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Experienced Breeders- Please respond!

Posted By: HagridsHut

Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 05:34 PM

Hi, everyone! wave I am seeking advice specifically from knowledgeable and experienced breeders. We are fairly new to the world of breeding ( ...though not to gliders! ), and would like to know what others are doing to boost the milk production in their lactating females. We have one gal in particular whose joeys we have had to supplement due to lack of adequate milk production. She is our main concern, but we would actually like to supplement all of our mothers both to enhance their milk production AND to ensure that they, themselves, are healthy and happy! We feed Priscilla's diet ( ...to the letter! ), and supplement with mealies and a wide variety of healthy snacks. Suggestions??!! idea -Alicia
Posted By: silverwolf

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 05:50 PM

I have one also that if she has twins I always have to suppliment. But one of the things I do is offer a little extra of the diet (HPW) that I feed I also spinkle brisky's booster milk on the veggies and fruit I feed this seems to help. It helps bring the milk production up and I am able to suppliment less often hope this helps.
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 05:56 PM

It does, indeed! thanks Do your guys enjoy the taste of the Brisky's? I had thought about sprinkling a bit of some type of booster milk on both their fresh fruits/veggies and staple pellet food ( ...which is available to them at all times ). I believe that Suncoast manufactures their own line of booster products, and I was curious as to which type most gliders tend to prefer. -Alicia
Posted By: Guerita135

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 06:02 PM

If your female isn't able to raise joeys without the aid of supplementation then I'd recommend retiring her.

If you're feeding a good, nutritionally-sufficient diet then you shouldn't need to add anything special for breeding females. The only thing I do for my females with joeys IP/OOP is to add and extra serving of everything so that they can eat what they need.
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 06:28 PM

Originally Posted By: Guerita135
If your female isn't able to raise joeys without the aid of supplementation then I'd recommend retiring her.


Is this really necessary? Do others have an opinion on whether or not she should be retired? confused She's only a year and a half old! I will definitely retire her if it's in her best interest, but I would REALLY hate to do that this early on. cry She's such a FABULOUS mommy!! -Alicia
Posted By: TheGliderPlayroom

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 06:33 PM

Originally Posted By: HagridsHut
Originally Posted By: Guerita135
If your female isn't able to raise joeys without the aid of supplementation then I'd recommend retiring her.


Is this really necessary? Do others have an opinion on whether or not she should be retired? confused She's only a year and a half old! I will definitely retire her if it's in her best interest, but I would REALLY hate to do that this early on. cry She's such a FABULOUS mommy!! -Alicia


I would agree. You have no way of knowing what other issues are at play here. If you have to supplement every single joey she has, she shouldn't be breeding.
Posted By: Sherri

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 07:06 PM

I have to agree with Nicole and Helen, if you have to suppliment every joey she has, it isnt good for the joeys or the momma that she continues to breed.
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 07:20 PM

Originally Posted By: Sherri
I have to agree with Nicole and Helen, if you have to suppliment every joey she has, it isnt good for the joeys or the momma that she continues to breed.


This is only her first pregnancy. She has a BEAUTIFUL pair of twins ( one boy and one girl! mlove )! I really feel like she deserves another shot at this whole thing! While I do appreciate your opinion(s) ( ..and I truly do! thumb ), I would really like to supplement her in preparation for at least one more pregnancy to determine whether or not that makes any significant difference in her milk production. With that in mind, does anyone have any "tried & true" methods other than the addition of the booster milk? -Alicia
Posted By: Sherri

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 07:26 PM

Sorry, didnt realize this was her first set of joey's.

I hope everything goes smoothly the next set and she will take care of everything and you wont have to suppliment her or the joeys.
Posted By: Sherri

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 07:28 PM

I know my pregnant momma eats twice as much when she has joeys than when she doesnt. I have never supplimented her, just gave her more of everything at feeding time.
Posted By: hwh4ev

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 07:32 PM

i bought the milk supplement from suncoast but never used it as it wasnt needed-yet. but i have sprinkled some on the veg/fruit a few times when joeys were in pouch.
i also feed my breeding gliders more protein, even though it is said it is not needed but i have not had any problems so far. knock on wood.
i feed the suncoast diet and they get a boiled chicken concoction, boiled egg concoction, crickets, mealies, canned grasshoppers (not all the same night).
i also sprinkle the nectar from suncoast on their vegs/fruits at least 3 times a week.

regards,
nancy in detroit/fl
Posted By: irie888

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 07:35 PM

I have used Nutrical to increase my mom's caloric intake. You have to get it from your vet but I think it helped.
Posted By: wildlifeangel

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 07:44 PM

Do you feed the PP diet with enough left over? You should feed enough food that there is at LEAST a teaspoon leftover when you remove the food in the morning. ALSO keep the monkey bisciuts available in case she feels the need to munch when it's not mealtime.

