Wierd acting <span title="rat.?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?">rat.?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...</span>

Question

my rat had babies 3 days ago (we didint expect babies) but anyway ever since she had them she has been stressed. she hasent nursed them and two have died because of it and im bottle feedind the other babies. she was stressed out when she had them and then i took them out and she is still stressed. is this normal? she wont run on her weel. she chews on the bars. she breathes hard. i scedualed a appoitment to the vet tomorrow. but in the mean time is ther anything i can do? sorry if its confusing.

Answer 1

well it&#039;s kind of normal for a mother to abandon hers babies but if they are still acting weird after you see the vet i suggest you go again and see if there&#039;s anything else you can do or change about your rat

Answer 2

Yeah, the vet&#039;s a good idea. She seems to be acting sick. Good job bottle feeding them, they should be fed about every 2 hours, so it&#039;s a lot of work, but rats are worth it. :)

Is she bleeding? Eating? Drinking?

Here are two Q&amp;A sections from ROUS that may apply:

Q: My rat is bleeding a lot and seems listless either during or after delivery. What should I do?

A: It is possible a placenta has detached and is causing haemorraging in your rat. Get your rat to the vet ASAP!

Q: My rat won’t nurse even though I’ve left them with her overnight. What do I do?

A: If your mum won’t nurse, you have two options: the first is to find another nursing doe in your area to foster them and the second is to try hand raising them. I strongly advise trying the first option if at all possible as hand rearing newborn rats is extremely difficult at best. The old adage says that fortune favors the prepared mind, so it’s not a bad idea to contact breeders in your area if at all possible before your doe delivers so you can set up a potential surrogate mother to nurse your litter if something goes wrong. I find that if you have a back up plan in place, you rarely need it. It’s when you don’t that things go haywire. If you do find that you have to hand raise the babies, you will need to lay in a supply of kitten milk replacer (KMR and Esbilac are good brands) and a small syringe with a pipette tip for the top. You will also want a heating pad and a towel for swaddling. The babies can be nursed by gently inserting the piptette tip into their mouths and allowing the formula to slowly dribble into them. They may choke and bubble milk from their noses and the process is a very messy one, so take it slowly! Hopefully you will see a creamy milk band begin to stretch across their bellies. You will also need to help the babies express their bowels and bladders. Moisten a cotton ball with warm, not hot, water and gently swab the r****m and genitals until urine or f***s is expressed. Clean the entire baby off with a new warm, damp cotton ball and place back under light towelling. You will want to be sure the heating pad is kept no higher than medium as the babies cannot get off the pad if it is too warm. For safety, keep the babies on a folded towel placed on the pad rather than directly on it. You will need to feed the newborns every couple of hours for the first week, so prepare for sleep deprivation as you would with a newborn human.

Answer 3

Obviously, your rats need vet attention.  Talk to your vet.