When can baby rats eat solid food

When Can Baby Rats Eat Solid Food? – Pet Sort-Out

Fancy rats are small, cute, and smart animals. They make great pets and it is absolutely fun to play and cuddle them. However, adopting a pet rat or a group of rats comes with responsibilities for a pet parent. The right housing, care, bedding, medicines, and food play a crucial role in rat care.

In terms of pet rats’ care, a quite common question is, when can baby rats eat solid food? Once a rat turns two-three weeks old, they are ready to get introduced to solid foods such as almond nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, wheat grains, etc. However, you can also feed them human baby foods like homemade buns, pieces of bread, cooked rice grains to provide extra nourishment for growth.

Adopting a fancy rat can be a whole new experience especially for new pet rat owners. Pet parenting comes with a lot of responsibilities, efforts, researches, and caring skills to help your pet get the best possible life. If you are a new pet rat parent and want to learn about raising them with a proper food habit, I welcome you onboard.

How To Raise Baby Rats With Right Foods?

Pet rats are also known as fancy rats, originated from rural Norway because of their beautifully soft and colorful small appearance. Smart, curious and quick learners, these per rats are owned globally by pet lovers. A newborn rat is also called a puppy or kitten.

Pregnant mother rats carry their babies in the womb for only twenty-one to twenty-five days. During this time a mother rat develops swollen mammary glands with twelve nipples to feed all her babies at once.

Mother’s milk is the only source of food for her newborn fancy rats. This weaning period ends as the rats turn 21 days old and now they are ready to take in soil food slowly.

A pregnant mother rat can give birth to a litter of eight to twelve pups every year. If you are adopting a pet rat for the first time, it is important to know that a female rat matures to become a mother as soon as they turn five weeks old. However, it is not the right time for rats to mate as they are still young and weak.

Baby Rats are born with scanty and delicate fur on their body. It takes around ten to twelve days for a newborn to grow fur, open eyes, and ears. However, fancy baby rats have baby teeth and light whiskers around their mouth. These teeth need to get developed to have solid food.

It is important to keep the babies with their mothers during this first twenty-one to twenty-eight days period.

The first five to six weeks are extremely important for baby rats to fully develop their body and gain strength to survive further. You can start with soft soil foods such as milk yogurt, ripened sweet fruits like bananas and small cuts of cookies or bread softened with milk or water.

Some pet rat owners ask if cow milk is good for their baby rats. The answer is NO! Cow milk does not contain enough nutrients to help the rat babies. However, evaporated milk can be tried under proper observation.

Also, do not be surprised if the newborns reject your food at once. Babies will often continue to suckle over their mother’s nipple for a few more days. Being a pet parent, you need to be quite patient and careful with both the mother and babies.

If all this process of babysitting seems tricky and scares you, I suggest seeking help from a professional small animal breeder. Certified fancy rat breeders have all the necessary knowledge about rat parenting and offer the best care for the mother rat and her newly born babies as well. Once the weaning period is over, it will be easier to welcome the rat babies home.

Feeding pet rats is not any rocket science if we know the right nutritious food to offer them. As suggested by many pet nutritionists, ready-made foods are not as healthy as they seem.

A holistic approach to rat feeding is comparatively healthier. Homemade rat food diets are easy to make, healthy, and provide ample nutrition for baby rats to grow healthy as well.

However, it is important to closely follow the food formulas to avoid a lack of nutrition in pet rats. However, if you still want to try some readymade food mixtures for your pet friend here are the basics you need to follow.

Readymade Rat Food Basics

Choose readymade store-bought rat food formulas that are available in small round pellets and blocks for easy consumption of your pet friend.
Stick to buying pet food that is specifically made for pet rats only. Treating your rats with food formulas made for other rodents like hamsters, rabbits, or guinea pigs is not right. The nutrition content is usually different and can leave your rat malnourished.
Readymade seed mixes are always in high demand when it comes to feeding baby rats nutritious food. A mix of pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, broken rice grains, wheat granules is a favorite to rats. These seed mixes are nutritious and are loaded with ample nutrition.

While buying these readymade rat food it is important to keep in mind to choose low-calorie and fat-free diets only. However, if you want variety and holistic healthcare foods for your small furry friend try some homemade foods.

Homemade Foods For Rats

Before starting with the list of homemade food that your baby rats will love, here is an important note to keep in check. Offer fruits and vegetables in small quantities only. Chop veggies into tiny squares and cubes and large amounts in each meal to save rats from diseases like diarrhea.

Listed below are some easy homemade meals for rats:

Vegetables like raw potato, peas, small cubes of carrots, broccoli, celery leaves, cooked squash, boiled sweetcorn, and kale leaves are rat favorites. Cooked beans also fall in the above list.
Soft mashed banana chunks, avocado, watermelon, plums, and strawberries are the rat’s favorite fruits. However, citrus fruits should be strictly avoided.
You may offer small pieces of boiled chicken meat and soft bones.
Nuts and seeds are nutritious food sources. You may feed rats with watermelon and pumpkin seeds. Almond nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and broken rice and wheat grains as well.
In dairy products, a pet rat owner may offer yogurt, milk, cheese, and small pieces of soft sweets.
Rats also feed over small pieces of homemade buns, pieces of bread, cooked rice grains, and cooked unflavoured pasta.

