Babies in CN

[Tulipgirl83]

My little girl had babies that are about to turn 2weeks tomorrow. I have a CN that I want to move them into. How old should the babies be in order to safely move them into the new cage? Mostly worried about them getting through the bars or falling and getting hurt.

 

[Dena]

Not sure about the bars yet, since mine hasn't arrived yet, but you could move the shelves down low, and hang any hammocks really low as well. Babies grow really fast, so if they are too little this week, they may not be in another week or two.

 

[SQ]

at 2 weeks they will not be going far.
do not put them in a cage with levels or hammocks for a few more weeks and when you do, make sure they are vey low in case babies fall - so if they go into the CN, only use 1 level, take out the balcony, and make sure you use the full pan, not the pan with the cut out for the second level.
I have had young babies in a CN cage without any problems, but they do need to be large enough so they can not get through the bars - if their head can fit, they can get stuck or get out

 

[Dena]

I have also heard of babies getting stuck and dying trying to get up to the top level. So this is why SQ says to make sure you use the FULL pan. Not the one with the hole in it.

 

[Tulipgirl83]

Thanks everyone!!! We got the deluxe and boys will be on top girls on bottom. Have the full pan up top to cover the hole. And just ordered another full pan to cover the bottom. Right now mom and babies are in a bin cage and mom seems to be going stir crazy, lol. Can’t blame her I give her as much freee roam time as I can every day but she is always so eager to get out so was hoping for her sake that I could move them in a week or so , when babies are 3weeks old, so she has more room.

 

[BreRATanna]

Hello, so I have babies that are 16 days old and wanted to move mom and them over to her critter nation and was wondering about your experience?

 

[SQ]

I have had babies in a critter nation cage with mom .... make sure babies are in a section of the cage with the full pan as babies under 3 months of age have gotten trapped under the cut out pan and died when they tried to get to the rats in the section below them. I have used a deeper pan for the cage when the babies were young (bass pan for the critter nation cage with 3 in sides) so no worries about cage bars. I also removed the balcony and did not hang hammocks until babies were 4 weeks old - and then hung any hammocks low and had the balcony on the lowest setting ….. in the past someone had a baby popcorn out of a hammock and the baby died from injuries.

People often move 3 week old babies into critter nation cages ...… as long as they can not get their heads stuck in the bars they should be fine.

Baby boys are separated from mom and sisters at 5 weeks old. Baby girls stay with mom until at least 6 weeks old and never need to be separated.
Girls should be spayed for health reasons if people have access to a good vet with the experience and knowledge to do it safely. I have never heard of a girl spayed by 4 months old that developed mammary tumors, but spaying at any age is beneficial as long as the girl is healthy

It is not safe to keep intact boys and girls in the same household. Rats are very smart and very motivated when rats are in heat (every 4 to 5 days) and people are not perfect 100% of the time.

Please see our Reference Thread for helpful information REFERENCE Thread - Read Only