i haven't been around this forum in a while, because i've been extremely busy with work and getting ready for school to start (aah!). and it just figures that right in the middle of this, i'd end up with a baby rat... i was over at my friend's house on wednesday, and she told me her sister was keeping baby rats in her room for a friend whose rat had babies and couldn't care for them. i peeked in (knowing full well that with me, "just looking" at baby rats isn't just looking), and saw the mom and three little females in one ten-gallon aquarium, and seven male babies in another twenty-gallon. they were being fed nothing but dog food and kept on shredded newspaper for bedding.
the mother was vicious, but the babies were sweet, and i ended up taking home one of them. (she would have been snake food.) the thing is, she's rather young- barely a month old- but the mother's body is so taxed (this is her second litter in a row, and it appears that she's about to have another one; my guess on the mama's age is six months, but i could be wrong because she's not very healthy) that the babies weren't nursing any more, just picking at mom's food.
so.
there's the sad situation; back to the actual question. i've supplied the little one (a little black berk named veda) with block rat food, bran cereal flakes, bits of celery, carrot, and strawberry. i know she's eating because i've seen her do it, and i've seen her eagerly devour a bit of cooked rigatoni right from my fingers. the question is, do you think there's anything i should do for her to supplement her growth, nutrition-wise, to make up for the lack of mother's milk, or is she beyond needing that and able to eat normally? i've never had one this tiny totally independent of poor mom.
also, do you think because she's so tiny i should keep her away from the older ones longer? i don't want her to be alone too long, but they can be a bit rowdy, seeing as three of them are five-month-old girls.
(for letting this happen, i would like to go find my friend's stepsister's friend, who "owns" the mama, and smack her in the face.)
the mother was vicious, but the babies were sweet, and i ended up taking home one of them. (she would have been snake food.) the thing is, she's rather young- barely a month old- but the mother's body is so taxed (this is her second litter in a row, and it appears that she's about to have another one; my guess on the mama's age is six months, but i could be wrong because she's not very healthy) that the babies weren't nursing any more, just picking at mom's food.
so.
there's the sad situation; back to the actual question. i've supplied the little one (a little black berk named veda) with block rat food, bran cereal flakes, bits of celery, carrot, and strawberry. i know she's eating because i've seen her do it, and i've seen her eagerly devour a bit of cooked rigatoni right from my fingers. the question is, do you think there's anything i should do for her to supplement her growth, nutrition-wise, to make up for the lack of mother's milk, or is she beyond needing that and able to eat normally? i've never had one this tiny totally independent of poor mom.
also, do you think because she's so tiny i should keep her away from the older ones longer? i don't want her to be alone too long, but they can be a bit rowdy, seeing as three of them are five-month-old girls.
(for letting this happen, i would like to go find my friend's stepsister's friend, who "owns" the mama, and smack her in the face.)