And the other question I have is... Do you have the original recipe or the one that was written wrong to have TOO MUCH applesauce? (look on my diet page of my website, link below) That may have contributed to the problem if you had too much applesauce in the mix. I had to go back to the older recipes that had the correct amount of applesauce.

Good luck... and just do what's best for the mom. I would make changes, and see what happens with the next set. If you need to supplement again... call it and neuter her mate.
Posted By: Dancing

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 08:31 PM

With this being her first set of joeys, I would say it is too soon to decide to retire them.

I too only increase the amount of food I'm giving.

But one thing I have found with my girls is to provide them with more liquids.

Yes, they drink water but I also give them a small amount of 50/50 water/apple juice to encourage more fluid intake. Remember, it takes fluid to make fluid (milk). Sometimes just giving them a small bit (2-3 tablespoons) of juice/water each night is enough to help them produce enough milk.
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 09:45 PM

Thanks for the support, Sherri! I appreciate it a great deal! agree

I have always been a bit wary of simply providing larger quantities of food because our guys then tend to select their favorites from among the concoctions and leave the rest! Is this a valid concern? dunno -Alicia
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 09:53 PM

Originally Posted By: wildlifeangel
And the other question I have is... Do you have the original recipe or the one that was written wrong to have TOO MUCH applesauce? (look on my diet page of my website, link below) That may have contributed to the problem if you had too much applesauce in the mix. I had to go back to the older recipes that had the correct amount of applesauce.


I use the recipe on Priscilla's homepage. It appears to be a double of the one listed on your site. Also, I do keep sugar glider cereal and monkey biscuits in the cage at all times. This particular gal is not a big fan of the cereal, but she can and will eat her weight in monkey biscuits!! grin -Alicia
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/05/10 11:33 PM

Originally Posted By: Dancing
But one thing I have found with my girls is to provide them with more liquids. Yes, they drink water but I also give them a small amount of 50/50 water/apple juice to encourage more fluid intake. Remember, it takes fluid to make fluid (milk). Sometimes just giving them a small bit (2-3 tablespoons) of juice/water each night is enough to help them produce enough milk.


:gidea: , Dancing! I currently supplement with Gliderade every other evening. Should I add the juice/water mixture on the "off" days or do you recommend that they receive that each evening in lieu of the Gliderade? -Alicia
Posted By: Dancing

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/06/10 12:22 AM

Honestly I can't advise on the Gliderade. I've never given it to my gliders.
Posted By: Obsolescenttears

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/06/10 12:30 AM

I have personally delt with a female who did not produce enough milk.

I feed a mixture of booster milk and glideraid to pregnant/lactating females every other night. And I think it has helped significantly. On nights they do not get glideraid/booster milk they do not get anything else. They can drink water out of the bottles if they are excessively thirsty but they get most of the fluids from fruits/main diet.

Diet alone sometimes is not enough for some females. I feed TPG diet and also will feed HPW on occasion for variety sake.
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/07/10 06:21 PM

Tianna- What is the ratio of booster milk to Gliderade in the mixture that you provide? -Alicia
Posted By: jag

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/08/10 01:25 AM

im curious as to what symptoms your female shows that indicates she needs supplement? I would like to know myself for future reference although I will be retiring my pair shortly. the 3 pregnancies Delilah has had 2 sets of twins and one single female I noticed she eats a lot more and I also give 2 separate bowls of Blended diet so that she can eat without fighting with Sampson and that seems to help her get as much intake as she needs. Ive even put a separate dish in a totally separate part of the cage so she can eat in peace
Posted By: gliderma

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/08/10 01:45 AM

I feed HPW and offer more of everything to my Mama's. I have not used any supplements, but am curious as to how you offer them? Do you put the glideraide in a water bottle mixed with juice or what?
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/08/10 04:56 AM

Hi, Lynn! I serve Gliderade every other evening in a separate dish alongside their evening meal. It's a bit sticky, so I wouldn't recommend offering it in a water bottle. It would very likely "gunk" up their habitat! ( Is that even a word?! tounge ) -Alicia
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/08/10 05:00 AM

