baby rats found

Question
QUESTION: Late this morning my husband and I found three tiny rats cuddling and sound asleep in our garage, pretty much out in the open.  There was no sign of mom, though she did have several places to hide in if she wanted.  When we found them and went to place them into a container, they were very non-responsive/docile.  My initial action was to release them into the wild, but a few hours later it just sat so wrong with me thinking about their survival.  So I was finally able to retrieve them after a long hard search, then gave them some warm milk, and now they are sleeping soundly.  When I found them the second time, though, they were wandering around  normally, exploring their environment.

My questions:  1) Is cows milk enough at this stage? 2)With our having found them "unprotected" in our garage and not seeing mom anywhere, would a mother rat do such a thing? I mean, did she abandon them? I can guarantee that they were not in that spot yesterday - which raises the possibility they are older and were walking around before today, and were simply docile due to lack of nutrition.  When curled up, one is about the size of a Canadian $1.00 coin (a Loonie).  How can I determine their age? 3) How likely is it at this age that they carry disease, and is it alright for my children to hold them? 4) My husband is less than thrilled at the prospect of keeping these little guy/gals?, so what should I do with them?  I haven't the heart to release them into the dangerous world of preying birds and whatnot. Before getting rid of them at all, what kind of learning experience could my children gain from this?

Thank you so much for your help.  I've never encountered rats before, let alone babies.

ANSWER: Hello Elaine,
Do the babies have any fur or are their eyes open? If their eyes are open they are about two weeks old, and so that means you would only need to take care of them for two more weeks before letting them go. Generally the best thing to give them is half pedialyte and half water or kitten milk replacement formula. Also, the mother may not have abandoned the babies. She may have went to search for food. Generally around this time you can put rat food in with them and let them nibble on it. As far as diseases go, it's always possible the rats are carrying diseases. I don't think I would let your children hold them especially if they don't wash their hands. If they wash their hands before and after handling them, that will be good. Your children will learn to appreciate all types of wildlife and to not just kill an animal because they are seen as a nuisance or something. Here is a link on more information about rats and reproduction.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=18&cat=1804&articleid=889



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for all this information.  It was indeed very helpful, but I have just a couple of more questions if I may.  1) Is mother likely to attempt to re-enter our garage at all costs? If so, for how long? 2) Yes, the babies have fur, but no, their eyes are not open.  They are explorers, though. Should I wait 'til their eyes are open and then start counting 2 weeks from that point? 3)Is it necessary to feed them rat food before releasing them in two weeks, or will the formula be enough? - and are they going to know how to survive, having been fed by us all this time?

Again, thank you so much. I appreciate how thoroughly you read my e-mail and answered it. Hopefully this will be it for questions! :)

Answer
You know I am going to say that they are at least 7 days old since they have fur. When their eyes open count to two weeks and then release them.  It actually is necessary to feed them rat food because you need to weane them off of the milk and feed them some rat food. They should be able to survive in the wild just fine actually. Generally around the third week you start feeding less formula and more rat food. If the mom returns and finds her babies gone, she may just think a predator got to them. They will do fine in the wild. I've had hamsters escape in a pet store and we found them two weeks later alive and well. He had stashed food and found water to get to. Their natural instincts will kick in and they will be able to take care of themselves. Rat food isn't that expensive it's only like four dollars at a pet store and I'd get a seed based food for now and then just keep it in a small bowl. Keep feeding them the milk until about the third week and then slowly try to weane them off of it. That link that I gave you should talk about how mother rats weane their babies. I think they will be fine. They have survived so far. :)