~6 week old babies in Boston *PICS*

[Brawnyman]

Sometime around the beginning of April we had a rat find it's way into our house and make its home under our kitchen cabinets. The day after we got rid of it I heard some peeps and rustling under our dishwasher and when I took the bottom off a ball of 10 babies rolled out onto the floor. They were way too cute not to take care of and I'm glad I did because they grew up to be just as adorable.  That brings me to my problem...

I can't keep them all so I need to find homes for seven or eight of these little guys.  There are 2 girls and 8 boys and my best guess is they were born on about April 10th which makes them approx 6 weeks old. Genetically they're wild but they've been hand raised and socialized since 11 days old. They're still skittish when it comes to loud noises or quick movements but for the most part they've come around to humans. I was worried about diseases and parasites with them being wild rats and all, but none of them have shown signs of illness and there are no visible signs of parasites. I'd like to find a home for the girls soon, since I have the cage divided and they're taking up half of it and the boys are pretty crowded. The girls need to go as a pair but the boys can go single assuming you already have at least one rat.

I live in Cambridge but could transport them pretty much anywhere in the Boston area.


Pictures!

Finally found a use for that old shirt


I'm pretty sure these guys are part monkey


"Hey he's got cheerios!" (The bare spots are from roughhousing not mites btw)


"Gimme that, it's mine"


This is what happens every morning when I open the window and new smells flow in

*edit to clarify that it's the same cage but there's a divider preventing them from reaching each other

[Ratty Krazy]

pm'd you

[sawyer_gota_gun]

Aww they're so cute! If I lived in Boston I'd take them. My sister does but she is not a rat lover

I was just curious do 'wild rats' chew more than fancy rats and how did you raise them, on puppy or kitten formula?
I think there's baby rats in our backyard and I'm tempted to steal two babies. I'm very good with raising baby animals so it shouldn't be too hard...

[Brawnyman]

I was just curious do 'wild rats' chew more than fancy rats and how did you raise them, on puppy or kitten formula?

I used powdered soy infant formula. They didn't like it at first so I they would only eat a drop at a time that I put on their mouths. After a couple days though they came around and started suckling.  As for chewing I don't really know.  I've never had rats before so I don't have anything to compare it to.  They mostly just chew on the cloth pieces I gave them in a poor attempt at nest building. A few of them will also chew on the cage bars if they want attention.