NewBorn Baby Rats......a few questions

My Rat Basil had a litter of 12 pups, yesterday, (May 6th)! I was SO excited for her!!! They are adorible!! I had a few questions.....Im a first timer with newborns and i was wondering if there is a way to tell male from female already or what age to look for that. second i know that the boys must be taken out by 4 1/2 - 5 weeks......when do they start to grow hair??? Last question......anyone in Orange County want one???? Free to good home NOT SNAKE FOOD!!!!

 

Hi there. It is possible to tell the sex at this point, but very difficult unless you have a really trained eye for it. It will me much easier in a couple weeks when the babies are more developed. The easiest way would be to hold 2 babies next to each other and see if they are exactly the same or different and start out grouping them that way to see how many of each sex you have. They usually start to get their baby fuzz by around 5-7 days. Their eyes should open at 2 weeks when they will begin to try solid food. They will still need to nurse up to the 5th week tho. If you are looking to put up an ad for your babies, I suggest doing it on a rat site such as http://ratsrule.com in the adoption section. http://www.curiosityrats.com/index.html This is also a great breeder's site with lots of good info and links on it. Good luck with your new babies! Take some pictures :mrgreen:
You didn't mention if you bought her pregnant or if you had daddy. If you do have daddy with her and you haven't separated them, just be warned that she is most likely pregnant again already. Make sure you give mom extra treats and protien like fried eggs, yogurt, and meat scraps while she's nursing. Have fun!