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Emokid
I often see the baby hiding under her mother, though sometimes it does not appear as if she is nursing. Also, sometimes when she looks like she is trying to nurse, her mom will walk away from her. Is this bad?
Answer
If you want to know for sure that the kit is nursing, you need to buy a gram scale and monitor her weight once a day at the same time. A kit should gain 2 gm of weight a day to start out and then progress from there. They will sometimes gain 7-8 in a day once they really get going.
Other ways to tell if she's nursing well is if her tummy feels warm and round, and if her tail curls up over her back. If she's not gaining weight, she doesn't display the things I mentioned, and mom is constantly walking away, you may need to step in and take over.
Here is an FAQ I wrote regarding kit care:
Most of the time, the chinchilla mom will take care of everything and you can just have fun with the kits. The more you handle, play, and socialize with the kits, the tamer they will become. However, there are several things to watch for and do, for even healthy, thriving kits and mom.
1. To help with the milk production you can give mom an additional water bottle with 1/2 cranberry or apple juice (non sweetened) and 1/2 water. Make sure she still has her bottle of plain water also.
5. Kits will be left with mom until they are weaned at 6-8 weeks of age. You may notice your little one eating hay the very first day, but they still need all the nutrition they can get from mom. Many people say wean at 200 gm, but if your kit is a month old and 200 gm, it doesn't mean you have to wean them that soon.
6. An 8-week-old male kit should be removed from their mother and from any female siblings. The female kits can stay with mom, as long as dad is in a separate cage.
Hand Feeding
If it does become necessary to hand feed the kits, there are no commercial formulas available. One possible supplement is 1 can of goats milk, 1 can of water, 1 tablespoon baby rice cereal
Also, as a handy tip, since the formula makes such a great amount, and you only use a small amount at a time, use ice cube trays to freeze your formula. Pour it into the trays, cover them with saran wrap, then once frozen put them in a Ziplock freezer bag. When you need them, simply remove one ice cube at a time, let it thaw, and throw away the unused formula. The formula should not be kept more than 48-hours at a time. Once the 48-hour mark is reached, it's time to throw away that formula, and bring out a new ice cube.
The formula should be room temperature or slightly warmer when used, never hot. Test it as you would baby formula, against the underside of your wrist. An insulin syringe works wonderfully for supplementing kits and is easy to control, though some people have good luck with glass eye droppers. When you feed the kits, DO NOT put the food directly into the kits mouth. If you do, you could cause them to aspirate and result in their deaths. Instead, place a drop of formula at a time on their lower lip, allowing them to lick the formula off. They may struggle and hate it at first, but once they get the hang of it, they'll do great. If you need a bit of help, place the chin in a washcloth, burrito style, to help gently restrain them for feeding. You will need to feed the kits a minimum of every two (2) hours. Once they are taking 2-3 syringes full at a feeding, you will be well on your way to having healthy growing kits. As they start to get older the formula intake may increase but then once they start to eat pellets and hay the formula intake will decrease.
As an added nutritional boost, you can place the following formula that the JAGS developed in the cage with mom and the babies. Moms seem to enjoy it just as much as the kits. Be sure to provide hay, pellets, and fresh water along with this formula.
1 part calf or goat milk replacer (a dry formula-purchase at a feed store)
1 part crushed pellets
1 part 50/50 mixture of dry rice and oatmeal baby cereal
(Tip - A coffee grinder makes quick work of the pellets.)
I edited out the parts that were not pertinent to your little one at this time, because there's not enough room to post it all! If you want to read it in it's entirety, or if you have any more questions, please go to http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com. It's under the FAQ section and has some weaning information contained in it as well.
Good luck!
If you want to know for sure that the kit is nursing, you need to buy a gram scale and monitor her weight once a day at the same time. A kit should gain 2 gm of weight a day to start out and then progress from there. They will sometimes gain 7-8 in a day once they really get going.
Other ways to tell if she's nursing well is if her tummy feels warm and round, and if her tail curls up over her back. If she's not gaining weight, she doesn't display the things I mentioned, and mom is constantly walking away, you may need to step in and take over.
Here is an FAQ I wrote regarding kit care:
Most of the time, the chinchilla mom will take care of everything and you can just have fun with the kits. The more you handle, play, and socialize with the kits, the tamer they will become. However, there are several things to watch for and do, for even healthy, thriving kits and mom.
1. To help with the milk production you can give mom an additional water bottle with 1/2 cranberry or apple juice (non sweetened) and 1/2 water. Make sure she still has her bottle of plain water also.
5. Kits will be left with mom until they are weaned at 6-8 weeks of age. You may notice your little one eating hay the very first day, but they still need all the nutrition they can get from mom. Many people say wean at 200 gm, but if your kit is a month old and 200 gm, it doesn't mean you have to wean them that soon.
6. An 8-week-old male kit should be removed from their mother and from any female siblings. The female kits can stay with mom, as long as dad is in a separate cage.
