Help me figure out how old these babies are...

[OldsGal]

Hi all,

I took in a momma rat and her litter of 9 babies this weekend. The shelter had no idea when they were born so I have no idea how old they are which is driving me nuts cuz now I have no idea when I need to seperate the boys from the girls. It has been over a year since I have had a litter so I can't remember the progression of ages. I am hoping you can help give me some ideas on age.

They are still nursing from mom several times a day but they are eating solid food and drinking from the water bottle. Their eyes are open and the males testicles have dropped. I am not sure if the mom is just letting them nurse so much since the shelter has them in a 10 gal and she has no where to get away from them or if they really do need to still nurse this much. I am moving them into an R690 tomorrow after I know that the rats that I moved out of the R690 have successfully introed into another cage and I don't have to pull them in the middle of the night and put them back into the R690 if things get out of hand.

Maybe once she is in the R690 she will begin weening them?

Here are photos:

Oh and the babie are very fearful of human hands. They coward in the corner whenever you open the lid to the tank. Very much opposite the litter that was actually born here where I could socialize them from day one and would rush my hands as soon as I put them in the cage. I have already started to work with them in short spurts several times a day with putting my hands in the tank and letting them get used to the hand just coming into the tank. Then petting them and picking them up and putting them down. Momma is pretty protective of them and did nip me once. So now I am sure to pull her when I do work with the babies.

Oh gosh you should have seen it when I gave momma break in the play pen tonight. She first set down and groomed and groomed and groomed and groomed. You could just hear her saying "Ugh...A mother of 9 never has a free moment to clean up. I am just a mess." Then after she was satisfied that she was beautiful again she just ran all over the play pen exploring and royally enjoying her "night out on the town" LOL. Poor momma. I know she has not gotten a break since she has had the bubs as the shelter that I took her from didn't do anything really with them other than feed them.

Staci

 

[lilspaz68]

I would say this crew are about 4-4.5 weeks old.

pointy noses, mini-rat bodies.

Bear at 4 weeks

Bronlings at 33 days (almost 5 weeks)

Angel at 5 weeks

To be safe I would separate the boys in a few days.

 

[Godmother]

I was thinking along the same lines as Shelagh. I don't think that the mama would nurse them so regularly if they were much older than four weeks.

They are BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[lilspaz68]

I was thinking along the same lines as Shelagh. I don't think that the mama would nurse them so regularly if they were much older than four weeks.

They are BEAUTIFUL!!!

Bronny was a good mom and nursed her girls until just under 6 weeks...the boys were cut off at 4.5 when I weaned them a bit early.

 

[jorats]

Is mom feeding all of them all the time? If not, I'd say it's time to separate. They don't even have that tiny baby look anymore, they look like rats now.

Absolutely adorable!

 

[Melissa]

I just can't get over how cute they are. And yes, you should think of separating them very soon.

 

[OldsGal]

Is mom feeding all of them all the time? If not, I'd say it's time to separate. They don't even have that tiny baby look anymore, they look like rats now.

Absolutely adorable!

She is feeding all of them very regularly. That first pic of her spralled across them all is a very regular site to see. I would say she is feeding them 10 times a day like that and then throughout the day she may nurse one or two a bit more.

But I think I will go ahead and look at pulling them soon. Maybe put all of the girls into the R690 and figure out some place else to put the boys. I just know how scared the babies are and I don't want to tramatize the boys even more by taking them from mom too soon. But I also don't want to take the chance of these babies breeding either.

Staci

Edit: Ooo Ooo I just thought of something. Beasly is their dad and he is all alone right now. I could put the boys with him so he is not alone and then they have some adult support to keep them safe too. Yaaaaa!!!!!

 

[lilspaz68]

Good plan!!!

 

[jorats]

If she's feeding them constantly, all of them, then I'd say they are still under 4 weeks. But they look strong, healthy beautiful babies. Good idea to letting dad take care of his boys!

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

OMGosh I just died from cuteness overload. They are so cute. They look just like my Pumpkin ad Mimzy did when I picked them up at 4.5 weeks, so pretty good bet that is how old they are. Maybe Mom is just a really patient mom and is letting them nurse a little longer. But they look healthy and strong enough to hold their own.

I so wish I could have a couple they are so cute. GGMR is really getting to me but I am resisting. Sticking to the pet stores that do not sell animals.

 

[OldsGal]

Well tonight I went on a cage reorganizing frenzy and got the boys and girls seperated.

I am actually pretty annoyed. I was suppose to do a cage swap with another small animal person who lives about 50 miles from me. I agreed to take her 3 cages in trade for a large Martins cage that I knew I could use especially with these babies as I do not have but only one cage suitable for baby rats in large numbers. She is the same girl who helped rat train the babies and mom and dad to me. We were suppose to meet half way. Well she calls me when I am 10 min away from our meeting site and tells me she can't get the massive cage into her trunk of her car. Which she already said she was going to get a truck for. Grrrr.....So I agreed to go ahead and let her take the 3 cages as she needed them desprately and we agreed that we would some how meet up again reall soon so she could get me this cage.

Ok so long story short I am betting $100 that I get screwed out of 3 cages and never see the Martins.

So my temporary solution today was to go out and buy a huge ass tote and make a monster tote cage. This thing is like 150 gallons or something like that. It is long and tall. I have not actually measured it yet. So I have my Martins that I already had that the girls and mom went into and the boys and dad went into the huge tote cage. $20 later I have a pretty snazy and functional cage.

OMG I forgot how much fun it is to have babies around. It has been over a year since I had Molly's litter. I can just sit and watch them for hours playing in their cages. Both the boys and girls have discovered the wheel and how much fun it is. A couple of the girls have already mastered the loop da loop game on the wheel within 30 min of being in the cage. Mom has not stopped running around investigating everything and exploring since being in the cage. She has not stopped to nurse the baby girls once and the baby girls have not stopped to nap either.

The baby boys were instantly intrigued by Daddy Beasly. They climbed all over him. He was a bit taken by surprised at first but then set out flipping them and power grooming the little buggers. I think he is a proud poppa who is going to take good care of his boys. I even caught him running around and wresting a bit. Very cute to see a full grown adult male rat wrestling with a baby itty bitty boy. He is a gentle but firm ruler which is very good. I was nervous at first and worried. I have heard the horror stories of irritated adult males murdering all of the babies. I don't think I could bare a scene like that.

I promise more pics soon. But alas after all of this I am exhausted and need to feed everyone and head to bed.

Staci