got two baby rats today

[squirrelfriend]

I went to the reptile expo with my husband today. He likes tarantulas. While I was there there were people selling these baby rats to feed to snakes. they were so cute! eyes are open but not weened yet. I bought two. wished I could save them all but I have to be realistic. They were only a buck each. One grey hooded rat and one black hooded. both are females. I got some Nutrience powder formula on the way home. they eat it fine. the larger of the two was eating a grape I gave it. I have never cared for unweaned baby rats before. anybody got any suggestions?

[thundersquirrel]

haha you've come to the right spot. this sounds exactly like my last pair of rats that i got. not to mention that my first rat had ten babies i helped raise.

the formula is good. keep that up. i'm guessing they're around four weeks old? i'd say offer them straight formula for another week or so.

as you transition out of the formula, you can mix things with it, like cheerios and wheat bread. they LOVE yogurt, so use it as a treat. along with that you can give them soft things like grapes (peel those though, to avoid choking on skins) and apple, potatoe (not too much though), etc. most common vegetables are good.

then comes the hard food. sunflower seeds are fun for babies, and peanuts out of the shell. they can nibble on lab blocks at that point, which will eventually become a main part of their diet. you can get creative as you expand. i've never tried anything very exotic, simply out of fear. i'm not sure how they'd take really strange food.

good luck, and have fun with them. and just as a tip, HANDLE THEM NOW. the more you handle them at this age, the more friendly they'll be when they're older. take them out one by one, have bonding time with them every day. it'll pay off.

[GhosTS]

:wahoo :wahoo Just like my story..I have 2 girls saved from being snake food too.:wahoo :wahoo ..Some pics are needed here.:D

[TexanSquirrel]

We saved a mouse like that. He was cool. Lived for three years in an aquarium, feasting on his favorite granola and wedgie-ing himself under his wheel. :shakehead Still, he was one cool little dude.

[pia]

lucky little rats:) they are in good hands:jump

[thumper]

speaking of reptiles....my oldest son got one of these (Mali Uromastyx) yest. :smiley_pirate thumper

[thumper]

:threadjack (sorry bout that) I've had many rats over the years...they're cool pets indeed! :smiley_pirate thumper

[squirrelfriend]

Thumper, that is pretty cool. looks big too. I used to have lots of reptiles and amphibians. Now I just have fuzzies. My husband has lots of Tarantulas. I have one spider. I was looking for decorations in the woods here for the tarantula cages. I pulled a chunk of wood off of a fallen tree and discovered that I had just ruined a spiders winter lodging. I took him home because he would have surely died. It was -20 outside. He is quite happy here. getting really fat. His name is Stan because he is just a standard spider.

[Abacat]

How's Stinkerpants like his lil buddies ? That was you wasn't it ? (Love your names...)

[thumper]

I caught many Tarantulas in arizona when I lived there...they come out in the rain. I think they dont like water and get clear of their holes or dens... I'll never forget the biggest one,,, coming out of prescott (raining) dad slams on the brakes and tells me to get out and look at the big spider in the road... I almost went nuts ,,,had to catch it!!! I found the coffee in our camping gear and emptied it into something else and tried to catch that big sucker!!! well he was bigger around than the can and that bastard would not scrunch up his legs for me... I jiggled the can and tried everything but he just wouldn't pull his legs in any and no way in hell was he going into it sideways...I had to let him go because I didnt want to damage him.... they dont handle injuries well (for me anyway).....boy was I pissed,,probably a record......:dono I also caught scorpions and sold them to a man at A.S.U. for 7c ea..... :smiley_pirate thumper

[squirrelfriend]

Stinkerpants hasn't been introduced to the rats. I think he is a natural predator to them. Weebles has a tendancy to crawl all over his cage when she is out but Stinkerpants just looks at her. Doesn't even sniff at her.

Oh, the ratlets got named Spottie (black hooded rat) and Too Hottie (grey hooded rat)

[TexanSquirrel]

Who is Stinkerpants and when do we get pics?:D

[squirrelfriend]

Stinkerpants is my ferret. He is appropriately named.

[squirrelfriend]

finally got some photos of the little farts.

