Hand rearing advice needed for a rejected baby!

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Logiebear

Logiebear

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Well on Thurs Apple had 4 babies, 2 girls and 2 boys. They were small and due to the laws of natural selection 2 of the babies are thriving and feeding well. Sadly despite my efforts one of the girls has given up the fight this morning, just no energy to suckle and I am so gutted, I tried everything with them, seperating the stronger babies for an hour here and there and even tried latching them onto her but to no aveil.

So I have decided to take over trying to give the little boy, we have called Patrick enough energy to go back in with his mum. He doesn't have enough energy to stand at the minute and only weighs 45gs. I don't know if he will make it but I have him in a snuggle pouch on my lap and he has just had 1ml of goats milk from a pippet. So the questions I have are:

How much should I be giving him at any one sitting?
How often should I feed him, I thought every hour?
Does he need just goats milk or could I give him mushed up pellets too?
How does he know when to poo?

Any help or other advice you think I may need is greatly appreciated and urgently required.

Suzanne xx
 
I only have limited experience with this Suzanne, but definitely full fat goats milk. This can also be made up into porridge and hopefully taken from a spoon. Hourly - 1.5 hourly is what I have done. I give as much as they will happily take, little and often. I know you're aware of possible choking issues. You will need to be wiping his little bottom often too, if mum isn't doing it, to encourage him to poo. I have tried mushed up pellets too, sometimes they have taken them sometimes not, off a spoon. I think you may be able to make them extra mushy and syringe, although again careful for choking. If he is still cuddling up to his mum, it is worth keeping him in there for warmth, if you have him separated, then maybe in a carrier on fleece with a snugglesafe or hotty.
He is small, but if he is taking fluids then definitely worth trying. Good luck with him. xx
 
I have handreared 35-50g premie babies, they stayed in with mum so were toileted by her. I fed every 1 1/2 hrs during the day and 2-3 hrs at night, using kitten strength Lactol, eventually mum took over and fed them herself to some extent though she had very little milk, so we worked together and we managed to get 3 out of 7 through. At 4-5 days I started introducing mashed pellets and this certainly made the ones that could eat it much stronger.

It's worth doing, if exhausting and sometimes heartbreaking.

Very best of luck

Suzy x
 
All advice good - I did the goats milk and bread too and my weak ones enjoyed that alot.

I also wiped the bottoms after they took milk on a spoon from me.

FINGERS CROSSED.

xxxxxxxxxxx
 
Their mum had just disgarded them and was just stepping on them and not even touching them. I have another piggy who gve birth yesterday but she already ash 5 to look after and hers are much stronger. Also he isn't strong enough to suckle yet, he won't move to chase her to get it so I hoping that when he is strong enough and moving that I may be able to put him back in.

I have been feeding every hour so we shall see how we go. Will try some bread and pellets when he is a little stronger x
 
I hope he pulls through.

In my experience, if the mum is looking after the rest but rejecting one or two, it is natures way of survival of the fittest. I hand reared a rejected pup for the first week (Mum was fine with the other baby) but he sadly died of some sort of internal problem, and I think the Mum knew he wasn't ok.

Good luck with the hand-feeding, I hope he can get strong enough to rejoin the rest of his litter mates

Sophie
x
 
Thanks everyone. He is only 41gs now and I think he isn't going to make it. He is still feeding from the pippet but you said Sophie I think nature knows best. We shall see what happens and I will do my best for Patrick, that's his name, and maybe, just maybe........
 
Keeping everything crossed for the little guy, it's heart breaking when despite your best efforts things look bleak. Thinking of you. x
 
Sadly Patrick gave up the fight around 4am. I got up to do his feed and he refused the milk so I wrapped him warm and cuddled him until he stopped breathing. It was heartbreaking but he is at peace now.

RIP Patrick :(
 
I'm so very sorry to hear about Patrick, I was thinking about him earlier. It's even worse when you've nursed them like that. At least you gave him a chance and he was loved.

Sending you huge hugs

Sophie
x
 
Oh that's so very sad. Poor Patrick and poor you.

RIP little man.
 
Sorry to hear this it is heartbreaking when they are given life and its for such a short time. It does happen often here in rescue I'm afraid.

You have done your utmost and I know how hard it is. I am hand rearing 3 baby rex at the moment - one of whom is not too good.

You should be proud of yourself for trying but as Sophie says, sometimes its just natures way and we really cannot change that whatever we try.

Helen.
x
 
rearing

well all i know is that 1.your trying very hard:) 2. dont ever feed a baby guinea pig by a pippette as the milk could get stuck in the lungs. you would know if this happened as you would hear a clicking. 3. you will need to feed the baby/s every 2 -3 hours all through the day and night.
i am not 100% sure but some people say baby milk is fine and some people say that you should give them kitten milk supplement. if you arent sure where to get kitten milk i know a place; jollyes in plymouth/marsh mills. i know they supply kitten powder milk that you can buy for them. also i forgot feed them via a teaspoon as it is much safer.if you are still unsure the peter gurney guinea pig book is amazing for hand feeding/weaning/caring for baby baby guinea pigs. i hope this has helped and also hope that all goes okay:)
p.s at the pet shop i mentioned they have a little bottle,i think, that says you can use for baby guinea pigs. you may want to ask them or look in the peter gurney book. i could possibly send you the pages through hotmail if you want.
all i can do,fingers crossed your baby/s get better
dont forget to stimulate their bottoms like their mother would. do this using a cotton bud that has been dipped in lukey warm water.
penny xxxxx
 
Last edited:
russell said:
well all i know is that 1.your trying very hard:) 2. dont ever feed a baby guinea pig by a pippette as the milk could get stuck in the lungs. you would know if this happened as you would hear a clicking. 3. you will need to feed the baby/s every 2 -3 hours all through the day and night.
i am not 100% sure but some people say baby milk is fine and some people say that you should give them kitten milk supplement. if you arent sure where to get kitten milk i know a place; jollyes in plymouth/marsh mills. i know they supply kitten powder milk that you can buy for them. also i forgot feed them via a teaspoon as it is much safer.if you are still unsure the peter gurney guinea pig book is amazing for hand feeding/weaning/caring for baby baby guinea pigs. i hope this has helped and also hope that all goes okay:)
p.s at the pet shop i mentioned they have a little bottle,i think, that says you can use for baby guinea pigs. you may want to ask them or look in the peter gurney book. i could possibly send you the pages through hotmail if you want.
all i can do,fingers crossed your baby/s get better
dont forget to stimulate their bottoms like their mother would. do this using a cotton bud that has been dipped in lukey warm water.
penny xxxxx
Click to expand...

Penny, thanks for your input but this post is 2 years old!
 
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