Hi, Jag! wave My gal's twins simply weren't gaining as much weight as I would have liked. I decided to supplement both to boost their development AND to take a bit of the pressure off of their Ma! help -Alicia
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 05:19 PM

Hi, guys! I am still hoping for a response to the following question:

I have always been a bit wary of simply providing larger quantities of food because our guys then tend to select their favorites from among the concoctions and leave the rest! Is this a valid concern? dunno -Alicia
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 05:48 PM

I also have a first time mom, and the two babies just weren't gaining weight like they should. She was taking good care of them otherwise. I decided to offer them some of the joey formula on Suz' site. When they both began licking it off the dropper immediately, it was apparent that she wasn't producing enough milk to keep both of them satisfied. They are both great now! This formula has baby cereal, gliderade, wombaroo milk replacer, apple juice & water/pedialyte. The babies are now 3-1/2 weeks old. Last night both of them were checking out the dinner plate. And began lapping up the HPW. Now I'm not sure what to do. They still nurse...so should I continue with 3 supplement feedings until they are a couple weeks older so I know they are getting the nutrition they need? decrease the supplemental feedings since they are eating some HPW (like skip the evening one)? Let them eat HPW in the evenings and then offer the evening supplement a couple hours later, before I go to bed? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Posted By: suggiemom1980

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 06:08 PM

Serendipity pulled two joeys before I realized she was a nervous mom and put her and dad, Kanani, in their own room. Shortly after, she became pregnant for a third time. I didn't think to supplement her, other than giving her extra HPW and a few mealies every day. Because of the two other pregnancies, I think I should have supplemented her nutrition, to get her body back in good nutritional shape.

When Miss Boo-Boo was OOP, it quickly became apparent that no matter how much she nursed, she wasn't getting much, if any, milk. Within one day, she became dehydrated and lost weight. I tried just supplementing during the day, but I soon realized she needed all of her food from me. I would feed her, then put her back in with mom and dad who did everything else. I caught Miss Boo-Boo 'comfort nursing' many times and did not interfere with that. I waited and fed her as soon as I caught her was off the nipple. For each feeding, I mixed up a tablespoon of formula. After feeding Miss Boo-Boo, I gave the rest to mom first, then dad.

When I realized Serendipity had another joey IP, I started giving her booster milk and Impact. Now that the joey is OOP, I still give it to her every day, along with a few mealies. So far, Lemur is gaining weight. Serendipity seems to have enough milk this time.

Had she not had enough milk with the supplementation and I had to hand feed Lemur, I would definitely have Kanani neutered before Serendipity could get pregnant again.

But, I don't believe giving her extra nutrition means I shouldn't let her have more joeys. Human mothers who breastfeed, need extra nutrition to ensure a good supply of milk and the mother's good health. My mom raised dogs for years and always gave the pregnant and nursing moms extra food.
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 06:20 PM

wave Hi, Connie!

thanks for your detailed reply! What is "Impact" and from where can I purchase it? -Alicia
Posted By: suggiemom1980

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 06:30 PM

Originally Posted By: HagridsHut
Hi, guys! I am still hoping for a response to the following question:

I have always been a bit wary of simply providing larger quantities of food because our guys then tend to select their favorites from among the concoctions and leave the rest! Is this a valid concern? dunno -Alicia

I soon figured out my suggies were picking out their favorites and not getting what I felt was a fully nutritional diet. I now puree their fruits and veggies and mix the puree with the HPW. No one can pick out anything now and I'm sure they're getting the nutrition they need. I still feed pregnant, IP and nursing moms extra food. I know when I nursed my kids, I was hungrier and thirstier.
Posted By: suggiemom1980

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 06:41 PM

Originally Posted By: HagridsHut
wave Hi, Connie!

thanks for your detailed reply! What is "Impact" and from where can I purchase it? -Alicia

Impact is a Colostrum Supplement for newborn animals and marsupial joeys. I purchased mine from Karen. Sugeebaby
Posted By: hpyhwn2003

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 06:47 PM

Thanks Connie I'd never heard of Impact. I've always increased food portions and offered booster milk to my mommys. You can be sure I'll talk to Karen about this product and order some esp. as you think it helped with your joey Lemur.
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 07:27 PM

thanks , Connie! What brand of booster milk do you use? Do you alternate between the booster milk and Impact or combine them? Do you re-hydrate either one or use it/them as a top-dressing? -Alicia
Posted By: Dancing

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/11/10 07:59 PM

Impact is a colostrum replacer. Colostrum is in the first milk produced by "mom" and contains important antibodies that help build the baby's immune system.

