I hate to be a bother, I have 2 issues. All of you more experience with rescues, and weaning joeys, I need some advice. I guess maybe I am just comparing the rescues to my suggies. Issue #1: The pair I have, eat almost everything I place in their cage, in fact, they are borderline fatties. I would like to start cutting back due to them being over indulgent. I just want to make sure that the joeys that are in the cage with them are getting enough and mom and dad aren't hogging all of the goodies.
The girls are 7 weeks oop as of Monday. Any suggestions? I do have another cage, if you were wondering, to separate them.
#2 Issue: I still have concerns with the rescued pair I have and their eating habits. They are eating a little of everything I am offerring them, but I just don't know if it is enough.
I don't know if you all remember my concerns when I first got them that they were not on an established diet and then found out that the female has joeys. Should I be offering some of the esbilac/wombaroo to her to gain a little weight. I haven't a gram scale but she and the male seem so underweight compared to my gliders. I just don't want her to reject her little joeys as she did for the previous owners....HELP! When I had the vet check them, he said they seemed fine, a little under weight but that they would be okay once they got used to getting their BML every night.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Re: Concerned not eating real well
[Re: ]
#66800 11/03/0509:43 AM11/03/0509:43 AM
First of all, question number 1. Do not remove the joeys from the parents until they are at LEAST 8 weeks oop. One or two or even three more weeks of your mom and dad fatties eating well will not hurt them. Just make sure you are measuring your food portions out for them. No more than one tablespoon of BML (each) veggies, fruits. If you want to cut back on anything, if you are feeding meal worms, cut back on them. And dont give treats for a while.
As for your rescued pair, as long as they are eating and it is noticeable from the food dish, I would not worry. They are probably till getting accustomed to their new surroundings, diets, living quarters ect, I would also increase their meal worm intake(after dinner of course!!) and increase the protein intake for mom. Sprinkling wombaroo wont hurt any on their food and yes it is ok for dad to eat it too. But seems like you have plenty of time before the joeys come oop to get them started off on the right foot. sounds like you are doing a good job. Keep us posted! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumb.gif" alt="" />
Thank you sooo much Peggy, I do worry too much probably, but just wanted some good solid advice and I knew I would get it here!
I really had no intentions of removing the girls until they were about 10 weeks, so they would have plenty of time with mom and dad. My concern, however is Dad having his way with them, they are females....let me explain: The joeys seem so healthy almost like they are older than 7 weeks, but I know the date I noticed that they first came out was 19 Sep, attachment. You cannot really see their eyes here but they were closed. Their eyes opened about 5 days later. My Question: Am I just paranoid or could they be older than 7 weeks? I don't want daddy Big to hurt them, just another paranoid question, but wanted someones else's opinion to ease my worries.....My gut is telling me that I'm maybe one week off.....Is this going to make a big difference in the separation? Should I separate maybe one week before, from what I was going to?
Sorry I seem to be asking randomly (o:
Re: Concerned not eating real well
[Re: ]
#66802 11/03/0502:34 PM11/03/0502:34 PM
I would seperate them IF the daddy is doing something or trying to with them...
Glider Kids - Badger and Bonnie, Pepsi and Grace, Victoria.. ahem..I mean ummm..Victor! and Isabella <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Re: Concerned not eating real well
[Re: ]
#66803 11/03/0505:42 PM11/03/0505:42 PM
[:"green"]It is very unlikely that their father would try to do anything to them at this early age. It really won't be an issue until they are at least 4 - 5 months old. By then, you should have had them separated for quite a while already. Usually they are about 2 weeks o.o.p. before their eyes open. If they actually came o.o.p. on September 12th, instead of the 19th, they would be 7-1/2 weeks old now - just counted on my calendar.