Wild Baby Rat Suggestions Wanted

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What should I do?

  • Keep them all

  • Release them all

  • Keep some

Results are only viewable after voting.
Well they were born in a house a huge difference with being raised in the wild. You set them outside, they will likely be killed once they try to get into someones house because they are used to that. Not to mention being tossed out is just wrong on all levels.


I am sorry but if you didnt intent to follow through with owning them for life after saving them you should of let fate kick in then. I would search out a rat rescue rather than tossing them out and hope someone will take in. It is irresponsible and very poorly thought out to set them free in the wild after them living in a house. Those babies are there because of you, now you need to fix the problem in an responsible way not just releasing them. If you intended to set them free then you should of never handled any of the rats so they wouldnt be put in a dangerous spot because you made them use to humans.
 
Not to sound critizising but Hopefloat is right, but now that you got the little babies there's no turning back. It's too risky to release them as Hope said, I wouldn't chance it, but it's also too much to ask for someone to take on so many babies, hence why I refer back to my previous post: Find an animal rescue center to see if they will take on most of the babies, that or find a rat shelter like Hope suggested. You're heart is in the right place and I respect that, but if you weren't prepared to take on that many then that's an issue, I hope you consider finding a shelter or getting some help. Good luck! :thumbup:
 
lilspaz68 said:
Ahh that article is Debbie D. I assume that's where you got the info about sexual maturity being 12 weeks as well? What you didn't realize is that some people say 6 weeks, others say 2-5 months...and these people also say the same thing about Norway rats!! We separate them at 5 weeks too.

The one thing Debbie doesn't mention in her article on releasing wild rats is IF they survived more than a week after letting them go.
Click to expand...

It states that R. rattus can be together for 12 weeks... Not norvegicus.
 
I also don't understand how feeding them will get them used to people.
Continuous handling including feeding will get them a *little* used to people but not just feeding.

I "just fed" the first one assuming I was going to release him and he is the flightiest thing in the world. I still can't/don't touch him to this day. Same with the other male that I raised with a lot of handling.
The ladies however will come up to me.

& if any of them get out of the cage they all get flighty and don't come near me. (the older ones I raised)
If you're saying keeping them in the house is going to get them used to a house scene then why can't I get a cage and make it look wild-like up until 6 weeks while feeding them bugs and stuff and then release them? Or keep them in a cage outside?

I e-mailed Debbie and posted a link to this page.. Hopefully she reads it and comments or e-mails me back.
 
I believe her page is rat fan club. I am sure you could get some agreeing there. This being a rescue site not a release into the wild site and one that does not believe home euthanizing. If you don't want others opinions and still want to focus on releasing them i wouldnt post a poll in the future. Good luck to you and those ratties.
 
I'm trying to do what is right for them.
I'm asking questions to make sure I'm doing the right thing.

*edited to delete the rudeness*
 
Farrah said:
I also don't understand how feeding them will get them used to people.
Continuous handling including feeding will get them a *little* used to people but not just feeding.

I "just fed" the first one assuming I was going to release him and he is the flightiest thing in the world. I still can't/don't touch him to this day. Same with the other male that I raised with a lot of handling.
The ladies however will come up to me.

& if any of them get out of the cage they all get flighty and don't come near me. (the older ones I raised)
If you're saying keeping them in the house is going to get them used to a house scene then why can't I get a cage and make it look wild-like up until 6 weeks while feeding them bugs and stuff and then release them? Or keep them in a cage outside?

I e-mailed Debbie and posted a link to this page.. Hopefully she reads it and comments or e-mails me back.
Click to expand...


in my understanding of it: There is a huge difference between an animal having to find and identify safe foods to eat in the wild, compared to being fed anything at all. It's not just "being used to people"- animals in the wild need to use different skills and many of those start to develop, and/or are learned from their mother, shortly after birth.
Giving them food or keeping them in a cage outside to "look like" the wild is so very different from the real life of a wild rat, I just don't see how that would help.

Have you tried to find a wildlife rehabber? Try Fish and Game, that is how they are listed in this state
 
Okay, so, you have three groups, yes? The first group, the older ones, are the ones that you got from that craigslist ad, the second group are the babies that you got when you left the ones you rescued together for too long, and the third group are the one a friend asked you to take in?

Are the second group also R. Rattus, or Norvegicus?

How many do you have all in total now? Can you handle all of them?

The only thing I'd be concerned about is the fact that it's GUARANTEED that not all of your rats will make it if you release them. Some probably would, simply because rats are very adaptable and smart, but a few, if not most, would either eat something poisonous, get picked off by a predator, die from illness, or be killed by a human. They're used to you feeding them, and though they seem flightly and afraid, they still know where their food comes from. The main component in socializing any rat, wild or tame, is food, and their minds are always geared toward it, so they associate you with them being fed.