However, there are also homemade foods that must be avoided by rats as these can cause health hazards. The list includes chocolates, citrus fruits, raw beans, potatoes, Brussel sprouts, white cabbage leaves, orange, mango, tomatoes, raw green bananas, nutmeg, and black pepper spices. In drinks, highly carbonated soft juices, readymade fruit juices, and liquor should be strictly avoided. Also, as a responsible pet rat parent avoid offering junk food that you are having.

These small food care habits can save our pet rats from unhealthy bodies, excessive weight gain, and respiratory diseases. Right nutrition on the other hand will help your rats with a healthy and happy playful life.

When & How To Feed Baby Rats?

Raising baby rats with proper food and care requires effort and the right techniques. If the mother rat is in her best health and is provided with all the necessities to raise her babies, chances are she will raise her babies well.

However, when babies are orphaned by the mother rats, chances of the baby rat dying are always high. They can be saved only by delicate care. Feeding orphaned baby rats need the right techniques, skills, and products. We will discuss it below.

Milk is the only food baby rats need to survive. If the mother is not feeding her babies, you are the one who needs to take the lead.
A small 1ml syringe or a dropper would do the work of gently hand feeding the baby rats with milk formulas.
Cover the babies in a towel to keep them warm as their bodies are not ready for the outer environment.
Place the small baby rat upright in your palm and hold the head up using your thumb. Place the syringe near the baby’s mouth and allow them to suck it slowly.
Do not drop milk directly into the mouth of the baby as they may inhale the milk. It is dangerous for babies to inhale liquid as it may cause pneumonia and finally cause death.
Also, keep the cage warm during the first two to three weeks after birth. You may use plastic covers or a warm towel to warm up the surroundings. However, remember to allow enough ventilation as well.

Baby rat feeding may not be an easy task for many pet rat owners. In such cases, my advice is to hand over the babies to a local vet to ensure the best possible care.

Week By Week Baby Rat Care

Birth is a beautiful as well as a painful process both for the mother and the kids. A fancy pet rat is no exception. Transitioning into a fully developed rat from a newborn infant is a quick process as compared to other animals. This fast pacing change makes things harder for the babies.

Understanding the week-by-week growing process of baby rats can help you care for your furry friends much better.

Weekly Developments	Food Practice
First Week	-One & only mothers’ milk.
Second Week	-Preferably mothers’ milk. -Completely liquid nutritious external foods (skin temperature).
Third Week	-Continue mothers’ milk. -Introduce water slowly (skin temperature). -Slowly shift to soft soil foods like yogurt, moist bread or biscuits, or soft sweet fruits.
Fourth Week	-Feed soil foods. -Make a regular water habit. -Slowly introduce tiny solid foods.
Fifth Week	-Continue feeding nutritious soil foods. -Give good solid foods periodically.

Week by week feeding chart for baby rat

First Week

In the first week of the newborn fancy pet rats, their body has no fur on and appears bright pink. The babies can not move until they turn at least five or six days old. It is also during this time that they start developing hairs. However, babies can wiggle and move their tails and whiskers to locate their mother’s nipples to feed on milk. This is the most nutritious food for them now. Never try to feed them something else during this crucial period. During the end of the first week, you will see the babies gaining pigment on their skin.

Second Week

In the second week after the baby rats are born, you will see beautiful soft and smooth hairs start covering up their body. The litter will help each other push to stand on their own. These efforts depict that their mother’s milk has provided them with all the necessary nutrients, hence your pets are healthy.

Around day twelve to fourteen you will witness the baby rats stand on their feet all by themselves. It is indeed a beautiful process to witness these pups grow up into adults.

You will also be surprised to know that fully developed rat ears can detect sound ranging from 200 to 90000 Hz frequency. The newborns squeak using ultrasonic sound and communicate with the mother rat to express hunger or any other needs.

Third Week

As we move on to the third week of the baby rats, pet parents get more excited. Finally, It is time for our pups to open their eyes! By now the babies have developed senses of smell, feel, sound and sight. This is also the time when we will be slowly starting with external food for them.

Baby rats seem to have a thin and even fur cover all over their body. The size of each baby also doubles and they appear fuller and bigger as compared to the second week. Baby rats will feed on their mother’s milk for a few more days and then slowly shift to soft soil food.

From this point onwards, being a responsible pet parent, you can try feeding your baby rats with yogurt, tiny pieces of moist bread or biscuits, or some soft sweet fruits.

If you observe that your baby rats stopped weaning, it is a good sign for you to provide them with soft soil food. The mother rat will now need to rest and relax after this tiring process of pregnancy and birth.

