Overwhelmed New Rat Mom

[Saxtechie]

Apologies for this format. Please if you have it take the time to read and if you can I'd love any suggestions you'd have to offer.

 

[Dena]

What would you like us to read?

 

[Saxtechie]

Hope I was able to get them re-attached

 

[Big Schpog]

Sounds like you're a bit overwhelmed. The best thing to do is to find and call a local rat rescue and have them take some of them off your hands. You need to rehome most of them to good homes and the only way to do that is through a local rat rescue. Where are you located? It says New Jersey on your profile.

You get to keep some if you want, but make sure you keep a few of the SAME SEX. Some people prefer males to females. I prefer to have female rats. I have 3. You can choose how many you want to keep and what you actually have room for. I think a good mischief is from 3 to 5 rats of the same sex.

Yes, I read every bit of your letters. You are wonderful for taking in those two pregnant girls and it's lovely that you got one spayed. That was very responsible of you to do. I can tell you care very much for these lovely rats.

Don't worry, we're here for you.

So your first step is rehome most of them and keep just a few of the same sex.

 

[Dena]

Start by taking a look at Www.joinrats.com for some good intro stuff. Next, make sure you are clean and don't smell like other rats, or food when you handle your second rescue. When you go to the first rescue, do the same. Clean hands, no smells. Since your second girl is spayed, you can try to intro her to your boys. They are younger and may be more accepting. Boys are naturally smellier, and Mark more. Make sure you have plenty of litter boxes for them, with a rock about half their size in it (for them to pee on). I got mine neutered. No more marking or stinking. Good luck!

 

[Tpoisson]

Apologies for this format. Please if you have it take the time to read and if you can I'd love any suggestions you'd have to offer.

Having babies is very stressful, I know all too well. But, you can do it! If that's what you Ultimately decide anyway. For us, we decided to commit to an unplanned pregnancy and almost 2 years later now, we have every born baby alive & well, healthy as ever and happy But, its a lot of around-the-clock work, especially with TWO litters!

Our momma had 11 babies. For the most part, Bella handled everything from feeding, cleaning & keeping them warm. We just had to make sure she was getting the food & water she needed to keep nursing and step in to feed any babies that weren't getting to the nipple as much as he/she needed. We should then bottle feed them or, position them near the nipple to nurse. We also weighed them every day and kept a log of their weight gain, to confirm their growth. We also helped the babies pee & poo with massages, if Bella wasn't getting to them all as often as needed. Overall Bella did excellent but I could definitely see how babies tend to die, just by being the weaker, slower ones of the litter and basically missing out on nursing & stuff so I'm glad we were there to catch those things because ALL the babies lived.

I didn't finish your letter but if you did decide to take on this amazing task and you have any questions, I'd be happy to chat. Im not a vet but I do toot my own horn when considering myself a professional Rat owner & lover hahahaha.

Raising 11 Rattie babies, then 7 of them into adulthood now (we gifted 4 girls to a friend for Christmas that year), was the best experience of our lives and I recommend it to anyone who loves their Rats and has the time for it. But if its too much to take on, I completely agree that a rescue would be just as awesome for everyone involved And ya, keeping some is always an option too!

Hope everyone is well!!!