What do I do?

Question
I just bought my boys an Albino Rat last week as a first pet, she gave birth to 6 babies today..... What do I do? I called the pet store and the said not to do anything. How do I clean the cage and not disturb them? Also how old should they be before I find them new homes? I am really nervous about doing something wrong and the babies dying......  

Answer
Hello Miranda,
The best thing to do is nothing. The mom will do everything she needs to. To clean the cage take the mother rat out and leave the babies alone. Scoop out half of the bedding. Make sure you don't disturb the nest. You can fully change the bedding at 2 weeks of age. It will be stinky for two weeks since you can't fully clean the cage, but two weeks will fly by. At four weeks of age you can find new homes for the rats. Here is an excellent link on reproduction of rats and raising them.
http://peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=18&cat=1804&articleid=889