Fourth Week

As the baby rats arrive in the fourth week of age, they are exploding with cuteness. It is absolutely cute and beautiful to have a look at them. The mother rat is also getting done with her mother duties as she watches her babies grow.

A beautiful thick velvety fur covers the growing babies and their sight and hearing become more clear. The tail grows and becomes thicker and the wobbly footsteps of the baby rats are an absolute delight to watch.

If the babies appear to have enough strength and can move easily on their own, breeders usually give the babies back to the owner by the end of the fourth week. Their teeth have finally got developed enough. It is the time that actually starts fulfilling your desire to feed your baby pet rats with solid food.

Fifth Week

It’s the fifth week already and our fancy baby rats are all done with huddling, weaning and are doing great with solid foods. However, more importantly, this week baby rats are turning ADULT! Male rats finally mature for their mating period, the females may take a week more or so.

Being a responsible parent, you need to separate the male and the females to stop them from mating. Though adults, they are not strong enough for mating yet! However, It can be stressful for the rats to be lonely. So, It is advisable to keep females along with more females in a group and males with other males in a separate cage.

During this period, you need to feed them with the utmost care to give them healthy adulthood. This is the period you can feed your pups with any type of solid rat food. You can opt for either homemade food or readymade food, whatever you want. Just always feed them with proper nutritious food for their good health. You can choose anything from the list mentioned in the food lists section above. [Source: The Rat Report]

Final Tips For Baby Rat Care

As a pet parent, your responsibilities have doubled as you welcome home the new mother along with her litter of pups. You must take the best possible care from now onwards. Here are some final tips to help you with baby rat care.

Proper Housing: Provide your rats with proper housing in their cage with soft cloth bedding, play toys, food, and a water bowl. With these basic needs met, your pet rats are going to love their cage home better along with one or more companions.

Healthcare: Right food, healthy living space, timely cage cleaning all contribute to providing a healthy space for your pet rats to grow and live. Also, if you own a sick pet rat, be extra careful with providing timely medications.

Litter Training: Litter training is one of the most important steps in rat care. Rats usually pee and poop a lot to mark territory and communicate with other rats. Litter training them from a very tender age can save you from a lot of future mess cleaning and it also keeps you and your rats in a healthy environment.

Rat parenting is exciting to work. Giving these small animals a beautiful life, they return you with unconditional love and unlimited cuddles, and stress-busting moments. I hope these simple rat care tips will help you be the more responsible pet parent that you wish to be. Happy Rat Parenting!

the Rat Report

This article is from the Rat Health Care booklet. Order one today! Check out the info at Rat Books

by Debbie “The Rat Lady” Ducommun

updated 6/22/17

Note about wild rats: Please see the info at the bottom of the page.

Baby rats are about 1 ½ inches (3.8 cm) long at birth (not counting the tail), and are pink and hairless. House mice are only about ½ to 1-inch (2.2-3.5 cm) long at birth. Deer mice, which is a common wild species found as orphans, are about 1 to 1 ¼-inch (2.5-2.3 cm), long at birth. All of these species start getting fur at about one week of age. At two weeks old their eyes open and they have a very short coat of fur. At three weeks of age their fur gets fluffy. At about four weeks old their fur flattens down again. From this point on, their appearance doesn’t change much, just their size. It is normal for infant rodents to be uncoordinated because their nervous system isn’t completely developed. At three weeks they start to be more and more coordinated.

It’s very difficult to hand raise a baby rat (or mouse) who is less than a week old (a pinkie who doesn’t have any hair yet). The best option is to find a nursing rat to serve as a foster mother. As long as the babies are about the same age as her own, mother rats are almost always willing to adopt orphans. The best way to locate a foster mother is to contact a pet shop that sells reptiles and breeds rats for snake food. Offer to buy a nursing mother. You can also try contacting local breeders or rat rescues, and you will find a list of both on this website.

The best way to introduce new babies to a foster mom is to take the mom out of the cage, then put the orphans in with her own babies, rubbing them all together to get the scent of her own babies on the orphans. If you get a mom who no longer has babies, ask for some of her dirty bedding to put in her new cage, and rub your babies in that. Putting them together in a small cage will help her accept them faster.

If a foster mother isn’t available, the only alternative to save an orphan is to raise him yourself. When attempting to raise an infant rat, there are three elements to consider: warmth, hygiene, and diet.

The best place to keep an orphaned rat before his eyes open is in a small cardboard box on a piece of crumpled felt or fleece (fabric with no threads that can get wrapped around the baby’s legs.) Infant rats can climb better than you might think. Be sure to use a box with a cover and weight it down so the baby can’t climb out.

