Raising Orphaned Rats or Mice

It’s very difficult to hand raise a baby rat (or mouse) who is less than a week old (a pinkie who doesn’t have any hair yet).  The best option is to find a nursing rat to serve as a foster mother.  As long as the babies are about the same age as her own, mother rats are almost always willing to adopt orphans.  The best way to locate a foster mother is to contact local breeders, pet shops, or rat rescues.

The best way to introduce new babies to a foster mom is to take the mom out of the cage, then put the orphans in with her own babies, rubbing them all together to get the scent of her own babies on the orphans.

http://www.ratfanclub.org/orphans.html