Rhydian-- wild baby rat growing up--New update!! 8/20/13

So my cat brought home what, at first, was thought to be a mouse. My mom took the poor little thing away from the cat, and went to let it go outside, but it wasn't going anywhere.. so she thought it was in shock, brought it in, put it in one of those tiny plastic carriers, and called me. Upon my coming home, I realized that it wasn't a mouse, but, infact, a baby rodent.

It's tiny, but it has open eyes, and fur. Teeth are coming through the gums, but barely.. she nibbled a bit lof lab block, but I need some help with this little one.

First off, any idea how old? If better pictures are needed, I can get them, I just didn't wanna bother the little thing more than necessary.




Also, I brought home some ensure thinking that a little mouse may need some extra TLC before being released, but I don't think this little thing is ready to go yet. She fits right in the center of my hand. So should I give her some ensure? What else do I give her? Does she need formula? If so, I can try and get some ASAP. Does she need a heating pad? I have her in a hamster cage right now with fleece, a block, and a bowl of water. Can she drink the water by herself, or will I have to syringe feed her?

Wow, she looks young. Not much more than past the eye opening stage, so maybe 2.5 weeks old?
I *think* that she may be able to eat on her own (Ensure, baby cereal, etc) but I'm not sure. I would put a small amount your finger and see if you can entice her to lick it. If you can get her licking up stuff on her own, then she should be OK to feed. If she's not really eating much or getting the idea, then you may need to syringe feed her. Just be careful she doesn't aspirate anything.
That's just my two cents, but I have never had the babies without the mom....any chance of a foster mom?

Oh, and have a heat source, but she needs to be able to move away from it if she's too warm.
Yes, much too young to be on her own.
Good luck!

Do you have a wildlife refuge centre near you? They might be your best bet for this little one's survival.

jorats said:

Do you have a wildlife refuge centre near you? They might be your best bet for this little one's survival.

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No, unfortunately, I don't. I live in a really small town, and the local vet's isn't open, and won't be open until monday, but they're my best bet. So I just need to keep her alive until then.

Soy infant formula, you can see if the baby will lick the formula off the end of a syringe (without a needle).
You can also see if the baby will lick soy formula thickened with baby cereal, off your finger, off the end of a syringe, or off of a flat dish.

Trying lab blooks by leaving a few in the cage is a good idea.
Also giving blocks made into mush by soaking the blocks in cool water.

Hope the baby survives.

You may also want to pm or email Farrah as she has wild baby rats ... although they may not be the same speies
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30218&p=416492&hilit=wild+rats#p416492

how often do I feed?

Here are some articles on orphaned baby rats.
One of the articles includes a feeding chart giving number of times/day and overnight, dependent upon age

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=27608

You may also need to wipe the baby's bottom & tummy with a warm damp cotton ball etc to stimulate it to eliminate after each feeding.
If you find you need to feed the baby by syringe, and if it is unable to lick the formula off the end of a syringe or off a dish and you have to put the formula into the baby's mouth, you will want to give tiny amounts into the side of the mouth so it is less likely to go down into the lungs.

Oh my god, thank you SO much

Thanks SQ

This is the best guide for raising an orphaned rat. It looks old enough to eat on its own. Make some formula and put it in a small dish so it can drink on its own. You can try offering it but I found at that age that they help themselves. At first it probably won't eat but when it's hungry it will.

http://ratfanclub.org/orphans.html

Oh and I'm pretty sure it will make it. It looks around 2.5-3 weeks old.
I'm not an expert though but I have raised 3 R. rattus from a week and a half old and one from 2 weeks old.
So unless the cat hurt it, or there's an unknown illness, it should be fine.

Farrah said:

Oh and I'm pretty sure it will make it. It looks around 2.5-3 weeks old.
I'm not an expert though but I have raised 3 R. rattus from a week and a half old and one from 2 weeks old.
So unless the cat hurt it, or there's an unknown illness, it should be fine.

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Thankfully I gave it a good once over upon first seeing what it was, and the little fella doesn't have any wounds. The cat that brought it in is still pretty young, so I don't think she knew what she was doing. Thank you so much for the info, you've given me some hope that she/he will make it until monday. The Baby made it through the night! So I'm so happy, that was the first big obstacle, so we just have to get through today and tonight, and then we're golden

Great! What do you plan on doing with it?

As of right now I'm waiting until tomorrow when my local vet opens, and I'm going to give them a call to see if they can take it and rehabilitate/raise it until it can be released. If not, then I guess I'm going to have to.. can you release rats after they've been hand raised by humans, or will they lose their natural instincts?

Just for an update, I'm home on my lunch break from work, baby had some pedialyte, and there's a block, and some block mush in her cage. I also added some soy formula mixed with baby cereal in there aswell, just incase. I don't think it's had any block since yesterday, but it's not dehydrated and seems fairly active so I'm not too worried. It's also successfully used the potty a few times with a little help. Thank all of you so much for the information and links, they've really helped me out.

Aww well glad he's doing good!

Lots of suggestions re wild baby rats here http://ratfanclub.org/orphans.html
You can always phone her and talk.

I believe that Farrah has raised orphaned wild roof rats.
Jorats, Mamarat, and Lilspaz68 have experience with half wild Norway rats (mama domestic pet rescued pregnant from outdoors, daddy wild Norway rat).
You may want to pm them as the species of rat seems to make a difference re what is the best thing to do with a lone baby wild rat.

Here is a thread about a wild lone baby Norway rattie who was hand feed, and socialized.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4713&hilit=wild+baby+rat

Good luck, and keep us updated with news and pics! I think wild rats have the prettiest coats ever. <33

Please note that there is a good chance that a wildlife rehab center will use the baby as food for an animal they are rehabing.
Some wildlife centers may rehab baby rats, but many, perhaps even most, will just view rats as a food source .... and they probably will not tell you they are going to feed the baby to an owl or some other animal.

info on rehab centers from: http://www.rathelp.org/FosteringYoung.html

.. Has that really happened before with wild life rehabs? I spoke to my vet today, I made an appointment to bring Aurora in to get her lump aspirated, and they said I could drop the baby off while I was there and they'd send it to the wild life Rehabilitator, which at first was a relief, but now I'm stressing out over this information.