HELP! - found abandoned baby Kangaroo Rats

[Becknutt]

These little guys can't be more than a few days old. Eyes still closed. Found them squirming around my back deck yesterday morning. I put them in a shallow box with some cotton to keep them warm and left them there hoping mom would come back to them. We have seen no sign of her, or a nest. I fed them a little KMR on a qtip twice last nightand they licked it very enthusiasticly. Going to give them some more now. All 3 are active and wiggling but very very tiny.

I'm going to try calling the humane society today. I'm not sure what to do. I know they are protected in California. I do not want to hand raise them and have them be unable to survive in the wild. (I also think it is illegal tokeep them)I have not touched them. I picked them up with a glove.

Any advice on keeping the little guys going until I can find an organization who specializes in this type of thing? Or do you know who I should call? I'm hoping to get someone to pickthem up today.

I'll post some picslater.

 

[Haley]

I have no clue about care for babies. I did a search and didnt come up with much. I would contact a licensed rehabber asap. Heres a few links:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/rehab/facilities.html

http://wildliferehabber.com/modules/xoopsmembers/index.php

 

[Becknutt]

Thanks Haley, We've called several people today and have not found anyone who will take them. Will keep trying.

 

[undergunfire]

You are doing good with hand feeding with a qtip, keep that up. Don't forget to stimulate them to go potty.

I have not much advice because I don't know what a Kangaroo Rat is, but just follow sites that tell you how to hand feed a baby rat.


Maybe EileenH has some tips?

 

[EileenH]

Yikes, I'll be not much help - I don't know anything about kangaroo rats. But all mammals have certain ground rules:
-Hydrationand warmth are the two major things to watch. Make sure the babies stay warm, and for the first 24 hours just give clear fluids. After that you can wean them into whatever the appropriate food is (hopefully you'll find a close rehabber to take them over)
-Make sure you stimulate them to urinate and defecate.

Those are the #1 first aid rules, and try to find a close rehabber. I'll look up what I can in the meanwhile.

 

[Becknutt]

Thanks guys for the input.

I continued hand feeding the babies every 2 hours, and stimulating them to potty. Their poops were so tiny... one poor baby was covered head to toe in milk and I didn't want to touch them and have them be rejected if we found the mom or a foster.

I found a local animal sanctuary who took them on, they are going to attempt to foster them with a mommy mouse that they have. If that doesn't work, the lady is going to continue to hand rear them until they are old enough to go back into the wild.

Here are a couple of pictures, they are sloppy and covered in milk. I ended up cleaning them up with a damp paper towel before I took them in to the sanctuary.

I hope these little ones survive and thrive, and are able to be returned to their natural habitat.

 

[Becknutt]

 

[Bearflame]

I found a baby kangaroo rat about the same age and under similar circumstances as the ones you did. I found this thread while looking for ways to care for him. His name was Skyscraper and he was sweet and adorable and would crawl right into my hand when I reached into his enclosure.
I had had him for about 24 hours before I found this thread. The KMR sounded great. I got some and a bottle and some q tips. He preferred the bottle. about 6 hours after giving him hi first feeding of KMR he had a seizure. He had 4 or 5 of them before eventually settling down. I put him back in his terrarium for the night a few hours after the seizures stopped. He seemed alright every time I checked on him over the course of the night. But when I went to check on him this morning he had died.
He had been processing sesame seeds and lettuce just fine but the stupid KMR was just too much for his little system to handle.
I know that you are done with this thread and have no need of this information but other people like me who try to care for baby kangaroo rats and find this thread in the future will. There is not enough information on caring for these little guys out there. This is one of a whole 3 sources I found so misinformation cannot be allowed. It killed my baby Skyscraper.

 

[Devi]

Bearflame, If they was the same age area as the ones the original poster found, the sesame and lettuce could of been doing it slowly at that age they do not eat solids of any kind its all milk from mommy. But sounds more like you shocked their system causing the death versus the KMR doing it harm, KMR is used with many kinds of orphaned animals who need milk still.