pregnant hairless rat

Question
I bought a hairless girl from petco last night . After getting home and getting a good look at her,She looks very pregnant to me! i may be wrong and i hope i am.I've read that hairless females are terrible mothers, but I was wondering if that is true in every case? Is there anything i can do for her besides the usual care for pregnant rats?I don't want to take her back to the pet store as I'm afraid she would not get the proper care( and i am already attached to her!)Also, if she does happen to not take care of the babies, or start to cannibalize them, what would you suggest? Any advice is appreciated!!!

Answer
Hi Charlene

Hairless rats are sometimes not able to lactate which is why they lose their litters or cannibalize the pinkies.
Its really really difficult for a human to take over and try to keep newborn pinkies alive. It takes alot of work on your part and its not always a success. Lets hope she isn't pregnant and if she is, lets hope she is not a true hairless and that she may still lactate. It is a 50-50 chance, maybe better, that she will do just fine.

Here is a great site that will discuss in great detail how to care for orphaned rats. It says everything that I would tell you from what you would need to feed the pups to how to keep them warm etc...

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/orphans.htm

Hopefully though she is not pregnant, just chubby! Do you notice if her nipples protrude at all?
Also, good job on keeping her! I am so glad you did not return her to the pet store!!  I am sure she loves you for it!

good luck

Sandra