This link has basic info as well as a formula recipe for feeding orphans: 
http://www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat/topic,14583.0

And here’s a Rat Fan Club page with good info:
http://www.ratfanclub.org/orphans.html

Always put the syringe or whatever in the side of their mouth and put in small drops of milk at a time so it doesn't go down their pharynx and into their lungs.  One of the most important things to do is remember to help them eliminate after feeding by taking a damp warm cotton ball and rubbing their bellies and genitals with it.  Baby rodents cannot eliminate by themselves and need this stimulation.  Good luck!

P.S.- Perhaps not the best time to ask this, but how did they not hear the babies eeping when they were shooing out the mother?   

Did the mother run off for sure, or could she be waiting for the nasty humans to leave her brood so she can retrieve them?

Good luck Liza!!

k, I read the links. Great, thank you guys!

I wish I didn't have to go to work. What am I going to do during work time?
Oh man...

Can you take them to work with you?  These guys can't go a couple of hours without being fed. 

Liza, I think your best bet would be to find a nursing rat.  At this age, it's highly unlikely they'll survive.  Maybe contact Wee Companions, and see if they have any nursing mothers at the moment.  Good luck!

..........thinking of you................
You can warm some rice in a sock; warm it in the microwave; experiment with how long it takes to get warm but not hot.  It will keep them warm for quite a while.

We don't have any nursing mothers right now. The best bet would be if you could find one at one of the pet stores or feeder stores (shudder). I'm sure you won't have any luck with PetCo but you could try Pet Kingdom on Sports Arena Blvd. or Live Cargo, as I know they breed their own feeders and should have a lactating mum. Whether or not they'll sell her and her babies I don't know.

Right now, you're going to have to feed the babies every two hours and help them eliminate too. The soy baby formula is a good option, so is a puppy or kitten milk replacement formula. You might also have to rotate in rehydrating formula as sometimes formula can be hard on their systems.  To keep them warm, I suggest you get a Snuggle Safe (they're about $29) from PetSmart. The Snuggle Safe will stay warm for about 12 hours. If you're planning on trying to release the wild babies, try to have as little contact with them as possible. Handle only for feeding and eliminating so you don't imprint them and make them unreleasable. Wild rats don't survive very well in captivity, they are always very timid. 

Personally, we haven't had any luck hand raising babies. They hang on to about 12 days then start dieing one by one. It's very sad. The only success we've had is finding a surrogate mother to nurse the babies. If you do find a surrogate mum, you'll need to make the new babies smell like her current babies. The way we did that was to get some peed on bedding from the mum's cage and rub it on the babies. Then we took some of her babies and rubbed the in with the new babies. Then put them all back at the same time.

Good luck.

Wow, what an ordeal. I don't have much info to offer, but all I can say is good luck with them, and post piccies soon.

I wanted to wish you best of luck and to tell you that we successfully hand raised 7 wild babies out of a litter of 9 some years ago.  I kept a heating pad in a plastic tub with a lid on it (for drafts) and put some fleece baby blankets down to keep their skin from making contact with the pad. 

As far as milk? I used canned goats milk and warmed it up in a microwave then diluted it because it is very rich and hot, with an ice cube.  Microwave warms inside out.  Then I tried to use a dropper, but ended up dipping my pinky finger in and letting them just suck right off my skin.  As they got older I could cup them in my hands and they would lap it out of the folds of my skin in my hand.  Not the most conventional way, but I had a pretty good success rate. 

When they got to be about 3 weeks and veeping not eeeping, I added a little rice baby food in a dish with goats milk and let them step in it and oh what a mess, but oh how cute.  WE kept handling to a minimum.  IF we could get them to suck a finger or drink out of a dish without us? We felt it was better.  And we kept a radio on with classical music for distraction as little nerves were developing.  At 3 1/2 weeks everybody started leaping and hopping and accepting pulverized dog food, then grains like cheerios..at 8 weeks they were so wild when I would walk in the room they would give that WIDE EYES look so we took them to the woods and let them go. 

I wish you the best of luck, don't forget warm cotton balls for the bathroom part...but if you can find a (gulp) brooder and slip the little guys in? They may have a better chance, but I would wonder since they are more aggressive than domestic eepers if they would ever let the domestics feed? Good question for a breeder. 

Best of luck

I have contacted some local breeders.
Oh man, this is really draining. They are eating and pooping and eeping and sleeping and eating and pooping and eeping... it takes us about an hour to get them all fed and get the poop out. I hope to find a nursing mom... we would be willing to take them back in after they are out of the woods, maybe even before they are weaned if that's an issue. Right now, they are just so small and I don't know what to do during the week, when we work.
Thank you guys for all the info!

I can't do that. I cannot risk my crew getting sick. I cannot properly quarantine right now either. And what would I be doing then? With a momma and her babies and these babies?  What did I get into... I can hopefully locate a nursing mom... and relinquish them there. 

Yes, angelratgirl, I think my colleague was kind enough not to kill the momma and to bring the babies here. He had asked me last week what to do if he caught a rat (he has Havaheart traps) and I told him to release them back into the wild. I had no idea I would be taking in babies...

How are they doing today, Liza?