Urgent need help! 1 day old babies rejected!

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ratpaws

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
51
Location
Scotland
I really need some help. I got a female from the local pet shop she was pregnant, I did know this. She was in a nursing cage etc however the babies are 23 hours old and she has been ignoring them for 4 hours they're all alive still, there's 10 of them, please give me any advice, I'm in Scotland & it's 12.30am here

HELP :sad3:
 
Make sure her surroundings are quiet - no blaring TV's, radio's or bright light.

If she doesn't have one already give her some kind of house - even a small cardboard box turned on it's side will do. And give her soft fabric or paper towls to make a nest with.

Make sure she has lots of nutritous and juicy food. (Fruit, veggies, baby cereal, ensure). She needs to make a lot of milk so dry food alone ain't gonna cut it.

By "nursing cage" do you mean something small? She needs to be in a very small space with her babies. Basically the idea here is that she can't get away from them when they try to nurse. You can't have her in a space where she can escape up a ramp or anywhere else far away. Even a hamster cage will do the trick - it's only going to be for a few days. If you have nothing small to put her in then use whatever you have on hand to block off sections of the cage she is in.

Good luck!
 
I live alone and she is in a silent room, with barely any rovement, and a very dull light. It's warm, but not too hot at all.
She is in this cage :
http://www.petcentreonline.co.uk/ecomme ... ct~303.htm
Which is reccomended for rats nursing (or in the UK it is?).

She has been getting egg in very small amounts everynight for the last week and also has had a small amount of chicken every few days as well as a bowl of fresh fruit & veggies everynight. She enjoys some cornflakes in soya milk as well as breakfast sometimes as well as wholemeal toast. When the babies were born I put in some baby food which she tucked right into, but now she has left them in their igloo and the nest and she's blocked them in and has been lounging in the corner, getting up, wanting a cuddle (I haven't lifted her up yet as I was wanting her to attend to the bubs, however I can't neglect her surely)? I did tempt her over to where the nest is but she just looks as if "ok... why am i here?". Should I bring the babies out and start nursing them, and if so, how do i go about that?

Thanks
 
I opened her door there and she ran up my arm to my shoulder and started licking me. When I went to put her back in, she trys get back out and refuses to get through the door. I've put her in the igloo where the babies are rolling around hungry but she runs back out!!!!???
:[ Help
 
I was worried about my rat after she gave birth. She seemed to want to leave and go back to the big cage with the other girls, and even chewed at the bars. She seemed inattentive the first 24hrs, but then seemed to get better. But she would always come out for a break. It needs to be a warm nest for the babies so they keep the heat in while she's gone. Hopefully she'll come around like my girl did.
I don't know if I'd intervene at this point...
 
I've got a pet heat pad which I'll heat right now and put under the igloo with fleece over it and bedding on top as she has it. She is still blanking the bubs :[
 
i wouldn't put any heat source near the babies. Just cover them with fleece or papertowel or anything to keep in their own body heat. Cover her cage and just let her be. There's very little you can do, she needs to. Leaving her alone is probably the best thing you can do at this point.
 
Like Lilspaz68 said, no heating pad ... that would cause them to overheat and likely die.
She has probably "blocked them in" to keep them warm.
Hopefully she will soon feed them.
 
My Momma rat would often take breaks from her babies. I was worried about this, but they all did well. I think Mom just needs a break every now and then (like all Moms). She may be nursing them at night when you don't see. Have you been able to check the babies to see if they have milk bands on their bellies?
 
This must be so frustrating for you, but hopefully if left to her devices she'll get back in the swing of things and pay attention to her babies again. Keep us posted!
 
She still hasn't went near them. I've left a camera in the room and only checked the tape twice so I'm not with her and she just sits there, ignoring them. How long is too long - it's been about 6 hours since she last bothered with them.
 
I just checked again. There's 10, they have tiny tiny tiny milkbands, as if she's not fed them very much at all. There's none not moving... should i try feed them?
 
If they have milkbands, they aren't in danger yet, I don't think. I wish I knew more about rat babies personally to help.
 
Totally up to you whether you'll interfere with the babies and mum, but I think you've been given some AWESOME advice from SQ, Moon, and Lilspaz. I think you should wait and see if her motherly instincts kick in at all. Like Moon said if they've got milkbands they're being fed so far.
I'd wait until you're sure she's ignoring them before you interefe...

Good Luck hun, and PLEASE keep us posted...
and pics are always nice!!!
:wink2:
 
i hope every thing turn out well for you and wee ones, keep us updated! i hope to hear good news in the morning, i'll send some good thoughts your way
 
If they have milk bands, I wouldn't feed them.
Check their milk bands in the evening, your time.
Hopefully by then their mom will have adjusted to her new role.

It is possible you will have to hand feed them kitten formula or infant soy formula or find a surrogate mom with babies around the same age but not yet. Their best chance is with their mom.
You may want to get the things you will need to feed them every 2 hours, 24 hours a day for a few weeks ... or start to look for a surrogate mom (& babies) with a litter near their age just in case. If you do hand feed, remember to gently wipe bottoms with a warm, damp cloth, etc to stimulate them to urinate and have bowel movements after they are fed. If you do hand feed them, they will need to stay with mom as she can (hopefully) take care of them in all the other ways rat moms take care of babies.

You can also put her in a small space with the babies where she can't get away so they can nurse ... but you might want to check with others to see if she is likely to react badly to that.

When you check for milk bands, take some pics to post on here so we can see.
Personally, since they have milk bands, I would give it a bit more time. But I am not an expert.
 
moms often appear to "abandon" their babies at some point in the first 12 to 24 hours because they go into heat and are looking to get bred again. leave her be and she will go back to the babies. esp if they have milk bellies.
 

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