Baby RAT Rehabbing

[DarkLies212]

Anyone here have experience with baby rats? A vet I work with asked me to take this little guy in. Eyes closed and fully furred.

I"ll be picking him up after work today.

I have pet fancy rats, males and females. One of my females I adopted with her newborn litter, but that's all the baby rat experience I have. I put out some feelers, but most of the contacts came back negative.

Anyone have any tips and pointers?

[Jennefer]

Check with Diggies Friend....I think he has experience with baby rats. :grin2 Pics are good....even if he's not a squirrel!

[DarkLies212]

Check with Diggies Friend....I think he has experience with baby rats. :grin2 Pics are good....even if he's not a squirrel!

Thank you! I sent a PM! :hug

Here's the pic I got from her last night.

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[Jennefer]

OMG he is so cute! :gigg Love him! Thanks for sharing!

[DarkLies212]

Was really hoping to find someone who had some buddies. Concerned about his social skills as well as he grows up, regarding potential release or not. I've read some mixed opinions about whether or not hand reared wilds can be put in with fancies :hidechair

[Jennefer]

Hummmm...i dont know about that. I've had fancy rats as pets many times over the years but never thought about a wild rehab...where do you release a wild rat? Woods/forest maybe?

[DarkLies212]

Hummmm...i dont know about that. I've had fancy rats as pets many times over the years but never thought about a wild rehab...where do you release a wild rat? Woods/forest maybe?

Dunno! I release all my squirrels into the wildlife refuge behind my property, so I would assume something like that would work? Just also worried about bringing wild rats closer to home... :thinking

Reading that releasing singles is a death sentence for ratties as they won't know how to socialize and will be killed by the colony they try to join :sadness Happy to offer the little guy a home, just wasn't expecting to.

[DarkLies212]

I'm 11 grams
My eyes opened yesterday
My mouth is only as wide as the tip of a Miracle Nipple
I sleep all day
My body is approx 1.5 inches long
I LOVE Esbilac with a touch of FV UB


What am I? :thinking

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[Jen413]

Adorable!!! He's adorable. That's all I got!

[DarkLies212]

Adorable!!! He's adorable. That's all I got!

Makes 2 of us!! :grin2

The domestic rats I have were much bigger than her at her age, but I know wilds are smaller. She's about half the size of my domestic mouse right now :thinking

[lennysmom]

Cuuuuuuuuuuuute!!:Love_Icon:klunk
I'm not sure if she's a rattie or a mousie though.. :thinking

[Jen413]

After I posted I went and googled both. I don't know but I was leaning more toward mouse from the pictures I saw.

Maybe this will help? I'm sure you've probably already tried google though.:grin2

http://www.colonialpest.com/how-to-tell-the-difference-between-a-young-rat-and-a-mouse/

[DarkLies212]

http://www.colonialpest.com/how-to-tell-the-difference-between-a-young-rat-and-a-mouse/

Thanks!! I found some charts on google images, but nothing was as helpful as this in my opinion. These are my observations so far.

Size – A rat’s body in general is bulkier while a mouse’s body is more slender. She's a little puff ball of growing fuzz, so I'm not sure how bulky she is without something to compare her to!.


Tail – A mouse’s tail is about the same length as its head and body combined while the tail of a rat is shorter than its head and body combined. A black rat’s tail is dark above and pale beneath while a house mouse’s tail is uniformly dark. 6cm dark tail and 6-7cm body


Head – A mouse has a small head that is proportional in size to its body while a young rat has a large head for its body. A mouse has a more pointed muzzle while a rat’s nose is more blunt. Head looks kinda big, but her nose is pointy (doesn't look as pointy as my mouse's, but not as blunt as my rats')


Ears – A mouse has large ears for its head size (you could pull them over its eyes) while a rat has proportionally small ears with hairs inside (if you get close enough to check!). Ears are still pulled to her head, but they look pretty small to me


Feet – A mouse has small feet that are in proportion to its body, while a young rat has feet that are large compared to the rest of its body. Her feet look bigger than I expected, but I'm not sure what they're calling large..

[HRT4SQRLS]

I would consider the possibility of a vole also.
They have shorter tails.
I wouldn't put this one with your domestic rats.

This little cutie deserves the chance to grow up and be free BUT please don't forget that some wild rats do carry disease that humans can catch. Some carry viruses like Hanta virus or Leptospirosis. Just be careful to wash your hands well after handling him.
Thank you for taking this little one in and giving him a chance. :)
What a tiny little thing! :grin2

[DarkLies212]

I would consider the possibility of a vole also.
They have shorter tails.
I wouldn't put this one with your domestic rats.

