My rat just had a huge litter of babies. Help asap?

Question

What do I do?? I only have her like a week so she must have been pregnant when I bought her. Her sister is still in the cage, I'm guessing I've to take her out or she will kill the babies?

Answer 1

buy a snake

Answer 2

urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhh

that happened 2 us once with r hamster

all the babies died

Answer 3

Mom will do all the work with the babies. You can handle the babies AFTER they have had there first feedings. You need to check them out and make sure none of them have died. Momma rats normally will not consume there babies unless she was really young when she had them or becomes extremely stressed out. I have had many litters of babies. Watch out when you go to check them, some mother rats can be litterly feral when it comes to there babies. They will go for blood to protect them. When you check them make sure one by one you put them under a warm blanket. When all the babies are out of the cage take out the bloody saturated bedding and replace it with fresh bedding but only in that area. It will stress mom out less. You definatly dont want to clean the cage out right now. Then after you put the new bedding in put the babies back where mom had them. Now all you have to do is make sure mom has fresh cold water everyday with her food. Make sure you also supplement her diet with other stuff to now that she is feeding all these babies. In no time at all the babies will be climbing the walls of the cage. Good luck with them. Oh and by the way make sure you handle the babies at least once a day. You need to socialize them so that when they get a little older when ppl reach in to pet them they dont run for dear life and hide in corners. Well socialized baby rats may nibble but will run to your hand to sniff and check you out. Unsociallizd babies will try to get away at all costs and hide.

Answer 4

remove the sister. she will either kill the babies or be killed or seriously hurt by the mom for the protection of the babies.

give the mom lots of extra bedding. keep her in a warm, dark and quiet room. always provide fresh food and water. and let mommy do the rest for her babies. dont disturb the cage in anyway or touch the babies until they have open eyes and ears and have fur. and always have your hands washed before handling anything in or on the cage. for the sake of the babies health.

Answer 5

take out the sister. but leave the momma alone because if you give her stress she will EAT  the babies. that would be horrible:(

Answer 6

Yea take out the sister, they will fight.

Handel the babys alot so they will be super friendly, then take them to the pet store in abut 4 weeks.

Answer 7

You need to join the forums at http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk. It's the best source of advice on the net, and it's very international.

The babies need their mothers milk. How long was she away from them for? Feed her kale.

Please do look at website above, and if you feel you can't cope, find a local rescue centre.

You should never buy any animal from a pet store. Not just because so many no nothing about animals, as in the case above. No responsible breeder would ever sell through a store. They need to get feedback later on the check they're not breeding hereditary problems.

Answer 8

Leave The Mother In And Remove The Sister.

Put In Alot More Bedding Than Normal.

Go Back To The Place You Got Your Rats From And Ask For Some Advise.

Good Luck

Answer 9

Google "rat breeding" for some in-depth advice. You don't have to take the other rat out unless there's aggression; she will help raise the babies (just make sure that it is indeed a FEMALE rat). Have plenty of food and water available, and start thinking about what to do with the babies. You can take them back to the pet store once they're weaned. If you choose not to take them back, make sure to separate males from females at about 4 weeks of age, or you will be over-run with rats in no time.

Answer 10

Take the sister out, she will not harm the babies but mummy rat will be stressed with her trying to help. Don't touch the babies, in two weeks time they will open their eyes, don't touch them until they are wandering around open eyed. If one strays from the nest don't worry as mum knows how many she had. Once their eyes have opened, then you can pick them up if mummy doesn't look too bothered. If she seems stressed, take mum out first then the babies then put the babies back and then mum last so she didnt see you touching them. At 4 weeks old you need to split them into girls and boys. At 6 weeks then you can adopt them to other people.

Deffinatly make sure you other rat is female and not male. If you decide to keep one of the little girls with mum that is fine, you can still introduce auntie a bit later on too, during the baby growth process allow mummy rat to play with her sister for an hour or so a day so she doesnt forget who she is, this will make reintroduction alot easier later down the line.

Hope this helps x