AFRMA Facebook

AFRMA

American Fancy Rat & Mouse Association

Baby Rat Development from Birth to 6 weeks
By Karen Robbins

newborn
Newborn. They are bright pink and only weigh 6–8 grams (not much more than a nickel). Their eyes and ear canals are sealed. The light spot on their left side is a tummy full of milk.		 1 day
1 Day. The babies are already showing pigment. Go to more photos of 1-day-old rat babies.		 2 days
2 Days. The babies are showing more color pigment and have clearly grown in size and weight.
3 days
3 Days. Each day more pigment shows through.		 4 days
4 Days.		 5 days
5 Days.
6 days
6 Days. They are starting to get some peach fuzz hair. These are all Russian Blue.		 7 days
7 Days (1 week).		 8 days
8 Days.
9 days
9 Days. Their coats are really starting to come through.		 10 days
10 Days.		 11 days
11 Days.
12 days
12 Days.		 13 days
13 Days.		 14 days
14 Days (2 weeks). They opened their eyes today and will really begin to explore their cage.
15 days
15 Days.		 16 days
16 Days.		 17 days
17 Days.
18 days
18 Days. Practicing their washing. They are at the super cute balls-of-fluff stage. The babies are eating a variety of foods but still need mom’s milk.		 19 days
19 Days.		 20 days
20 Days.
21 days
21 Days (3 weeks).		 22 days
22 Days.		 23 days
23 Days.
24 days
24 Days.		 25 days
25 Days. They are starting to grow very quickly and they spend their waking hours doing lots of playing.		 26 days
26 Days.
27 days
27 Days.		 28 days
28 Days (4 weeks). Mom is in the process of weaning them.		 29 days
29 Days.
30 days
30 Days.		 31 days
31 Days.		 32 days
32 Days.
33 days
33 Days.		 34 days
34 Days.		 35 days
35 Days (5 weeks). They are continuing to grow very quickly and you will start to notice a size difference between males and females.
36 days
36 Days.		 37 days
37 Days.		 38 days
38 Days.
39 days
39 Days.		 40 days
40 Days.		 41 days
41 Days.
  42 days
42 Days (6 weeks). The babies are well developed, completely weaned, and ready to go to their permanent homes to be wonderful pets. Males and females MUST be separated by this age.		  

Go to Sexing 101.


Back to top

Updated November 2, 2015

Copyright © 1995–2024 American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association
All text, artwork, and photos are copyright to AFRMA, and/or the author, artist, or photographer.
Unauthorized copying of any part constitutes a breach of copyright law.

Based on Design by G. Wolfgang
Courtesy of Open Web Design