This little cutie deserves the chance to grow up and be free BUT please don't forget that some wild rats do carry disease that humans can catch. Some carry viruses like Hanta virus or Leptospirosis. Just be careful to wash your hands well after handling him.
Thank you for taking this little one in and giving him a chance. :)
What a tiny little thing! :grin2

A vole!!! That looks similar to her as well!! :eek :klunk Well, without the short tail. :thinking Who knew there were so many teeny tinies here!!

She's definitely not going in with anyone anymore. Especially since she might not be a rat :hidechair

Thanks for the info on diseases! :hug I'm going to google them and see what exactly those are so I know what to look out for. One being this small has the possibility of having something as well? Probably a stupid question, but when it comes to stuff like that, I'm beyond clueless...

[HRT4SQRLS]

Yes, they can be carriers. They wouldn't show illness themselves but they can pass it to others if they acquired it from mom.

[DarkLies212]

Yes, they can be carriers. They wouldn't show illness themselves but they can pass it to others if they acquired it from mom.

:eek Good to know!! Thank you!!! :hug

[crazy4squirrels]

I have raised wild raties. They are lovable little guys

[DarkLies212]

I have raised wild raties. They are lovable little guys

Any tips so I don't screw this up? :eek

[Jennefer]

OMG she is adorable! I know my mom has had wild rats out doors make nests by her stairs or in her plant pots (she lives out in the country with lots of barns), like a roof or field rat. They are same color as her. Way smaller than domestic pet rats, but bigger than a mouse. Kind of look like a giant grayish brown mouse. Big dark eyes like flyers. Def not typical subway rat! She is just precious. :blowkiss 292360

[DarkLies212]

OMG she is adorable! I know my mom has had wild rats out doors make nests by her stairs or in her plant pots (she lives out in the country with lots of barns), like a roof or field rat. They are same color as her. Way smaller than domestic pet rats, but bigger than a mouse. Kind of look like a giant grayish brown mouse. Big dark eyes like flyers. Def not typical subway rat! She is just precious. :blowkiss 292360

That looks very very close!! That one's tail looks blackish, too, like hers!

[Jennefer]

How's ur rat baby doing???

[DarkLies212]

She's doing wonderful! I almost had another baby roof rat (my plan was to release them together), but the little one died before I could get to him.

Here she is last week before her big escape! :eek She jumped out of her new cage as I was giving her more water and took off behind the sofa. I had just opened the ferret doors and released those beasts, so panic ensued! After wrangling all the ferrets and somehow moving that behemoth of a couch myself, she saw me and ran towards me. We haven't had an escape again :dance

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[TubeDriver]

:klunk What a little cutie!:klunk She looks like a bigger version of my Deer mice.:grin2


That escape must have been panic inducing, it is scary just trying to recapture little ones like this but with ferrets around?!:eek

At some point, we reluctantly decided no more out of cage time for our mice, they are just too fast, too clever and want to run and hide.

[DarkLies212]

At some point, we reluctantly decided no more out of cage time for our mice, they are just too fast, too clever and want to run and hide.

That's what I decided for her as well. Well, that and she just isn't very social like some of the domestic mice I've adopted.

I so badly wish I could release her :sadness I just wouldn't want to do that knowing it'll be a death sentence for her. She isn't as easy to read as a squirrel where you can tell they're so friggen unhappy being inside. She acts like some of my domestic mice (the rats are much more social), just a bit more shy.

[cava]

I would have crapped my pants. Thank goodness ferrets are part sloth and easy to wrangle compared to a speedy rodent.

[Jennefer]

Cava....:laugh2:laugh2:laugh2 I needed a good laugh today!!!! Your comment did it!

DL - she is just precious! I love her big ears! :Love_Icon Glad to hear she is doing well.

Your escape story reminds me of when LuLu was about 8 weeks old...i took her into my daughters bedroom (why I cant remember), set her down on the floor on a blanket & in a split second she ducked under the bed in a space about 2" wide. Under the bed is a trundle, which is connected to a base with a bookshelf behind it, which there would have been no way to retrieve her had she gone behind that bookshelf...besides tearing the entire wall away or moving a 500 lb bed. I have never moved furniture so fast in my life to get under there & get to her, in the far back corner mind you, where I barely fit! Little bugger peed on the carpet too when she was under there. :tap

ME: Thank God I got you! My Daughter: Mom, this is a squirrel free zone from now on...no more squirrels in my room! (So we had a slight incident when I had all 6 of my flyers in her room to run the curtains...i left for a minute to get something & they jumped on her & started biting her ears, with blood!). oopsie :gigg

Love the photos...keep us updated on her!