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Kbrown21989

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My female rat had her first litter, she did get great as far as birthing and keeping them warm and fed (dad even helped with warmth) but after they babies were weaned and are now eating regular food, males are separated from females, my momma rat is so skinny and not gaining her weight. I even try to take her out of the cage and feed her separate and feed her more as far as fruits and crackers and extras everything. Any suggestions...??
 
Welcome to the forum :)

How old are her babies?
When did you separate the baby boys from her and their sisters?
How long after the birth did you separate her and the dad?
Has she had any other health issues or shown signs of being in pain http://ratguide.com/health/basics/signs_of_pain_in_rats.php
Has she been to see a good vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats?

Can you post pictures of her?
https://www.ratshackforum.com/threa...file-changing-the-title-of-your-thread.37049/

What are you feeding her and your other rats?
Any pictures of your setups?

btw please see the Reference Thread as it has a lot of good information, including information on diet and the rules of this rat rescue forum
https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/
 
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Welcome to the forum :)

How old are her babies?
The babies are now, 2 months old
When did you separate the baby boys from her and their sisters?
I separated them when she stopped nursing them and her nipples were back to normal but I think maybe a month old give or take a week.
How long after the birth did you separate her and the dad?
Actually her and dad stayed together the whole time except maybe a week where she would escape her cage to go back to where he was.. so I just put her back with him
Has she had any other health issues or shown signs of being in pain http://ratguide.com/health/basics/signs_of_pain_in_rats.php
I did read that page and the only thing I noticed more of was she would grind her teeth a little more but not like a whole bunch more other then that I would say no.
Has she been to see a good vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats?
I’ve been calling to different vets in towns but none really specialize in rats so I’ve started searching the surrounding area this week... I know that sounds bad I’m sorry to say.

Can you post pictures of her?
https://www.ratshackforum.com/threa...file-changing-the-title-of-your-thread.37049/

What are you feeding her and your other rats?
I’ve been switching every other bag between two brands of a seed mixture for rats and mice.. (vita nature and wild harvest) also give daily only one or two pieces per rat of daily blend biscuits, the fruit and nut bars like the treats, trail mix, regular fruit like what I was eating and yes I did look up do’s and don’t as far as what they can have.
Any pictures of your setups?
I didn’t like the wire cages because of my female chewing on the bars... so I went and got the Guinea pig set up that’s mostly plastic which she has stopped chewing on, and then they have a big box where they like to hide in but also another up on the shelf if they want to climb in it but they mostly just like to cuddle on top of each other

btw please see the Reference Thread as it has a lot of good information, including information on diet and the rules of this rat rescue forum
https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/
 
This is her currently
 

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This is not a good shape for a healthy rat.
As for the pregnancy etc a lot of things were done wrong. Intact adult males need to be removed before the birth as she can get pregnant on her post-partum heat within 24 hrs or so after birth. If she gets pregnant it's called a back to back litter, hard on mom and the babies as she will give birth 4 weeks after the first litter. Baby boys need to be removed at 5 weeks not 4 weeks unless mom is having a back to back litter.
To determine pregnancy and the health of it you should always weigh mom daily once a day at the same time. A nice steady gain with some stalls is a healthy pregnancy. A potentially unhealthy pregnancy would have a lot of stalls (no gain) and weight loss then gains.

In this case, you first need to listen to your mom's lungs by holding her sides to your ears? If her lungs are clear, does she have any vaginal discharge indicating that she may have become pregnant but the babies died in utero and she's got a bellyful of infection.
 
Please do what lilspaz68 asked and report back asap.
Lilspaz678 is a medical contributor on several rat sites
Your girl sounds very ill.

Also rats need to eat a good quality block (Oxbow or Harlan 2014) and a variety of daily vegetables - see the Reference Thread for information and also for the forbidden foods list.
Seed mixes are not good for rats and it does not sound like she is getting the nutrition she needs …. you can also supplement her diet with organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal
 
Please answer the questions I asked.

How is she doing?
Has she been to see a good vet?

she is doing fine... she is still eating with no problems she did go to a vet weather or not is a good one is to opinion... the vet said to try switching diets but other then that she was good her lungs were clear, no after affects from her litter, which the babies are doing good as well... her teeth were good, nails alil long but I can trim those
 
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