I read (wish I could find that article) that marsupials receive colostrum the entire time they nurse, not just the first few days like other animals.

Impact Colustrum replacer
Posted By: tlc_in_chitown

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/12/10 06:48 PM

Sometimes first time moms may not produce enough milk right away or during the entire time she is nursing her first joey(s). I also wouldn't retire her just yet, unless it became an ongoing problem with all future joeys. I am always prepared for the fact this may happen with first time mothers. I also increase all my breeding females fluids, give a little extra food & meallies (I also feed Priscilla's), give gliderade & 50-50 juice water in a ramekin dish or over fruits/veggies, and have Brisky's Milk booster on hand should I need it for my first time moms. I give Brisky's to the moms only in a travel size water bottle/medication squeeze bottle. It can give the dads loose stools if they are drinking it (Brisky's). Wombaroo makes the impact colostrum and joey replacement milk, but it comes in 250g boxes which may be a lot to use before it will expire.

Good to know someone sells smaller pkgs. Intersting info Dancing. I will have to look into glider milk having colostrum the entire time.
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 10/13/10 03:27 AM

Thank you all SO very much for taking the time to share your expertise! I appreciate both your input and support! I have both Brisky's Booster Milk and Impact on order! thumb -Alicia
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 12/07/10 05:55 PM

Introducing ...
mlove Fleur Delacour ( wfb female ), oop 12/07/2010



I have been supplementing Lily with Wombaroo Milk Replacement Formula. I am hopeful that she will be able to sustain her milk production this time around!
Posted By: Kozi

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 12/07/10 09:14 PM

I have to agree with many others... extra servings! My little girls will go crazy when they're pregnant/about to be(before the joeys are even IP). I figure she's not eating for one, but two, or three. I've never had issues with anyone not getting enough milk or with leftover food really, if there's a bit extra the mommy usually goes for it and if the daddy butts in after he's got his share.. well.. one girly even pushed his face outta the bowl. (I'd seen him eat his fill, he's a bit chubby though and always has been.. xD) But they know what they need I think and if offered an extra serving the mommy should get the idea and eat up, usually. x3
Sorry I'm not more help, good luck with your next joeys though, I hope you don't have to do much of anything and all works out well/she gets the hang of it! laugh

Also, love the photo! x3 Toooo cute! <3
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 12/07/10 09:45 PM

Originally Posted By: Kozi
I have to agree with many others... extra servings!


Unfortunately, providing extra servings simply doesn't work with Lily. She'll fill up on those things that she enjoys ( like protein! ) and leave everything else ( i.e. fruits and veggies ) for her mate! shakehead That's the reason that I chose to supplement her with the Booster Milk rather than simply providing extra portions of her main diet. With additional portions, she won't consume any more than normal. She'll just eat ALL of the "good" stuff and leave the rest! She's a bit of a stinker! exclamation She's also a new mom. This is only her second joey. I'm hoping that she'll get the hang of motherhood this time around! thumb -Alicia
Posted By: Kozi

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 12/07/10 10:12 PM

Originally Posted By: HagridsHut
Originally Posted By: Kozi
I have to agree with many others... extra servings!


Unfortunately, providing extra servings simply doesn't work with Lily. She'll fill up on those things that she enjoys ( like protein! ) and leave everything else ( i.e. fruits and veggies ) for her mate! shakehead That's the reason that I chose to supplement her with the Booster Milk rather than simply providing extra portions of her main diet. With additional portions, she won't consume any more than normal. She'll just eat ALL of the "good" stuff and leave the rest! She's a bit of a stinker! exclamation She's also a new mom. This is only her second joey. I'm hoping that she'll get the hang of motherhood this time around! thumb -Alicia


Well we use the HPW which she drinks up like crazy and then fruits and veggies, but if that's an issue something blended may work too. Making everything one same liquid, or 'ice cream' in the HPW case, I know many people will blend the veggie/fruits in with the HPW and make it one big mixture.. but to each their own! :o Sorry I'm of no help. ):
Posted By: HagridsHut

Re: Experienced Breeders- Please respond! - 12/08/10 02:56 AM

Originally Posted By: Kozi
Sorry I'm of no help. ):


You helped simply by taking the time to respond! agree I appreciate your support! thanks -Alicia hug2
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