Max's funny eating habits

[acorniv]

Max, who is about 6 weeks old, eats like he's training for the olympics. He's the fastest eater I've ever seen - of any species, and always eats as if the meal arrived late, though I'm feeding every 3 hours, and nearly always wake him up to do so :sleep. He seems to be trying to maximize efficiency. His nursing rhythm goes like this: smack smack smack smack, sluuuuurp, smack smack smack smack sluuurp... - always exactly the same until he's had his fill. Then he stops as abruptly as he began, and won't eat another bite for anything. :rotfl
I don't push the plunger - he does the work. I lay my forefinger under the nipple, against the syringe, so my babies can pump their paws against my finger, but Max grips my finger like it's handle bars, as if he's hanging on for dear life, LOL. It makes me wonder if he came from an unusually large litter and had to fend for himself. Having grown up using the 'boarding house reach' I understand. :Love_Icon :Squirrel :Love_Icon

[farrelli]

You need to make sure he doesn't eat too fast. He's at about the age where you might have to start controlling the plunger so that he doesn't suck the formula out too fast and choke.

[Rhapsody]

He sounds like a regular squirrel to me..... always ready and able to eat when a syringe is place in front of him.
Just make sure you are feeding him at the max amount that he can eat (7% of his body weight) every 6 hours
and he will be fine. I have two babies that are 6 weeks old and they are both eating 9 cc, with their appetite
growing every few days.

[stepnstone]

I don't push the plunger - he does the work. I lay my forefinger under the nipple, against the syringe, so my babies can pump their paws against my finger,
My little girl does the same thing, she has a suction like a hoover but I put a drag on the plunger so she's not taking it in too fast. They can and often will aspirate themselves that way.
You should also check out the new miracle nipple next time you need to supply, it has a base that they will kneed just like they do when suckling momma.

[acorniv]

He sounds like a regular squirrel to me..... always ready and able to eat when a syringe is place in front of him.
Just make sure you are feeding him at the max amount that he can eat (7% of his body weight) every 6 hours
and he will be fine. I have two babies that are 6 weeks old and they are both eating 9 cc, with their appetite
growing every few days.

He's eating about 10 cc's every 6 hours ( divided into 2 feedings)

[acorniv]

My little girl does the same thing, she has a suction like a hoover but I put a drag on the plunger so she's not taking it in too fast. They can and often will aspirate themselves that way.
You should also check out the new miracle nipple next time you need to supply, it has a base that they will kneed just like they do when suckling momma.

I've raised a lot of different species and never aspirated one, but I understand the concern - thanks. I'll check out the nipple. I came up with the method I use after I had a squirrel that pulled the nipple off the syringe and inhaled it - twice. Luckily I cold reach in and pull it out! But this way, I hold the nipple securely between my fingers, and they do knead on my finger - except for Max, who prefers to grip it.