Orphaned wildlings need help ASAP

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The babies are doing wonderfully today. Evermore managed to scratch her eye with her back claw but nothing serious. On a hopeful note of planning ahead- what are the recommended diets for rats now? I used oxbow back in the day, and my rats consistently couldn't maintain good weight on it (I do not know if this product still exists, or if the issue was ever remedied since as it was a big issue in the rat community at the time), then I was giving harlan tekland, however I was doing bulk buys of 50lb bags with other rat keepers, whom do not appear to still be active in the hobby, and I just do not have enough rats to support that amount now(nor freezer space with 6 human kids and all of our dogs stuff), THEN with my last 2 I was giving living world hamster extrusion with good results.... but that was 9 years ago.

what are people feeding these days?
 
breakthenight said:
The babies are doing wonderfully today. Evermore managed to scratch her eye with her back claw but nothing serious. On a hopeful note of planning ahead- what are the recommended diets for rats now? I used oxbow back in the day, and my rats consistently couldn't maintain good weight on it (I do not know if this product still exists, or if the issue was ever remedied since as it was a big issue in the rat community at the time), then I was giving harlan tekland, however I was doing bulk buys of 50lb bags with other rat keepers, whom do not appear to still be active in the hobby, and I just do not have enough rats to support that amount now(nor freezer space with 6 human kids and all of our dogs stuff), THEN with my last 2 I was giving living world hamster extrusion with good results.... but that was 9 years ago.

what are people feeding these days?
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Personality I use Oxbow Adult Rat Food with various vegetables, I've only had one rat with weight issues out of many many rats(he was a chonky boy)
 
b
Kye said:
Personality I use Oxbow Adult Rat Food with various vegetables, I've only had one rat with weight issues out of many many rats(he was a chonky boy)
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back in the day rats were loosing a lot of weight on oxbow. but that was literally early 2000s lol. So maybe it was remedied and I will give it another shot!
 
Folklore and Evermore photo dump 😍🥰. I feel like these show just how tiny they are at the moment.
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babies have really found their feet and are running today! scampered to the top of their fleece to greet me for morning feed today.

it is difficult to see in pictures, and we aren't sure if it was actually caused by her scratching her eye, or maybe congenital cataract- but Evermore is blind, or mostly blind, in one eye. it has a blue hue rather than the normal shiny black, It doesn't seem to bother her. Since I don't intend to release if the girls make it, I doubt it'll cause her long term issues to have a bad eye the way it would in the wild. Folklore seems fine so far and I am grateful for that! If we have any long term concerns about Evermore we will take her to the vet when she gets older.
 
Girls are 16 days today. Pics later. Folklore is now 14g and Evermore is almost 15g. That means that they have gained 2g each in 2 days since starting the baby cereal mixed with milk along with their normal bottle. Feels like such a positive move in the right direction.
 
I wanted to make a quick note:
It is 100% legal for me to raise and keep these babies according to my provincial wildlife possession laws. If you find abandoned baby rats, please check relevant captive wildlife laws for the species of rat and jurisdiction. I wouldn't want to cause anyone to get into legal trouble by trying to do a good deed!
 
Day 17 has went great! Evermore is now a full 16g and Folklore is just behind her with a generous 15g. I spent the day trying to be crafty and creating a "weaning" cage to help contain the tiny little beasties safely now that they are ultra mobile, and give them some space to use their developing skills, while still being provided with supplemental heat and their fleece comfort nest, as well as being easily accessible for their bottle feeds. Maybe not the best DIY, but I am happy with it!
They both popcorned around for the first time which was adorable, and they tried chewing on a plain cheerio. Haven't quite figured out the dishes with their milk and cereal. Looking forward to that because we can quit the night bottles when it happens. Hopefully by day 21!
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breakthenight said:
Day 17 has went great! Evermore is now a full 16g and Folklore is just behind her with a generous 15g. I spent the day trying to be crafty and creating a "weaning" cage to help contain the tiny little beasties safely now that they are ultra mobile, and give them some space to use their developing skills, while still being provided with supplemental heat and their fleece comfort nest, as well as being easily accessible for their bottle feeds. Maybe not the best DIY, but I am happy with it!
They both popcorned around for the first time which was adorable, and they tried chewing on a plain cheerio. Haven't quite figured out the dishes with their milk and cereal. Looking forward to that because we can quit the night bottles when it happens. Hopefully by day 21! View attachment 16479View attachment 16480View attachment 16476View attachment 16477View attachment 16478
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nice job with the box cage, i made a very similar "cage" for my daughter's hamster once with similar cutout "windows". the hamster chewed through a corner and escaped in a couple of day, so not sure if your little ones may eventually be able to do that too. just keep that in mind.
 
kko2046 said:
nice job with the box cage, i made a very similar "cage" for my daughter's hamster once with similar cutout "windows". the hamster chewed through a corner and escaped in a couple of day, so not sure if your little ones may eventually be able to do that too. just keep that in mind.
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I will be putting them in a different cage when they are weaned :) . Right now these babies are not even able to chew even cheerios or eat from a bowl so I am not too concerned about chewing issues, but I'll keep an eye on it!
 
Day 18 weights of 17g for Evermore, and 16g for Folklore.

Babies are completely against weaning. I was reading at this age they should be able to lap milk out of a little saucer, eat soft foods, etc. I was looking forward to being able to stop night feeds....But no. My babies come to the front of the cage and beg for bottles even with milk right in front of them. They leap into my hands frantically for their baby cereal and milk bottles. They still want full milk bottles on top. They make my spouse waste money on their untouched veggie baby food bottles that I refresh in their tiny dish every 3 hours, knowing full well it will be rejected like a human toddler rejecting everything because they have decided to live on only milk and spite. Gosh I love these little wildlings.
 
Can someone please teach Folklore and Evermore to read? They are NINTEEN days old and are certainly not eating "a variety of foods" 🤣
 

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