Help! My 6 week-old baby is tiny and barely hanging on!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIWuPgZB5eQ[/ame]

this is the video of what tulip looks/acts like. we originally bought a small albino hairless dumbo small rat. she gave birth that night. they kept her, even though she is a specialty animal, with the 20 other small rats all male/female mixed up. she was way too young and had 2 tiny runts and 1 regular runt. they died 2 weeks in. then 1 more died a bit later. and now... at 6 weeks, when they should be weaned and normal happy popcorns, tulip looks the size of a 3 week old. after the runts died the stronger babies pushed her away and made her weak. she can eat solid food but barely wants any. one pellet and that's it. now she's been gasping for 3 days. it's gotten severe and I'm so worried another baby will die without a chance. pet stores need to do the right thing and learn about their animals. there is no way a 6 week old girl can take care of 8 tiny babies. rose tried but she just basically gave birth to a bunch of preemies who were not destined to live.

I am sorry
You are right to be concerned
Rats become ill and die fast without medical treatment

Tulip is very ill and she looks like she has a respiratory infection.
Tulip needs to see a vet and be put on antibiotics immediately or she is going to die (it may already be too late)
I would suggest baytril + azithromycin (10 mg/Ib, from a pharmacy by prescription from a vet) orally, twice a day for at least 6 weeks
or baytril + clavamox .................... Lilspaz68 or Jorats may have other suggestions

Tulip is gasping for air as she can not breath
She is climbing high because she is desperately trying to breath

She can not eat because she is trying to breath
It is hard to eat and breath at the same time .....
Tulip is likely dehydrated as well .... dehydration kills

How long has she been ill?

Does Tulip poop ok?
Does it look normal?
What does her belly look like?
How was she eating before she became ill?

Try feeding her organic soy infant formula ... possibly thickened with baby cereal?
As it has a lot of nutrition and is good for babies

If her belly looks normal and her poop is normal,
then you can feed blocks that have been soaked in cool water to make mush - that will be easier to eat then normal blocks and will help keep Tulip hydrated

Tulip needs to see a good rat vet immediately as she is suffering and is dying !!!!

It may be too late, in which case you need to have Tulip put to sleep humanely - most vets do not know how to do it right so you will need to make sure it is done properly
See http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7652
Basically rats need to be given the gas/oxygen mix given for surgery.
Once deeply unconscious, the vet injects them with the same stuff used to put dogs and cats to sleep
The gas mix is used to keep the rat unconscious until they are dead

I am very sorry,
I hope that it is not too late and that Tulip receives the vet care and meds that she needs to recover

I definitely agree with SQ.. She needs a vet ASAP and honestly if you can find an exotics vet that has staff over night I would have her hospitalized and let her spend some time in an oxygen tank and they can give her meds keep her hydrated with sub q fluids I hope.. I never had one that small that sick but definitely worth asking but it's really up to you and if you can afford it though I think that would be the best chance to pull her through this..keeping her hydrated and making sure she is getting enough oxygen until the antibiotics can start helping her breathe better. I'm so sorry you are going through this! I know it's so hard to watch them struggle like that and I hope your little girl can pull through this but she really needs to be treated immediately!

she passed quickly after this was put up. passed against my stomach under my shirt to keep warm as I googled vets in the area. I hate blaming people but monster pets should never have let this happen. my gf and I did all we could. we're broke but put ourselves in the negatives by paying for vet visits. they are family, who cares if I have to pay hundreds?

You are right in that baby rats should never be allowed to become pregnant.

However, all rats become ill and will die without proper medical care and medication from a veterinarian.
Most people have bank accounts for vet emergencies or have a credit card for this because vet bills and medication are expensive.

According to your post, this baby suffered for days and did not get the medical care she needed
If you are unable to provide vet care, please do not get any more rats and consider rehoming those you have.

I am very sorry for your loss, I know that you loved Tulip.

our vet prescribed us prednisilone, enroflaxin, and doxycycline. to be taken 1-2 times a day depending on the meds. i'm sorry to seem as if we did nothing for her-those have been our standard meds for our rats when they get respiratory issues, which is all-too common. as well as mammary tumors. our vet wants 45ish for a visit and the meds are like 40ish, which is darn cheap. and he has known all our rats and will prescribe us meds without a visit if we ask, just to be nice. we always bring every rat to the vet-even if only 1 is sick-for moral support; and the vet doesn't mind. he weighs and listens to all of their chests and is really great. plus it's nice just in case maybe we miss something in one, which happened once. we had moved and stressed out our furball, Bear, who developed mites and spread them to the rest. didn't even notice til at the vet when a dot moved on one of our hairless gals. surgery is always iffy for our babies. we had one male neutered, one female had 2 mammary tumors removed, but then our one gal, abby, went under for a mammary tumor and the vet couldn't get her to stop bleeding. the wound patch kept ripping open cause she wouldn't stay still-she was freaking out. the nurses were carrying her trying to keep her still, but she died. we were home and they knew it! we asked for all details and said we would come if needed. i still feel like if we were there when she woke up, we could have held her still and calmed her and she woulda lived. they kept telling us she was doing okkkkish. liars. and i also know rats stress out at the vet so theres no need for stressing them to respiratory shock - exageration lol

I am so very sorry