Re: Should I try to foster?
I do believe it's blood. I've seen the red discharge on my other rats. She seems to have a small gash on her nose, I believe it was from a poorly made hopper feeder now. It's been removed. Her food is currently in a bowl until she gets her weight back up. I've put a few from the older litter in to see how mum 2 reacts. I'm wondering if the feeder might be part of her weight loss. If it was hurting her when she went to eat she might not have wanted to eat as much.
Re: Should I try to foster?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
nikkubus
That far apart it probably won't work out very well to foster the whole litter but maybe fostering a couple will help take some pressure off the mom that isn't doing so well. I think it's a good idea to boost her protein while nursing even if she wasn't struggling, so the 32% dog food will probably help. I'd just watch what kind of dog food, some is really healthy for rats and others is really unhealthy. Corn isn't good for them (or dogs for that matter), which is present in most of the cheap dog foods and even some of the pricy ones.
I did end up fostering three of the pups to the second mom. She's taken to them quite well and all involved seem to be doing a bit better.
Re: Should I try to foster?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BallPythonWannaBe
I did end up fostering three of the pups to the second mom. She's taken to them quite well and all involved seem to be doing a bit better.
That was a good idea. I do that now & then, & it's the same with mice also- if one mom is overwhelmed & another can take a few more. :gj:
But with mice, it's best to roll the babies about to be fostered in some used litter from the nest they're going to, as babies can be attacked (killed) for smelling like a different male. Rats are usually better about this, more accepting, but either way, the males use their urine to scent mark, & it's noticeable on the offspring.