My rats had babies help please?

Question

Hi, i wasnt sure when she was going to give birth as i brought her home and later found out she was pregnant, i thought i had at least another couple of days. prob is she gave birth on a bed of shredded newspaper, iv heard newspaper is not ok for pinkies. what shall i do? can i move them? help

Answer 1

Do Not TOUCH THEM!!!!

Just put the bedding around them or just ask a veteranarian

wait until there older  to move them

Answer 2

wash ur hands very well and move the mom and babies into a large box with a lot of bedding. move the mom first and then the babies. and handle them VERY VERY CAREFULLY!!! clean out the cage. use tissue, toilet paper, and paper towels as bedding. rodents love it. i used it with my babies and it was totally fine. after that let the mom do the work and try and handle the babies at little as possible. as in only when u have to cleand the cage. u can handle the babies once they have open eyes and ears and have fur. if u have any more questions give me an email and ill be glad to answer.

Answer 3

Lure Momma out with some food and let her have some alone time out of the cage.CAREFULLY take the babies out and on something warm and soft. Don't worry about putting your scent on them because the mom is used to your scent anyway. Put in an old towel and a small box of tissues that is half empty.

The towel will need to be changed every few days and the tissues will act like a house plus she can shred them to make her nest. Just be sure to get plain non scented ones.

I had rats for years and mine had babies and this is what I did. (I ended up with 28 babies at one time from 2 mothers yikes)

All my little eepers LOVED the tissues and everything came out just fine. Just don't EVER try to mess with the babies while momma is on the cage. No matter how use to you she is she will bite you to protect her babies. Just give her plenty of food and water so she can take care of the babies. She knows what she is doing.

I just thought of this..........what type of cage do you have? If you have her in a glass tank then you are ok with having the babies around, But if you have a wire cage you NEED TO BE SURE THE BARS ARE NOT TO FAR APART!!! The babies will be walking around everywhere and the can squeeze out. If you are using a wire cage it may be a good idea to transport mom and kids to a 10 gallon tank with a good mesh lid until the babies are big enough to move into the wire cage. Mom can go back after the babies are weaned. And if you do decide to use the tank the cage will need cleaned more often and bedding changed to prevent ammonia smell from the urine making them all sick.

Any other questions feel free to ask me. I will try my best to help.

Answer 4

don't 'ask a veterinarian'wait til she leaves the nest to eat and remove her from the cage to a place where she can't she what your doing then use a sterilsed and slightly warm spoon to pick them up and move them onto a tissue lined bowl then put the proper bedding in and put them back the same way that way you won't put your scent on them and put her back

Answer 5

I've got lots of information written up plus links to more good information here: http://www.petinfopackets.com/rats/ratin...

Good luck!

Edit: Does she have a same s*x cagemate like she should? If not, here's your chance to keep a female baby so she has a friend :).

Edit x2: Contrary to what people are telling you, it's not a death sentence to handle the babies right off the bat. Rats are not hamsters. In fact, the earlier you handle them the better socialized they will be later in life.

It all depends on how comfortable the mother is with you. You may need to remove her before handling the babies if she's particularly protective. It's good to check that the babies have milk bands (little white bands in their tummies) as that means they are nursing well.