Until their fur becomes fluffy (at about 3 weeks of age), baby rats can’t keep themselves warm and you must give them supplemental heat. You can supply warmth for the baby with a heating pad (the best option, but be sure it doesn’t have an automatic shut-off feature), a light bulb, or something like a hot water bottle or an product designed to be heated in the microwave. Of course, a hot water bottle or microwaved object will need to be reheated periodically. It’s best to keep a thermometer next to the baby so you know exactly what temperature he is experiencing. Use a small weather thermometer, not a medical thermometer, as the latter can’t record drops in temperature. Keep the temperature around 100-102 degrees F (37.78-38.89 C). This will feel warm to your hand, but not hot. Higher temperatures can be fatal. But if the baby gets too cold, that too can be fatal.

Use heating pads with extreme care as they can get very hot. Start on the low setting and gradually increase as needed until the inside of the box is the right temperature. Put crumpled cloth in the box so the baby can crawl up away from the heat if necessary. Only use cloth that can’t fray, such as fleece, felt or t-shirt material. At two weeks of age you can start gradually reducing the temperature. Light bulbs can also get very hot. Make sure the light bulb is not too close to the baby because it can actually cook him. You absolutely must use a thermometer if you use a light bulb for warmth.

Infant rats can’t go to the bathroom by themselves. They’re stimulated to go only when rubbed around the genitals and anus. This is so the mother can ingest the waste and keep the nest clean. You need to stimulate the baby to pee every time you feed him. He may not poop every time, but he should poop at least every third feeding. Use a piece of toilet paper or tissue and gently flick it across the genital area like the mother would lick him for at least 30 seconds after every meal to take care of this important hygiene matter. If you fail to do so, the rat will die of toxic poisoning from his own wastes. Baby poop is normally soft and yellow or brown until they start eating solid food.

You can clean the baby of spilled food after meals with a damp cotton ball or by dipping him in a warm bath up to his neck and rubbing away the food. Be sure to dry him well. Also give him a full massage after every meal just as his mother would lick him to stimulate his circulation and help him to grow.

It is not unusual for orphaned baby rats to lose their fur or develop peeling skin. Don’t worry about it. The skin will heal and the fur will eventually grow back, usually before wild rats are ready to be released. If by some chance it doesn’t, you must wait until it does grow in before releasing them.

Abnormal Noises

If the baby starts making a clicking sound when breathing that means that he has developed pneumonia and will die without treatment with amoxicillin. Pneumonia can also cause the baby to become weak, cold, and inactive. Mix a 250 mg capsule in 7.5 ml of formula (stir well) and give the baby one tiny drop of the mixture 3 times on the first day (spread equally throughout the day and night) and then twice a day for the next 7-14 days, depending on how quickly the symptoms clear up. For more info on getting and using amoxicillin, see my article about Respiratory Disease.

The Formula

If necessary, until you buy the correct formula, for the first day you can give the baby dilute sugar water, made with 1 cup hot water ¾ teaspoon sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Stir until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Discard this solution after 8 hours because it can quickly grow bacteria.

I recommend using human infant formula. The nutritional requirements for rats are closer to that of humans than dogs or cats, and if you look at the information on the components of rat milk at the bottom of the page, you’ll see that the percentage of protein and fat in the human formula most closely matches that of rat milk. Be sure to buy the powdered formula, and most rats prefer the soy formula, not the milk-based formula. All human formula contains iron, and all babies need iron, so don’t worry when it says “Now with iron” on the label. Note: The Esbilac Small Animal Goat’s Milk formula is formulated just like puppy Esbilac and is much higher in protein and fat, so I do not recommend it.

Here is the schedule for mixing the formula to give their system a chance to get used to the new formula slowly (this is especially critical for pinkies):

1st feeding 4 parts water to 1 part powder (eg. 2 teaspoons water to ½ teaspoon powder)

2nd feeding 3.5 parts water to 1 part powder (eg. 1¾ teaspoons water to ½ teaspoon powder)

3rd feeding 3 parts water to 1 part powder (eg. 1½ teaspoons to ½ teaspoon powder)

4th feeding 2.5 parts water to 1 part powder (eg. 1¼ teaspoons water to ½ teaspoon powder)

5th feeding 2 parts water to 1 part powder (eg. 1 teaspoon water to ½ teaspoon powder) Then use this mixture from now on unless the baby has problems. See below.

If a baby gets diarrhea, gets bloated or becomes dehydrated, go back to the mixture for the 2nd feeding and progress on from there. To test for dehydration, pinch the skin on the back and see how long it takes for it to go back down. If it takes more than a full second, the baby is dehydrated.

If the baby is still bloated after going back to the more dilute formula, then you can give the baby a homeopathic remedy called Nux vomica, which is good for digestive problems. You can get it at any health food store. Do not touch the pellets with your hands. Tip out one pellet into a ultra-clean dish and dissolve it in a bit of water. Then suck this up into a clean syringe and squirt it into the baby’s mouth.

