H
Hanimc
Guest
My friend gave me a 10 day old rat with its eyes still closed and I have been bottlefeeding it but I noticed when it sleeps it twitches in sometimes makes noise while it does what do I do
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Where did your friend get the baby rat? It really needs to be with mom until 5-6 weeks old. Can it be put back with mom? If not, what are you feeding it? You can use a tiny paintbrush, dip it in milk and let it suck off that. Babies twitch. Kinda like a sleeping dog. You also need to make sure you are keeping it warm. Your best bet though, if you can't put him back with his mom, is to find a nursing mom, rub him on her litter to make him smell like them, and put him in with her, so she can feed him.
H
Hanimc
Guest
thank you! My friend bought it at a reptile convention it was being sold for food and she said it looked sad took it home and realized she didn’t know how to take care of it. I took it and am currently bottle feeding it kitten milk. It can’t get to a mother but I have a heating pad set on as low as possible with it on half the cage the other half is plain so it can cool off if needed.
Organic soy infant formula is best. If you get it in the powder form, it lasts longer. You will only need to feed about half an ounce to an ounce (I can't remember exactly how much) every 2 hours. I haven't hand fed baby rats, but I have baby mice. I don't think it's much different for rats. But I do know the infant formula is the closest to rat milk. And it's going to have all the nutrients that the baby needs. Put lots of torn up paper towels, and scraps of torn up paper and fleece in the cage, and make a nest like mom would do. Put the material all around it, and on top of it. Baby rats open their eyes around 12-14 days old, and can start tasting little pieces of rat blocks (oxbow is best) around 20 days. I'd soak them in the formula, and let them get soft, and let him try that first, and also put a few dry hard pellets in there. When they open their eyes, they will start to explore a lot more, and you'll need to make sure he's in a proper cage with bar spacing no less than 1/2 inch. Make sure for a while at least, that there aren't any shelves, or levels that he can fall from. NEVER use wood bedding, it's best to use fleece, and wash it with baby laundry detergent. When he gets a little older, like around 6-8 weeks old, he will need a same sex buddy to live with. Also, around then, you can add in levels, baskets, hammocks, a litter box, and stuff. In the litter box, most of us use yesterday's news and a pee rock at least half the size of the rat. But for now, I'd use a paintbrush to feed with, because it's extremely easy for them to inhale liquid and that will almost certainly kill them. Make sure you handle him often. Check out our reference thread for good info on housing and foods they can eat, and lots of other info. Look at www.ratguide.com for health care info, and www.joinrats.com for some good info on socializing. Welcome to the forum!
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
Little twitches while sleeping? Your baby is dreaming 
SQ
Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
Welcome to the forum
Since the baby is 10 days old (are you sure?) then it has a chance of surviving because once it's eyes open at 14 days it can start to eat soft foods (such as organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal) in addition to continuing to be hand fed formula with the paint brush
BUT the baby's best chance at surviving would be to get a nursing mama with litter, remove mama, make the baby smell like her babies, mix baby into the litter and put mama back.
When you say kitten milk I hope you mean KMR from a vet and not kitten milk from a grocery store because the kitten milk is not ok for baby rats.
You can also feed organic (or at least nonGMO) soy infant formula
as previously mentioned keep baby warm, feed using a new, clean small paint brush, feed baby every 2 to 3 hours - including all night, and stimulate the baby to pee and poop after every feeding by gently wiping the genital area with a warm damp cotton ball. make sure nothing in the cage contains threads - thus strips of paper towel and fleece are good
Please post pictures
Please see the baby section of the Reference Thread for good information on caring for the baby and on the development of babies https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/
Since the baby is 10 days old (are you sure?) then it has a chance of surviving because once it's eyes open at 14 days it can start to eat soft foods (such as organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal) in addition to continuing to be hand fed formula with the paint brush
BUT the baby's best chance at surviving would be to get a nursing mama with litter, remove mama, make the baby smell like her babies, mix baby into the litter and put mama back.
When you say kitten milk I hope you mean KMR from a vet and not kitten milk from a grocery store because the kitten milk is not ok for baby rats.
You can also feed organic (or at least nonGMO) soy infant formula
as previously mentioned keep baby warm, feed using a new, clean small paint brush, feed baby every 2 to 3 hours - including all night, and stimulate the baby to pee and poop after every feeding by gently wiping the genital area with a warm damp cotton ball. make sure nothing in the cage contains threads - thus strips of paper towel and fleece are good
Please post pictures
Please see the baby section of the Reference Thread for good information on caring for the baby and on the development of babies https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/
Hi! I've been feeding my baby rat kittens milk I got for a pet store because thats what multiple sites told me to do- is that not okay???? what else should I feed him? Hes about 2 weeks old, his eyes arent open yet and there is no way to get him back with a mother...Welcome to the forum
Since the baby is 10 days old (are you sure?) then it has a chance of surviving because once it's eyes open at 14 days it can start to eat soft foods (such as organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal) in addition to continuing to be hand fed formula with the paint brush
BUT the baby's best chance at surviving would be to get a nursing mama with litter, remove mama, make the baby smell like her babies, mix baby into the litter and put mama back.
When you say kitten milk I hope you mean KMR from a vet and not kitten milk from a grocery store because the kitten milk is not ok for baby rats.
You can also feed organic (or at least nonGMO) soy infant formula
as previously mentioned keep baby warm, feed using a new, clean small paint brush, feed baby every 2 to 3 hours - including all night, and stimulate the baby to pee and poop after every feeding by gently wiping the genital area with a warm damp cotton ball. make sure nothing in the cage contains threads - thus strips of paper towel and fleece are good
Please post pictures
Please see the baby section of the Reference Thread for good information on caring for the baby and on the development of babies REFERENCE Thread - Read Only
If you make your own thread that'd be great- it'd get more attention too. But you should try to get Non-gmo soy infant formula. It has the nutrients that a baby rattie needs
