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We had gotten 3 rats total over a period of time, 2 girls and 1 very young boy who we mistook for a girl for a few weeks. One of the females became pregnant and I just recently noticed, the very sad thing is this rat is not able to take care of herself, let alone her babies. Zebra suffers from what I'm told is called wry neck syndrome. 3 weeks after we got her she could barely walk and nearly died. I hand fed her and gave her water off my fingertips for days as she wouldn't even exit her little tunnel I made for her. Eventually she was over or had adapted to whatever initially caused her illness, but the permanent damage was already done. We never expected her to survive, let alone get pregnant from the boy rat we mistook for a female. 
This afternoon Zebra gave birth to 18 live babies. After she somehow managed to deliver them she went back to her old ways, walking in circles and falling over. Normally this is to be expected, but having another rat recently who was purchased pregnant, I knew this was very very abnormal mothering behavior. All attempts to get her to feed or even warm the kittens has failed, she can't even seem to grasp that they are her children. With no way of getting any formula or feeding tools at this time for the babies, I fear they will die. I can't even leave the kittens with their mother as she has hurt many of them just moving around by stepping on and accidentally kicking/scratching them.
As a last ditch effort I have placed them in a nest box I made for our other pregnant rat who gave birth 2 weeks ago. I believe she has let a few of them nurse and they are currently cuddled up next to her own babies. I'm hoping the smell of her children and the nesting area she is familar with will convince her to nurse these kittens as well as her own. I've also added a heating blanket to the case along with their normal nest bedding to keep the infants warm as they were very very cold with no mother protecting them. I know it's a bit insane to stick 18 newborns with 9 two week old babies and one small first time mother, but on top of the fact that Zebra didn't notice them she had also managed to hurt them.
If anyone has any experience with similar issues please let me know, I'd enjoy any advise/tips you can offer.
Thank you in advance.
--Aaron
**edit** I think this may be a good sign. After placing the newborns in the little box her babies were feeding in /w her, she moved all of them (18, plus her 9) over to a Mountain Dew box in the other corner, and proceeded to barrier up the entrance with paper scraps. I picked up one baby that didn't quite make it into the box and set in in front of her. She gently picked it up and set it beside her belly where I think it was able to get some of her milk. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this may actually work. The 2 week old babies are also doing their part by cuddling with the newborns and and bringing more paper scraps into the nest. ^_^ I'm praying this will at least help some of the kittens survive. I still welcome any thought or advise in this difficult time.
This afternoon Zebra gave birth to 18 live babies. After she somehow managed to deliver them she went back to her old ways, walking in circles and falling over. Normally this is to be expected, but having another rat recently who was purchased pregnant, I knew this was very very abnormal mothering behavior. All attempts to get her to feed or even warm the kittens has failed, she can't even seem to grasp that they are her children.
With no way of getting any formula or feeding tools at this time for the babies, I fear they will die. I can't even leave the kittens with their mother as she has hurt many of them just moving around by stepping on and accidentally kicking/scratching them.As a last ditch effort I have placed them in a nest box I made for our other pregnant rat who gave birth 2 weeks ago. I believe she has let a few of them nurse and they are currently cuddled up next to her own babies. I'm hoping the smell of her children and the nesting area she is familar with will convince her to nurse these kittens as well as her own. I've also added a heating blanket to the case along with their normal nest bedding to keep the infants warm as they were very very cold with no mother protecting them. I know it's a bit insane to stick 18 newborns with 9 two week old babies and one small first time mother, but on top of the fact that Zebra didn't notice them she had also managed to hurt them.
If anyone has any experience with similar issues please let me know, I'd enjoy any advise/tips you can offer.
Thank you in advance.
--Aaron
**edit** I think this may be a good sign. After placing the newborns in the little box her babies were feeding in /w her, she moved all of them (18, plus her 9) over to a Mountain Dew box in the other corner, and proceeded to barrier up the entrance with paper scraps. I picked up one baby that didn't quite make it into the box and set in in front of her. She gently picked it up and set it beside her belly where I think it was able to get some of her milk. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this may actually work. The 2 week old babies are also doing their part by cuddling with the newborns and and bringing more paper scraps into the nest. ^_^ I'm praying this will at least help some of the kittens survive. I still welcome any thought or advise in this difficult time.