To mix the formula, first warm the water to about 105°F (which will feel hot). It will cool as you mix in the powder and you want it to end up being about 100°F (slightly warm). You can measure out the amount of water in a tiny container and heat it in a microwave for a few seconds, or you can heat a quantity of water in the microwave or on the stove and then measure out the correct amount of water. Then mix in the powder. If you need to feed several babies, you need to set the container of formula in another bowl of warm water to keep the formula warm. A mug warmer (cheap at Wal-mart) is a great tool to keep the bowl of water warm while feeding.

The amount to give at each feeding is 5% the body weight (in grams) as cc (a ml is the same as a cc). So you multiply the baby’s weight in grams by 0.05. So if a baby weighs 6 g, it should eat 0.3 ml at each meal. (6 X 0.05 = 0.3) A baby who weighs 18 g should eat 0.9 cc. This is critical for pinkies, so you must have a gram scale to keep track of their weights. You can buy an electronic postal scale that will weigh in grams at a stationery store.

Feeding

Newborn rats normally nurse about every 3 hours. You’ll need to feed pinkies every 3-4 hours during the day and once in the middle of the night for the first week and every 4-5 hours the second week. Feeding too often will prevent proper digestion.

However, getting the formula in baby rats can be a challenge. No matter what method you use, it can take 24-36 hours to get the baby used to nursing on the new nipple and the new taste of the formula, so don’t worry if it seems like the baby doesn’t want to eat at first. Just keep trying. Hold the baby upright, grasping it firmly at the neck. He or she will be very wiggly so you need to hold on pretty tightly.

They tend to grow very slowly until they are old enough to eat out of a dish and then they usually grow very quickly.

Unlike some other animals, such as baby squirrels, the risk of a baby rat aspirating (inhaling) formula is very very low, which makes them pretty easy to raise. However, it is very common for baby rats to suck the formula up their nose. If this happens you will know because it will actually come out the nostrils. Keep an eye on the nose and stop feeding if you see a whisp of white at the nostrils. Use a tissue to wipe as much formula from the nose as possible. The baby will try to sneeze it out. It will take the baby a little bit of time to clear the formula from the nasal cavities, so be patient and continue to wipe off any formula that appears in the nostrils. After a few minutes the baby should be ready to nurse again.

One of the best methods of feeding baby rats is to get an IV catheter or small rubber feeding tube from your vet. These will fit onto the tip of a 1 cc syringe which will help you carefully monitor the amount a baby eats. You will have to cut the feeding tube shorter but it will still be about 4 inches long. The end of the catheter or tube is about the same size as mother’s nipple, but you will still need to slowly squirt the formula into the baby’s mouth. You can also use an eye dropper with a narrow tip. Be careful not to overfill the baby’s mouth which can cause them to get the formula up their nose. Don’t try to use a syringe larger than 1 ml because it will be too difficult to control the amount of formula you squeeze out.

Below is the set-up I use. The catheter is longer than I’d like, but that’s how long it is before it tapers down. Notice how I’m holding the syringe. You will have much better control of it in this position rather than trying to push the plunger with your thumb. Also see that I have the small container of formula sitting on an electric mug warmer (set on high), which keeps it a perfect temperature for feeding. The formula cools down quickly after you suck it into the syringe, so you don’t want to suck up too much at a time. I do about 0.2 ml at a time. This baby is a 2-week-old Norway rat.

This 13-day-old roof rat baby is licking/sucking the catheter.

Another method is to use a tiny piece of rag and form a nipple from one corner. Start by dipping the “nipple” in the formula and squeezing drops into the baby’s mouth. Once the baby starts sucking on the rag, you can drip formula little by little onto the rag with a dropper so you don’t have to remove the nipple from the baby’s mouth. You can also try using a small craft paint brush, or clean eye make-up sponge, the little one on a stick.

You must have the rag, sponge or eye dropper in the baby’s mouth when he sucks so the baby sucks on the “nipple.” DO NOT just drip the formula into his open mouth because he will swallow too much air. This can be fatal because rats cannot burp. Air bloating the stomach must be sucked out with a needle and syringe through the body and stomach wall.

Mixed formula can be refrigerated for 24 hours before you need to discard it. Warm only the amount of formula you need to feed. One way is to place it in a small container sitting in a cup of warm water. You can also microwave the formula if you are very very careful and only do it for 3-5 seconds at a time. Test the temperature of the formula on your wrist before feeding it. It should feel warm but not hot. When I’m feeding more than 1 or 2 babies at a time, I keep the formula warm on an electric mug warmer on high.

Once when I was hand raising a wild roof rat who was just under 2 weeks of age, I thought he hated the formula because he would lick a few drops and then open his mouth as if he was gagging. I finally realized he was opening his mouth to begin power sucking! Infants use their tongue and upper palate to create the suction. Once I got the eye dropper properly positioned up against the roof of his mouth he would suck down about 0.75-1 ml in about 5-10 seconds! All I had to do was lightly squeeze the eye dropper bulb.

This 13-day-old roof rat is power sucking!

