Help 3 nursing mothers in bad shape

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mrsmrhayner

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I posted in general rat talk to so I'm not going to ramble the whole story but I need to know what to feed 3 underweight nursing rats and if I should go slow feeding them at first or just put a big bowl of food in with them? And should i see if my momma rat will help with nursing the other rats babys? There are some that do not have milk bands so i don't think that milk is bing produced to feed all of them? Please I'm overwhelmed and not sure how to proceed. I have a vet appointment set but its next weak and I have to travel to get there.
 
Are they getting a good quality block? Daily vegs? things like cooked oatmeal and pieces of fruit or berries?

- feed them organic soy infant formula which can be thickened with baby cereal, some might suggest ensure instead.
- good fats like avocado might be helpful but not the parts near to pit or the skin

How old are the babies?
You can try putting them with another nursing mother if they are around the same age .... make them smell like the litter and add them when mom is away. The smallest weakest babies may need less competition for nipples, if mom is producing milk you might need to take the bigger stronger babies away for short periods of time so the others can get milk ..... and you might want to see if there are more babies then nipples in a litter. ...... or do a combo of these suggestions



If mom is feeding the babies but they are not getting enough, you can also supplement what they are getting from mom by hand feeding them I have done this before . See: http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21486
 
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The way they look I don't think they have had food for awhile. I do have extra formula. And gave the momma's all some baby cereal. One batch of baby's have fur and look like they might be opening there eyes soon there's 11. And two batches are still little pinkys one of which was born on the way home to day there's 9 the other has 13. My rat GMA is now baby less but just weaned baby's so still producing milk and my rat momma was helping her feed her baby's and is still producing milk.( they are cage mate's.) So I was thinking of putting some of the baby's with them to see if they would help. I know momma will she took over feeding for a rat in the past because jumper wouldn't feed her baby's the next thing I new momma's was taking care of them she seems to be alpha out of all my rats.
 
OK. The ones that where born today are Bing nursed by there mom. She made a nest and has been on them all day. I used a watter based baby wipe to clean off all the older baby's and put the smaller baby's of the two older litter of pups in with Gma and momma. momma took them straight in to her hide and has been in there feeding them off and on all day.
 
Ugh one of the momma's didn't make it. I found her today. It made me cry one of the other momma's was nudging her and squeaking so I got up to see what was going on.
 
The baby's look like they are all ready pricing up weight but I thank that's because the momma's are no longer as dehydrated.
 
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Ok. Thanks. They are doing good but I'm afraid that I might have gotten in over my head with these girl's. I already have 34 baby's from them did a head count today and while looking at big momma and love I realized there might be more soon [emoji37]. There putting on waight but I looks like it might be more than waight. I'm already setting up homes for baby's and requiring a home check because I've had a lot of people ask for feeders and I can't do that. One guy asked for a feeder I said no and he called again the next day and tried to ask for a pet rat. (Does he not realize I have caller ID[emoji51]) it's sad out of 72 calls in 2days only 7 asked for a pet rat and was willing to let me do a home and vet check.[emoji32]
 
Home checks, check references, home checks a few times after adoption, updates and pics for life (set up a page for people to post updates of the babies, ask questions etc), use a nonbreeding contract specifying good care, vet care, and a return clause - if they break the contract or can no longer care for the rats (no questions asked) as they are not allowed to rehome without your specific consent
 

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