed them or how?? My girls were adults when I bought them so this is all VERY new to me! I just want to do the best I possibly can for these adorable little guys! HELP!
 
Hi, oh my...those poor little darlings. I'm thinking they are about 2 weeks old. I would probably feed them a soy infant formula until they are about 3.5 weeks at which time, I would switch to mushy rat blocks.
 
Very sweet babies :) So very sorry about their mama
they are fortunate to have you

Here are some links to raising orphaned rats
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/orphans.htm
http://www.afrma.org/orphanrm.htm

I have been told the best formula to give is squirrel replacer for orphaned squirrels, next best is KMR (kitten milk replacer from a vet) and then organic soy infant formula for human babies.

Once their eyes are open, in addition to hand feeding each baby many times per day (see the above links), you might also put down a shallow dish of formula thickened with a bit of baby cereal (the kind that says add milk) and when they are ready they will start to try it .... but will still need to be hand fed. Baby rats are gradually weaned as they try foods and domestic rats wean themselves by 5 weeks of age. If the babies you have were domestic then they would be around 13 or 14 days old.

A good facebook site is Deer Mouse Domesticated & Friends - people on there have raised orphaned wild baby rats and mice

You will need to handle the babies a great deal .... the more they get used to people when so young the better they will be able to adjust to captivity and the more likely they will be happy.

Here is a link that shows the normal development of domesticated rats. Wild babies develop slower. http://ratguide.com/breeding/baby_development/birth_to_weaning.php

Here is a thread by a member who raised a wild orphaned baby http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23622&highlight=Rhydian
and some info and experience on here http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33354&highlight=Rhydian

Please ask continue to ask questions, post pics, and provide updates

all the best to you and the babies
 
Last edited:
So far they're all doing really well! I have five kids, one of which just stopped using soy formula so I had about half a can left. That's what I'm using for now since they hadn't had anything in at least 24 hours. I put it in a spare water bottle I had for my girls and they all attacked it. They seem to be drinking it fine from that so far. And they're able to potty without stimulation as far as I can tell. Although it's difficult to be sure they're ALL doing it since there's so many of them! We've been handling them quite a bit and most seem content being held so far. I've got a TON of oatmeal baby cereal too so that'll come in handy. Thankfully I had two of everything in case my girls ever had to be separated so they've got basically all they need as of now. Thanks for the links too! It's an awesome learning experience for the kids as well as myself. They've told all our family about their new babies. :)
 
Also, they have all opened their eyes now. And they're all able to get around fairly quickly! I tried syringe feeding but they seemed to prefer helping themselves to the water bottle. Only two of them would feed while in my hand so I tried the bottle and they all took to it almost instantly. They're even cleaning themselves (and each other) with very little assistance.
 
It's really good that they got mom's milk for the first 2 weeks. I think their chances of survival are good once they open their eyes and they have such a loving caregiver. You are doing great!
 
Please put down a shallow dish of formula thickened with a bit of baby cereal (the kind that says add milk). It sounds like they may be ready to drink it. Having it available like this will hopefully help to ensure that all babies can get the formula.

and perhaps a shallow water dish that can not be spilled

- babies often look like they are drinking from water bottles, however their tongues are usually too weak to move the ball bearing until they are several months old.

It is wonderful that they are 2 weeks old as their chances of surviving are good.
 
Last edited:
They've done extremely well. I actually didn't check this again until today but decided to put the formula in a dish anyway. They're now eating normal adult food. And I'm still giving formula in a shallow flat bowl. They're doing AMAZING!
 
Back
Top