Moving from the Nipple to a Dish

When the baby is a week old he will start to get hair. At two weeks of age his eyes will open and he will start to grow teeth. When his eyes have been open for 3 days he will be able to start eating formula out of a little dish. The best thing to use for a dish at first is a tiny lid from a bottle of molasses or mustard. You must place this on a flat magnet (upside-down) to keep the baby from tipping over the lid. The first time you put formula in the dish, do it just after feeding the baby so he can investigate it when he’s not really hungry. Otherwise, he will literally dive into the dish and get the formula up his nose. It will still take him a little while to learn to lick from the dish and you will need to give him a bath after almost every meal. After a few days, if you are feeding a group of babies, you can switch from the catsup lid to a larger baby food jar lid. Once he seems to know how to eat out of the dish, offer fresh formula in the dish at least 3-4 times a day. At this point, the baby should be able to urinate and defecate on his own, but it doesn’t hurt to continue to stimulate elimination before putting down fresh formula.

Once the baby is eating well out of the lid, you can stop the night and bottle feedings. You can also start offering foods such as rat blocks, dry oatmeal and other grains, and little pieces of fruit and veggies. (Soft food can be very messy for babies, and they can eat solid food fine at this point.) From the age of 2 weeks the baby will gradually start pooping and then peeing on his own. Depending on the individual, you can stop stimulating him to go to the bathroom when he is 2 ½-3 weeks old.

Weaning

Until their fur becomes fluffy (at about 3 weeks of age), baby rats can’t keep themselves warm and you must continue to give them supplemental heat. By 3 weeks of age the rat will be eating mostly solid food, although he wouldn’t be weaned yet, so you should still be offering some formula. At this age you need to move the baby from a box into an escape-proof cage with a water bottle. When a domestic rat baby is about 3-4 weeks old, it is a good idea to get him or her another rat companion of about the same age. Rats are very social and need to learn how to get along with other rats as a baby. At 4 weeks you can completely wean your baby and stop giving formula, and congratulate yourself on a job well done!

Special Notes for Orphaned Wild Rats

The risk of disease when raising an orphaned baby rat is low. Most diseases that can be transferred to humans would quickly kill a baby rat. However, I recommend you use good hygiene and be sure to thoroughly wash your hands after handling the baby.

For an orphaned wild rat, the best thing is to release it when it is old enough. This is especially true if you raise more than one together as they will be more bonded to each other and less tame. If you really, really want to keep a wild rat or mouse as a pet it will take a lot of extra work. The most common wild rat in California and the southern states is the roof rat which doesn’t make a good pet. Roof rats are very hyper and agile and even when tame tend to be very nervous and flighty. In the other states, the most common wild rat is the Norway rat, the ancestor of the domestic rat and they can make pretty good pets if they are handled and socialized enough, but you must always remember they are wild and might bite if frightened.

If you decide you want to keep a wild rat as a pet, then you need to handle it as much as possible. This is especially true if you hand raise a litter of wild rats. Because they have each other to bond to, they will not bond to you unless you spend a great deal of time handling them. In the case of more than one orphaned wild rat, it is best to plan to release them.

If you decide to keep a wild rat as a pet, it is a good idea to raise it with another rat as a companion. Introduce the baby wild rat to a 4-week-old domestic rat when the wild rat is about 3-4 weeks old. By the time a wild rat is about 6 weeks old, it will probably be too late for it to accept a domestic rat as a companion.

You can release wild rats when they are 6 weeks old. You do not need to separate males from females, even if you must keep them longer. Wild rats do not reach sexual maturity as young as domestic rats, in fact, probably not until 12 weeks. The best place to release a roof rat is an area near a permanent water source, such as a creek, pond, lake, or river, where there are a lot of trees. This is also a good place to release a wild Norway rat, but a Norway rat does not need trees, just a source of water, a place to hide, and a source of food. Some water sources will also be a source of food, supplying fish, frogs, snails, etc. When the babies are 4-6 weeks old, you need to get them used to eating foods they will find in the wild. Offer them live mealworms from a pet shop (in a jar lid to keep them from crawling away), nuts in the shell, and a variety of different fruits, veggies, and grains.

Here is how to release a wild rat. When the baby is about 3 weeks old, give him a little box about 6″ square in his cage for a nest box. Cut a small rat-sized door in it for him. This box should be small enough to easily fit through the door of the cage. This will be the rat’s safe place. You will notice that he will get more and more wild as he gets older and is no longer a little baby and when you approach the cage he will likely run and hide in his box. You can give him shredded paper and dried grass to build a nest in the box. When it’s time to release the rat, reach in the cage and remove the box, using your hand to block the exit. Have packing tape ready and put a piece over the opening to seal it. Also tape closed the lid of the box, and you may also need to tape over any other entrances the rat has chewed in the box. Place the nest box inside another closed box, just in case the rat gets out of the nest box. Drive to the release location and place the nest box in place hidden by bushes, under a fallen tree, etc. Slowly peel off the tape. Leave some rat blocks or seeds next to the box for a temporary food source while the rat learns his new environment.