Personally I'd keep all of them just because I know for a fact I wouldn't be able to let them go, but you should consider keeping your older group, and the babies that they had because they are all your personal responsibility. As for the group you recently inherited, I don't blame you for taking them in, I would have too and they'd probably be dead right now if you didn't, but you should either give them to a wild life rehab so that way they have a lot of a better chance surviving in the wild, being handled by knowledgeable hands, or find a rat rescue with a nursing mama and a litter, so they'll be as socialized as possible for being pets.
 
I think the biggest problem with trying to release them is not that they would starve, because I think they can learn to forage for themselves like raccoons can, but that they are a prey animal, and are more likely to get killed by another animal. Hand-raised raccoons are certainly not tame if you start letting them out, and they don't try to get into someone's house any more than any raccoon would, so I don't think those are issues.
If you release a prey animal into the world, eventually it will probably get eaten by a bird/coyote/dog/cat/snake...
So if you can't bear the thought of them getting eaten, then you should probably keep them.
 
I only suggested if you can't handle all the babies then find a rescue center or a rat rescue shelter, otherwise it sounds like you already made up your mind so i won't post here anymore. Good luck
 
I think the main question is with the rescued orphans....I know she is keeping the original ones ("group 1" someone listed above) and there is someone who will be taking some of the babies she had born. ("group 2") But it's a lot for the mama to handle, trying to nurse her own litter plus the 12 orphans...I know I'd be doing the same, trying to feed them just to keep as many alive as possible. The big issue is going to be what to do with the orphans that do survive...I'm in the same area so I'm trying to locate a local rehabber for her as well.
:mouse2ud2:
 
Thanks everyone!
I understand that they're prey animals and I have no problem with that.
If their mother didn't die in the first place they would have grown up and died just like any other rat out in the wild. I have absolutely no problem with that. They would have had a life.
But that's not what happened so I took them in to give them that chance at life.
I understand what you guys are saying now.
I guess the "leave their cage outside" part only solved one problem.

I've been given a few links that I'll check later, but I'll definitely call the wildlife rehabbers and fish and wild life.
 
there's this one:

Leslie Straub, director
Florida Wildlife Care ([email protected])
24 hour help line: 352 371 4400

only thing that might be an issue is it says they take care of all native wildlife, species small and large-
but someone said that the wild rats you have are not a native species?
(then where did they come from?)

I don't know how up to date this site is, but there are about 7 more rehabbers listed for FL that don't specify a certain species (some only take birds or raccoons, etc)

one of them is a zookeeper so they may have more info on non native species...? although I don't think I've ever seen a rat in a zoo :giggle:

Good luck!


http://wildliferehabinfo.org/Contact_A-M.htm#FLORIDA
 
This is from Debbie,

"Hi Ellen,

God bless you for caring for these orphans! I do not know what their chances are in the wild, but I do know that their instincts are strong, including their wild instincts and tendency to be afraid of humans. All the wild orphans I have raised have eventually become afraid of me (their mommie) and even more afraid of strange humans. Have you been giving them insects to eat so they know they are food?



I would only recommend releasing them in your back yard if you have no neighbors, and you are prepared to accept some damage to your property. The best place to release them is far from humans.

Deb"
 
Petunia said:
there's this one:

Leslie Straub, director
Florida Wildlife Care ([email protected])
24 hour help line: 352 371 4400

only thing that might be an issue is it says they take care of all native wildlife, species small and large-
but someone said that the wild rats you have are not a native species?
(then where did they come from?)

I don't know how up to date this site is, but there are about 7 more rehabbers listed for FL that don't specify a certain species (some only take birds or raccoons, etc)

one of them is a zookeeper so they may have more info on non native species...? although I don't think I've ever seen a rat in a zoo :giggle:

Good luck!


http://wildliferehabinfo.org/Contact_A-M.htm#FLORIDA
Click to expand...

Thanks!!
They're R. rattus and I think they're from the UK originally.
 
Since I live in the same area as you I can only say this. You will be hard put to find a rehabber who would release them to the wild. They would probably end up as food. That being said you could look for others, like me, who have raised them and will keep them safe for the entire life span of the critter. Since you have so many of them I will take 4 instead of the two I originally stated. How old were the wildies when there mother died?

So little is known of our wildies in this area and I have yet to find anyone who truly knows what they eat in the wild. I am not sure that rehabbing is possible because of this. It is strange that having lived for 33 years in this state I have never seen a wild rat in the wild. They hide extremely well.
 

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