Leaving might need help

[firerunner]

We are leaving on friday for vacation and Rocky is being difficult!

I been working on getting his formula to where it should be this is what he is eating now (BTW he HAS gained and is 38 grams!!)

2.5 FV
1.5 full fat plain yogurt
.5 cream
6 water

My goal was to get him to 3 FV BEFORE we left but I do not think that is going to happen.

sighs

He isn't eating well I think he is doing that "i dont want a bottle mommy!" for he no longer sticks it all the way in his mouth and he sorta chews on the end and licks the milk off and he is just getting down right difficult to feed. At 2 pm feeding I gave him 2.5 CC out of a bowl

at 6 PM tonight I will try the bottle but if not the bowl.

He is also eating almost one squirrel block a day PLUS I give him an array of mix veggies and really he eats those well also. (broccoli cauliflower, kale, romaine, etc. plus usually one treat (piece of apple or a dried fruit etc)

So....I am leaving and I am worried

I will be back Nov 16


I am leaving myself signed in for my house sitter

please if she has ANY problems.... if you see me (it will be her) posting from friday to sunday please please help her.

She does have my vet number etc..but you guys all know so much.

And any suggestions on the eating? I wish he had weaned himself like LAST week or the week we come back! Not now.

Anyone in lakeland florida that I could give my number to or I could give her yours?

anyways thank you all

[CritterMom]

If you can respond, how often are you feeding? As the formula becomes more and more robust with the additional solids added by the formula, he is going to stay full a lot longer than he was before, and so you will need to space the feedings out a bit. How many hours between right now?

[firerunner]

Still here till friday

Feeding every four hours

BUT this morning at 6 Am he barely ate (1.5 cc) mind you I think he is eating all night long for I give him fresh veggies at 10 PM and then again after the 6 AM feeding. Come morning, His night time veggies are chewed up, all over the cage and the HHB is pretty much gone.

His feeding schedule is

6 am
2pm
6pm
10pm

plus his HHB and veggies (1 HHB and veggies at 10 before we go to bed and usually pretty eaten up come morning and then fresh veggies at 6 Am which he barely touches all day long. )


thanks!

[CritterMom]

OK, so he is weaning himself and he really never got the benefit of the formula the way he should have. I would cut down his fresh veggies and fruit and increase his HHBs because they have a lot more nutrition than the vegetables do. You can increase them later.

I would really like to see him consume formula for a while longer. Try this - look for Stoneyfield Yobaby yogurt. They sell it in little tiny 4 packs - it is full fat and all organic and delicious. The vanilla and banana made my little Laz's head spin around! Try making up his formula with that. You may also want to make it a little warmer.

[firerunner]

I too would like him to eat more formula!!

OK will cut back on his veggies and increase his HHB

also I will make sure the formula is nice and warm

and of course keep an eye on his weight.

thank you!!

[firerunner]

Crittermom!!!!!!

Ok so we been working with Rocky since this post and I feel MUCH better leaving him or vacation!! (we leave tomorrow)

He is completely OFF the bottle. No matter what we tried he just turned his little nose up at it and refused to eat.

He is officially nocturnal and is sleeping most of the day away..

However come 6 PM watch out!!

Last night about 6 he ate about 4 cc's of milk (out of a bowl all by himself) then we played with him and let him run around for a few hours
We went to bed at ten but before bed we filled his little milk bowl up (about 8 ccs) PLUS we put two HHBS in his bowl and some veggies.


This morning half the milk is gone and MOST of the food!! ( a small piece of HHB and a lil broccoli was all that was left)

a 6 AM I got him fresh milk in his bowl and again he drank maybe 1 cc (not as much as last night ) I also gave him more HHBS and veggies. But I really think based on what I am observing that all that food will sit there and tonight I will be dumping it out and giving him fresh again.

and best of all this morning he weighed 40 grams!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So today I will be really watching him again but I do think he is going to be okay. I spoke to our vet about this and he said Rocky is NOT going to stave himself, offer him ALL the food and let him eat. As long as everything else seems to be working and he is active then let him decide and so we did and I think last night was a success for eating!!

I am so glad he is still eating the milk, even from a bowl. I wish I had a couple more weeks of bottle feeding to bond more with him but well..they grow up.

So I just wanted to give you an update and trust me I am going to go on vacation feeling alot better about Rocky's eating habits!!

[CritterMom]

Oh, that's great. The HHBs will give him the nutrition he needs. You will need to start giving him insects - it can wait until you get back. Commercially purchased meal worms and wax worms need to be sprinkled with calcium powder (you can buy little packets of it from Henry's for a couple $$ and one will last you a year if you are just using it for the worms). But there is extra protein in the HHBs - he will be fine while you are gone and your squirrelsitter won't be dealing with the worms...!

[firerunner]

We are home!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Rocky, the little fatty now weighs 50 grams!!!!!! He is eating his HHBs and drinking his milk from a bowl PLUS eats alot of his veggies.

I could not believe how much he changed in that short period of time!!! Our house sitter did an amazing job with ALL the animals!!!


So I will be posting over on cages, for we are now designing and will start building his new cage. If he is staying with us then he needs the best..:)