Hand Feeding
If it does become necessary to hand feed the kits, there are no commercial formulas available. One possible supplement is 1 can of goats milk, 1 can of water, 1 tablespoon baby rice cereal
Also, as a handy tip, since the formula makes such a great amount, and you only use a small amount at a time, use ice cube trays to freeze your formula. Pour it into the trays, cover them with saran wrap, then once frozen put them in a Ziplock freezer bag. When you need them, simply remove one ice cube at a time, let it thaw, and throw away the unused formula. The formula should not be kept more than 48-hours at a time. Once the 48-hour mark is reached, it's time to throw away that formula, and bring out a new ice cube.
The formula should be room temperature or slightly warmer when used, never hot. Test it as you would baby formula, against the underside of your wrist. An insulin syringe works wonderfully for supplementing kits and is easy to control, though some people have good luck with glass eye droppers. When you feed the kits, DO NOT put the food directly into the kits mouth. If you do, you could cause them to aspirate and result in their deaths. Instead, place a drop of formula at a time on their lower lip, allowing them to lick the formula off. They may struggle and hate it at first, but once they get the hang of it, they'll do great. If you need a bit of help, place the chin in a washcloth, burrito style, to help gently restrain them for feeding. You will need to feed the kits a minimum of every two (2) hours. Once they are taking 2-3 syringes full at a feeding, you will be well on your way to having healthy growing kits. As they start to get older the formula intake may increase but then once they start to eat pellets and hay the formula intake will decrease.
As an added nutritional boost, you can place the following formula that the JAGS developed in the cage with mom and the babies. Moms seem to enjoy it just as much as the kits. Be sure to provide hay, pellets, and fresh water along with this formula.
1 part calf or goat milk replacer (a dry formula-purchase at a feed store)
1 part crushed pellets
1 part 50/50 mixture of dry rice and oatmeal baby cereal
(Tip - A coffee grinder makes quick work of the pellets.)
I edited out the parts that were not pertinent to your little one at this time, because there's not enough room to post it all! If you want to read it in it's entirety, or if you have any more questions, please go to http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com. It's under the FAQ section and has some weaning information contained in it as well.
Good luck!
How should i take care of my baby Western Painted Turtles?
KoopDaKill
I have two baby Western Painted turtles. What should be doing to keep them healthy.
Answer
Paints actually only get to about ten inches...
The rule of thumb posted by one poster is correct... however, a 50 gallon tank is a decent size for a SINGLE adult Paint. Since you have two, you'll want a minimum 75 gallon to give your turtles enough space. There's really no need to buy 100 gallon tank.
You need a submerged heater to keep the water at about 80 degrees, and a floating thermometer to monitor it.
Give them a nice habitat to live in... with plenty of artificial plants floating around to hide in, and something to lay on or under on the bottom of the tank-- like a rock cave, maybe or log.
They also need a dock to bask on with a heat lamp over it-- the lamp should maintain about 90 degrees. The lamp doesn't need to be on 24/7. I turn mine on for several hours a day-- some keep the lamps on all day and only switch them off at night. Either way is fine, so long as the turtles get some basking time each day.
For their diet, I recommend Repto Min floating sticks. You can get this at pretty much any pet store. Feed them the sticks once a a day, and and another food source once a day. Try fresh lettuce greens like romaine, kale, or mustard greens. Cherry tomatoes are great, too. And though adult turtles are primarily herbivore, the occasional meat is great in their diet. Mine get worms once a week and shrimp once a week. Try night crawlers, crickets, ghost shrimp, guppies, or shad. Also, the occasional cray fish.
Paints actually only get to about ten inches...
The rule of thumb posted by one poster is correct... however, a 50 gallon tank is a decent size for a SINGLE adult Paint. Since you have two, you'll want a minimum 75 gallon to give your turtles enough space. There's really no need to buy 100 gallon tank.
You need a submerged heater to keep the water at about 80 degrees, and a floating thermometer to monitor it.
Give them a nice habitat to live in... with plenty of artificial plants floating around to hide in, and something to lay on or under on the bottom of the tank-- like a rock cave, maybe or log.
They also need a dock to bask on with a heat lamp over it-- the lamp should maintain about 90 degrees. The lamp doesn't need to be on 24/7. I turn mine on for several hours a day-- some keep the lamps on all day and only switch them off at night. Either way is fine, so long as the turtles get some basking time each day.
For their diet, I recommend Repto Min floating sticks. You can get this at pretty much any pet store. Feed them the sticks once a a day, and and another food source once a day. Try fresh lettuce greens like romaine, kale, or mustard greens. Cherry tomatoes are great, too. And though adult turtles are primarily herbivore, the occasional meat is great in their diet. Mine get worms once a week and shrimp once a week. Try night crawlers, crickets, ghost shrimp, guppies, or shad. Also, the occasional cray fish.
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