The time of day for the release is not critical. Although rats are mostly nocturnal, there are more predators out at night too, so during the day is probably the safest time to release a wild rat.

This is the cage I raise wild rats in. It measures 14" X 20" X 24" tall. It’s not a good cage for domestic rats, because the upper floor is made of ½" X 1" mesh, which pets rats can catch their feet in. However, wild baby rats have much smaller feet. (It’s also too small for domestic rats to actually live in.) There is also a wire mesh bottom, which I cover with rabbit food as litter. This wire bottom makes the cage almost escape-proof. As you can see, I have equipped it with an exercise wheel, wood sticks to climb on and a nest box. This is the box I will release the babies in when it’s time.

Rat Milk Components

Range Throughout Lactation (%)

Day Lactose Fat Protein

0 2 - 2.6 20 - 28.6 7 - 8.6

5 2.4 - 3 5.5 - 15 6.5 - 7.4

10 3 - 3.7 7 - 18 8 - 8. 6

15 4 - 4.5 9 - 19 8.3 - 10

20 3.5 - 4.7 8 - 14 8 - 10

Rat Milk Summary

Protein range: 6.5 to 10%

Fat range: 7 to 28.6%

Comparison with commercial formulas:

Human Soy Baby Formula—best match

Protein 12%

Fat 25%

Esbilac (for puppies)—too high in protein and fat

Protein 33%

Fat 40%

Rat Fan Club 857 Lindo Lane Chico, CA 95973 (530) 899-0605 [email protected]

Caring for decorative rats

Decorative rats have recently gained more and more popularity among those who want to have a pet. This choice is influenced by many positive factors: rats are smart and easy to train; these are social animals that enjoy communicating with relatives and humans; in comparison with cats and dogs, their maintenance is possible even in small apartments and rooms and requires less effort, the food of such a pet is cheaper. But just because a pet is small does not mean that it will require less attention and care. Caring for a decorative rat has many features and pitfalls that you need to know to ensure that the animal lives a healthy and happy life in your home.

Choosing a cage and space

Many owners make the fatal mistake of putting a rat in a tiny hamster cage or aquarium. The pet needs space for physical activity and a sense of freedom of movement. Rat three-story "cottages" with wheels, ladders, hammocks - not at all a whim and not an excess. Such a house is a vital necessity for an active and inquisitive pet, especially if you do not have plans to let him “free range” around the apartment. The size of the cage must be at least 60*40*50 cm and meet the following specifications:

Distance between metal bars no more than 12 mm;
The presence of a "house" or "nest" where the rat can rest and retire;
Sufficiently deep bottom that can be filled with filler (paper, sawdust, shavings) with a layer of at least 5 cm;
Feeder and special drinker with clean water;
All exercise equipment and "entertainment" must be well secured;
It is necessary to clean the cage approximately once a week: wash the tray and cage components, change the filler and wipe the rods.

If you decide to have two animals of different sexes, and do not plan to engage in professional breeding of decorative rats, then you will need two cages. Two or more rats can be kept together only if they are same-sex or all of them are castrated and sterilized.

Feeding rats

Rats, including ornamentals, omnivores. But this does not mean at all that you can pour them a plate of borscht or feed them exclusively with cereals. The diet of the animal should be varied, including all the necessary vitamins and elements for the health and full development of the pet. The menu of a mobile animal, constantly exploring the world around, must be formed based on its daily needs, namely, feed it with a large amount of carbohydrates that provide energy (50-60% of the diet of a healthy rat), give protein for growth (25-30%) and not forget about fats (10-20%).

You can take care of self-composing a menu for a domestic rat, taking into account all its needs and characteristics, or you can purchase a special food, the composition of which was developed by veterinarians and will definitely not harm your pet. Whichever option you choose, you need to know the list of foods that a decorative rat should never eat:

sweet;
fatty, spicy, salty foods;
citrus fruits;
raw meat;
raw vegetables such as potatoes, beets, spinach, beans and cabbage;
alcohol.

The last point may seem like an excessive warning, but, alas, cases constantly pop up when, due to the fun of the owners or their guests, the rat, instantly addicted to alcohol, suffers and feels unwell due to the lack of a new "foot".

The rat should eat about 30-40 grams of fresh food per day, it should not chew constantly, and you should not let it gnaw on spoiled food leftovers from a week ago.

Hygiene

Rats are very clean animals. They spend a lot of time cleaning themselves of food debris and debris. If the cage is regularly washed and cleaned, the rat will not need special hygiene procedures. Including swimming. It is necessary to bathe the pet only if something that the pet can poison with has got on the fur. In other cases, experienced rat breeders recommend refraining from water procedures, since a wet pet can catch a cold, and frequent bathing can even disrupt the barrier properties of the skin.

Rats do not need to cut their claws, they themselves make sure that the claws are of the optimal length. In addition, given the size and agility of the small paws, there is a high risk of causing pain or injury to the animal.

