Rat Breeding

[dan2492]

Has anyone had the problem with there rat just not takeing care of there babies. Mine had some the other day and it didnt seem to care about them it just burried them under a bunch of substrate. Well anyone have any ideas??
Dan

[mykee]

Burying them under substrate IS taking care of them. New moms are nervous about damn near everything, especially you. She is possibly doing this because you are making an apearance much too often, and she sees you as a threat. let the Mom be a Mom and try not to interfere but to water, feed, and clean them. I would leave them alone for at least the first two days.

[dan2492]

ok thanks

[Linds]

I've only ever had one mother that didn't take care of her babies. They had not been cleaned off after birth and had shavings dried to them and were strewn about the cage. Needless to say those pinkies were cleaned off and met their fate, as did the mother. As mykee said, burying them is taking care of them. She is just keeping them protected in her nest. It is neglect you need to watch for. I wouldn't agree with leaving them alone however. If the cage needs to be cleaned, then clean it. I've been handling rat pinks as young as day one for going on 9 years now with no problems.