Hand Raising Rat Pups

[Soybean]

My friend's rat has a litter of pups. She originally had 10 (this would be her first litter) and she has killed 3. They are almost 2 weeks old (2 weeks old as of Sunday). The mother rat has become very aggressive. My friend is trying to leave her alone except for feeding and changing her water but she is worried she is going to continue to kill and eat the babies. I'm going to get a weight on the babies when I go to visit on Sunday (if I can get there in all this snow.  ). We are wondering if it is possible to hand raise the pups from this point on. How often should they be fed. What milk replacement should be used? What temperature should they be kept at (if on a heating pad)? What other things should we do in order to help them survive. We could keep them with the mother but my friend would like to hand raise them if possible.

[lilspaz68]

2 week old pups have a good chance at being hand-raised.  They can regulate their own temperature now so as long as they are in a draft-free place with lots of things to snuggle in to keep warm they should be fine.

I would pick up human soy formula to feed them on, as human milk is very close to rat's milk.  Syringe feed those greedy little maws every 2-4 hours at this age probably.   Soon those eyes will pop open and they will start eating more solid foods and then you can offer their formula in a small dish.

[Soybean]

Thanks so much!  She's going to move Penny (mom) into a darker, low-traffic area and see if that helps any before attempting to hand feed the babies. If she kills another baby, she's going to hand feed them I think. Thank you for the info. I have passed that along to her.

I have had females get aggressive while they are nursing but never as bad as this girl. She's been biting (enough to break skin) and has killed 3 babies. Will she calm down once they are weaned. She had been such a sweet girl before having this litter.

[ema-leigh]

Yes she should calm down after the litter, although removing them might stress her out. But I agree if she kills ones more they may have to be removed -  however its perfectly normal for mom to kill babies that are weak and eat them. You have to deciede if what she is doing is natural or not.

If you deciede to hand feed them, good luck. Its quite easy to do, but may take a while until they get the hang of it. Dont let it dribble into their nose, wipe any excess on a piece of tissue. Id say feed every two hours and offer a heat pad on a VERY low setting during the night time. You also must get a warm wet piece of tissue or cloth and wipe their genitals after each meal, as this helps them go to the toilet and stay clean. Make sure every baby gets a full belly of milk each time, and goes the bathroom - it can be alot of hard work. I agree with using a human formula too

Good luck

[Kinsey]

Please be sure that if you hand feed, have the little one sitting up with a level head or head sloping down slightly, to prevent aspiration. Put one drep on the tounge and wait for it to swallow, then repeat. Do not use a bottle, they tend to pour out too fast.  Here's a picture of how it should be done, but this is a squirrel.



They need fed every two hours.

Feel free to ask more questions and good luck.

[AMJ087]

Any updates on these guys would be great. Im curious to know how things are turning out.

[Soybean]

The mother has not killed any more of the babies. They are finally past that point I think. The babies are doing well and have been sexed. I plan to take one of the male beige berkshires as soon as they are weaned.