Training and communication

Every person who wants to settle this little animal in his house must understand that rats are very social animals. They need communication and your participation. Therefore, putting a pet in a cage and just feeding it is not an option. At best, you will get just a sad, unloved pet, and at worst, an asocial, aggressive animal with an unstable psyche.

Training decorative rats is an activity that requires perseverance and patience, as with any other animal. Using standard training techniques (repetitions, treats, etc.), you can teach your little pet a variety of commands: respond to your nickname and come to the call of the owner, return to the cage after a walk, get up on your hind legs on command, sit on your shoulder, etc. Decorative rats are very intelligent creatures, capable of recognizing voice intonations, gestures and sounds. We do not guarantee that the animal will give a paw and bring a stick, but with due effort, you will teach him the most amazing "tricks".

Physiology and facts about rats

Finally, some numbers and facts that will help you get to know these cute and nimble animals even better.

Life expectancy of rats 26-40 months (2-3 years)
Average weight of an adult male 300-500 g;
Average weight of an adult female 225-325 g;
Body temperature 37.5-38.5 C;
Sexual maturity occurs at 6-8 weeks;
Pregnancy lasts 21-23 days;
Litter average 6-12 rats;
Rat weight at birth 4-6 g;
Approximate food intake of an adult rat per day 15-20 g;
Estimated water consumption per adult rat per day 22-33 ml;
Rats are nocturnal animals, but can adapt to the owner's regimen;
Rats' teeth grow throughout their lives, so they need solid food to grind them down.

If you want to get a decorative rat or you already have one, pay attention to our selection presented at the end of the article. There you will find many products useful for these pets.

Nursing orphaned rats

10/18/2007

It is very difficult to raise rats yourself if they are less than two weeks old. The best thing is to find a nursing rat for them if the babies are the same age as her own. The rat, as a rule, does not refuse to accept them. You can find such a nurse at rat breeders or in pet stores.

If there is no such mother rat, you will have to raise it yourself and remember three basic conditions: HEAT, HYGIENE, FEEDING .

HEAT :

Rat pups cannot regulate their own body temperature until their fur grows. It is best to place such babies in a small box, laying a felt (felt) fabric on the bottom of such a size that it would also be possible to cover the rat pups with it. There are no threads in felt that could be wrapped around the paws of babies. Heat can be provided with a bottle of warm water, el. lamps or heated mats. It is very important to keep a thermometer near the rat pups (a small room thermometer, but not for the body, because the latter does not show a decrease in temperature). Keep the temperature around 38 degrees. Be very careful with a heated mat, as overheating is possible. It is better to put only half of the box on it, so that the rat pups have somewhere to crawl from a place that is too warm or put a towel between the rug and the box. At two weeks of age, you can begin to gradually lower the heating temperature.

HYGIENE :

Newborn rat pups do not know how to "go to the toilet" by themselves. To do this, the mother rat stimulates them by licking their genital area and anus, while she also licks the stool, so the nest is always clean. Massage the genital area of rat pups with a small, damp, warm cotton swab for a few minutes before and after each feeding. If you do not do this, the RATT MAY DIE from intoxication of the body due to its own feces. Also, always wipe the cub after feeding with a damp cotton swabto remove the remnants of food that got on it while eating. It will also be a kind of full massage after each meal, as a mother rat usually does to stimulate the baby's digestion.

FEEDING :

This is a rather complicated procedure. It is recommended to use soy milk formula for babies. Such a mixture can be found in almost any pet store, or even look for various offers in ads on RIA. Perhaps someone is willing to share it for a small token reward. The nutritional requirements for rat pups are closer to those of humans than for cats and dogs. It is best to buy a dry mix, because. liquid spoils quickly. Dilute it according to the instructions, but for the first few feedings, dilute more than usual to allow the rat to gradually get used to the feeding. For feeding, you can use a pipette, but there is a danger that too much mixture will get into the baby's mouth and he will suffocate. One of the best options is to use a small piece of fabric folded from one corner to form a "nipple". Start by dipping this "nipple" into the liquid mixture and then squeezing the liquid into the rat's mouth. As soon as the baby begins to suck on his own, continue to gradually and slowly drip the mixture onto the nipple so as not to remove it from the baby's mouth. Every morning, sterilize everything that you use for feeding in boiling water. The liquid formula can only be stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Do not heat the mixture in the microwave! Before feeding, check the temperature of the mixture by dropping a little on your wrist. It may take some time for the babies to get used to the new nipple and food. Hold your baby upright (upright?) with a cloth under his chin to drain excess formula. Be careful not to give too much mixture at once, as it will come out through the nose and the baby will suffocate. Newborn rats, during the first week, are fed, as a rule, every 2-3 hours during the day and once a night. During the second week, you can feed every 4 hours and once a night. Overfeeding threatens indigestion. During the first week, each feeding should be stopped as soon as you see that the rat's stomach is filled with a white mixture (the skin of rats is transparent).