newborn rat/mice

Question

dehydrated baby  

Mouse or rat   HI Irene,
I messaged you a few days ago but havent received a response yet.
I just wanted to ask one more question.. my mouse/rat has become very dehydrated.
I have bought lectade as that was all i could get my hands on, but havent given it to the baby yet.
Some sights say to mix half electrolytes with half formula?
The vet i spoke with who is familiar with rats said to switch to formula and feed every 2 hours as much as she/he wants to help with dehydration but this hasnt helped yet.
Do you have any advice - baby has been like this for a few days now. It was 2 days i switched from kitten milk to formula so for the first 5 days i was feeding kitten milk which i now know is the wrong thing!)
Im so afraid ill loose her. I just love her now or him (mouse or rat). I have only ever had rats.

Thankyou i will attach some photos. Chantal.

Answer
Hi Chantal.  I am so sorry for getting back to you so late...the holidays have interfered in my staying up to date on this site.  I do remember working with you on helping the babies you found before.  

I will say that I have never raised babies and am far from an expert in this area.  What I do know is that mother rats will push away babies that the mother feels are unhealthy, or runts of the litter, especially when her litter is large and she only has so many nipples...she will choose to feed the healthy ones.  I fear that this baby was abandoned by her mother.

Of course I could be wrong, but since you are doing the right things and the baby is not responding, that worries me that you may have either found the baby too late, or that it was abandoned due to health issues.

I also would not be able to tell the difference between a rat or mouse kitten at this stage of life, apart from size, there probably is little difference until several weeks of age.

If this response is not too late and your baby is still surviving but having issues, I can offer to obtain advise from several friends who are experts in this area of caring for litters.  I hope to hear back from you with an update.  Again, please accept my apologies for not being there for you in a timely manner.