Need help fast please

[Cptjack526]

My rescue rattie gave birth to 10 babies. The little runt was gasping for air and she was rejecting her. I cleaned the baby and put her back with mom and she nursed it. I just checked the little family, and the runt was dead under her mom. It looked like maybe she was crushed by her mom. She had a very nice milk band. Is there anything I can do to prevent any other babies from dying? Also, mom seems exhausted and looks very skinny. How can I support the mom? They are in a nice sized bin cage with plenty of ventilation and have fleece and paper towels for bedding. The mom just had some vanilla pediasure. Any advice on how I can keep mom healthy is very much needed.

 

[Velo]

Unfortunately, babies do die sometimes. This is why we hate breeding (I know you didn't breed her, just saying). Mom probably rejected her because she knew she wouldn't make it.
RIP little baby. <3

One option is to try to find another nursing mother to help feed babies. Technically, your momma should be able to feed 9 (when it's more than the # of nipples / 12, is when they really can't keep up). But some mommas just can't handle rearing pups at all. There is of course a possibility they will all be lost, no matter what you do. ):
I hope not, I'm just saying, it's a matter of nature.

Are the other babies well feed / looking good?

Make sure mom has tons of food available - both lab blocks and other food. You can soak some lab blocks in Ensure (vanilla), makes it extra tasty plus extra nutrition. High protein is fine right now. Scrambled eggs, avocado, cooked tofu, cooked beans, cooked bok choy, cooked sweet potato, oatmeal, baby food, cooked pasta. Hopefully that helps with some ideas.
Keep everyone warm.

If babies start to lose their milk bands, you will need to help feed them, soy infant formula. Another nursing mother would be better than formula, but that isn't always the easiest thing to find.

 

[hopefloats]

mommas do not crush their babies, chances are the runt had other issues that prevented it from surviving. Sadly some babies just were not made to survive.