Orphaned Baby Rat

Question
Hi Janell, My b-friend's friend found a baby wild rat and was going to give it to his snake.  I begged him to not and tried to raise him.  Foolishly, I thought it was a baby house mouse and read that puppy replacement milk was the best.  He was small, with fur, but eyes were shut.  He seemed to thrive the first 3-4  days, was fed every 3 or so hours [came to work with me], got fatter, was kept  warm, and I stimulated his bathroom.  But one morning [about 5 days later when his eyes looked like they would open soon] I found him dead [seemed fine at the 3am feeding].  Broke my heart.  Now I realize he was a baby rat and I hear human soy milk is best.  I am still very sad--he seemed to have really bonded with me and only wanted to sleep in my hand.  Chirped and snuggled.  Are they really hard to save or did I blow it?
sigh, Ellen

Answer
Baby rats are VERY hard to save. I use kitten and puppy milk replacer as milk subs for my orphaned litters and that is absolutely fine - soy milk is just what you 'can' use if you need to. Don't beat yourself up over it.. it's very difficult to raise them up. Out of probably a dozen I've tried to hand raise, I've only had one survive.

He may have just been too malnourished from those few days before you took care of him - and eventually it caught up to him. I'm sorry for your loss, but know that you did all you could. :(

Lots of hugs!

Janell