Godmother
Well-Known Member
I have been down to three rats since January, and I have found that six is about right for me. Any less, and the colony feels sad. Any more, and I find the illnesses and vet bills too much to handle.
So I decided to add three girls to my gang. I'd felt so guilty that I had not been able to get to Moncton to adopt the girls there. Between illness and snowstorms, I didn't get there and suddenly the girls were off the web site.
So I looked on the local SPCAs-- no girls. I checked kijiji and, lo and behold, an ad for someone who'd had a pet store surprise litter and had three girls left. She said that she'd separated the girls from their brothers at five weeks.
The three girls have been with me since Monday night, and they are eleven weeks old. I weighed them: Macey 192g, Gardenia 162 g, and Wellie 146 g. I had them downstairs in the Martins playpen, so that we'd be near to them and so that I could prep the 695 for them in the rat room.
Tonight I took the girls up to their 695, then came down to clean up the playpen. Good thing I did that right away. I found two very young babies where Wellie had been spending most of her time. They had good milk bellies and they chirped loudly. I took them upstairs and could tell from behavior that Wellie was indeed the mama.
I'm sure that I've been told that the mama and babes should be separated from the other adults, so I divided the cage with Wellie on the bottom level. I had a little box with clean paper towel and I put the babes in there. Wellie was having none of that. She transferred them to the clean litter box. So I gave her some cloth and more paper towel and she made them a nest in the litter box.
So now I have eight rats, and a big dilemma: the other two girls are looking symmetrically round in a way that makes me sure that they are pregnant, too. Tomorrow evening I will weigh them and keep track daily.
This explains why I heard squeaking on Friday night and yet didn't see anyone doing power grooming. Those little eepers must have been born Friday when I was at work. How could a 146g rat have two babies???
I'm rambling now. Had planned an early night, but have been wide awake since the discovery of those little ones.
Any advice for me? I've never been in this situation.
So I decided to add three girls to my gang. I'd felt so guilty that I had not been able to get to Moncton to adopt the girls there. Between illness and snowstorms, I didn't get there and suddenly the girls were off the web site.
So I looked on the local SPCAs-- no girls. I checked kijiji and, lo and behold, an ad for someone who'd had a pet store surprise litter and had three girls left. She said that she'd separated the girls from their brothers at five weeks.
The three girls have been with me since Monday night, and they are eleven weeks old. I weighed them: Macey 192g, Gardenia 162 g, and Wellie 146 g. I had them downstairs in the Martins playpen, so that we'd be near to them and so that I could prep the 695 for them in the rat room.
Tonight I took the girls up to their 695, then came down to clean up the playpen. Good thing I did that right away. I found two very young babies where Wellie had been spending most of her time. They had good milk bellies and they chirped loudly. I took them upstairs and could tell from behavior that Wellie was indeed the mama.
I'm sure that I've been told that the mama and babes should be separated from the other adults, so I divided the cage with Wellie on the bottom level. I had a little box with clean paper towel and I put the babes in there. Wellie was having none of that. She transferred them to the clean litter box. So I gave her some cloth and more paper towel and she made them a nest in the litter box.
So now I have eight rats, and a big dilemma: the other two girls are looking symmetrically round in a way that makes me sure that they are pregnant, too. Tomorrow evening I will weigh them and keep track daily.
This explains why I heard squeaking on Friday night and yet didn't see anyone doing power grooming. Those little eepers must have been born Friday when I was at work. How could a 146g rat have two babies???
I'm rambling now. Had planned an early night, but have been wide awake since the discovery of those little ones.
Any advice for me? I've never been in this situation.