[squirrelfriend]

just a few more plus their little buddy that was rooming with them for a day. The two rats would curl up together and this little pip squeek would sit on top all warm and cozy.

[Buddy'sMom]

I've got to admit that the notion of baby rats really hadn't been all that intriguing -- but they are adorable!! I don't get the "roommate for a day" part, though?? Is that a mousie that came out and saw a nice place to cuddle up with new friends?

[LynninIN]

They are very cute. Love the names.

[Bobo's Mom]

Ahhhh, how precious!

[TexanSquirrel]

CUTE! Such precious little babies!

[squirrelfriend]

the little mouse was their room mate for the day because he was being picked on by othrs in his cage. I let him heal up there for a day. once he was hyper again I put him back with some different mice this time.

[Buddy'sMom]

Sounds like your zoo rivals pia's .. have you guys ever counted up? Of course she might have just leaped ahead with all those babies. :D

[EmmasMummy]

A few years ago my husband saved a mouse from being snake food and suprised me with it. I was so happy. He isn't against it but I am I don't like seeing poor little mice be food. It was a really good mouse, untill it died at around two years old.

[squirrelfriend]

I can't stand seeing cute little fuzzy things be snake food either. I guess everybodys got to eat though. 2 years is a good life for a mouse. I just had one that was a freak of nature and lasted 3 years.

counting up? Hmmmm.............lets see

25 tarantulas
5 squirrels
1 ferret
3 cats
3 goldfish
2 rats
and a s&^$* load of mice.

oh, and one regular spider. His name is Stan. He is just a standard spider. I was looking in the woods here for some interesting peices of wood for my husbands tarantulas. I pulled this peice off of a fallen tree and found Stan there. It was freezing out so I guess I had a new guest to our house. It was the least I could do for ruining his home. He would have died if Ihad left him there. He is really fat now. he's my buddy.

[TexanSquirrel]

I can't really imagine having a spider for a buddy...

[thundersquirrel]

haha how about a cockroach? my crazy friend hannah had one for a pet. i met him. his name was charlie. i even got to hold him. i believe he was an african hissing cockroach.

hannah also used to play with dead animals.....

[GhosTS]

25 tarantulas....thats ALOT..:D

[squirrelfriend]

I know what the hissing cockroaches are but I don't think I particularly want one. Plays with dead animals? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...........................therapy?

[Abacat]

Stinkerpants hasn't been introduced to the rats. I think he is a natural predator to them.

Oh, the ratlets got named Spottie (black hooded rat) and Too Hottie (grey hooded rat)
sorry ! I didn't even think about that...The "ratlets" are soooo cute, why and how anyone could feed them to a snake is beyond me, Thank goodness you saved them :thumbsup

[xoxkayxox]

I cant believe you have 25 tarantulas and a normal spider whos your buddy?? Madness!

[thumper]

madness to some....cool to me! (nature nut) some my coolest pets years ago(insects) were emperor scorpions......they get twice this size!!!!!!!!!

[Sarah_Spencer]

Well I feel a lot better when I saw all the different kinds of pets everybody has. Now I don't feel as crazy about being owned by a zoo of animals.

2 cats (Max & Katie
a dog (scottish terrier, Dakota)
1 mouse (Curly)
3 rats (Spot, Chevy and Ford + 6 un named babies...still pinkies)
2 guinea pigs (Winston & Ollie)
4 flying squirrels (Rocky, Ava, Peanut & Piglet)
2 sugar gliders (Dora & Skittles)
1 russian tortoise (Nextel)
2 bearded dragons (Porsche & Lil' ****)
2 leopard geckos
1 tegu (Chester)
1 red earred slider (Charlie)
1 baby snapping turtle (Spike)
1 pigeon (Leo)
2 african underwater frogs
1 betta

No...I guess I still got a way longer list of babies, but I love them all to death and they're all spoiled rotten. By the way, I loved the pictures of the rat babies. Mine are only a few days old, but are starting to show their markings and it looks like I'm going to have 2 hooded rats...yay! I'll have to take some pictures. I love rats and it bothers me to no end that they have such a bad reputation. My mom used to be scared to death/ hated rats because Hollywood decided to make a sweet innocent rodent into some kind of monster.