Foster mom and babies

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Vicki

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 7, 2014
Messages
209
Location
Orangeville, Ontario
So 4 rats were surrendered to the shelter today- 3 boys and 1 girl all 3.5 months old. The shelter was told that they were separated but all came toghether in the same carrier. The girl is looking pretty round. I brought her home to foster her and have taken her weight today so we will see. I've attached a couple pics... Any thoughts from members that have had pregnant girlies before?
 
That's what I figured... Poor young girly... I have her in a cage with lots of paper towel and a hut, that I think I will switch out for a box, bar spacing is small and there are no hammocks or shelves. I have an empty double critter nation for when they are older. I have her on 16% Harlen blocks and supplementing with high protein foods- scrambled eggs etc... Am I missing any other basics?
 
20g increase in one day, poor little girlie! Hoping for a small litter, but it's not looking that way, lol!
At what age is it safe for mom and babies to be moved into a critter nation?
 
Around 5 weeks when you separate the boys from girls is when I moved mine into the critter nation. She is getting big, when you can see babies moving expect delivery.
 
I have always kept mama and babies in a CN ..... providing a nest box for the babies and when possible using a high sided bottom pan ..... but remove balcony so it is a one level cage with no hammocks so babies can not fall from a height
 
Babies are still looking good this morning, mom however is a bit frantic... She has the box barricaded with bedding material and if I open the cage she runs around the room grabbing anything she can use to burry the nest (box) more and food all around the cage.... Is it normal for them to be that frantic like that? The nest inside the box is still nice but the box itself is now being covered!
 
Yes, it's normal. I would give her extra space and try and minimize her stress. Mom is going to teach that to her kids and you don't want scaredy babies.
 
Thank you for the response! glad to know its normal, I will give her more space for sure. Im really not bugging her much other then to spot clean the cage and feed her. Should I be handling the babies at all in the next couple days? I havent touched them yet but most things Ive read say to start handling them after 24hrs but if its going to stress her out I dont want to do that, but also dont want babies that arent handled enough either. Any suggestions how I can make this easier on Momma and still properly socialize babes?
 
What I would do is allow mom to come out of the cage for a break, to run around and explore and while she's out and away, then I would handle the babies, you can handle them right away.
 
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