Whats normal at 9/10 weeks?

[jillian15279]

I tend to overthink and I just want to be sure my Doug is ok... He has some days where he plays a lot and others, like today, where he wants to sleep more. He also seems to self weening. he's cut his formula feedings down to 3 times a day ranging from 6 ml's to 15 ml's. He munches on 1 to 2 picky blocks, veggies and fruits and nuts through out the day. So I guess my main question is how active are they at this age and will he thrive on what he's getting to eat?
thank you

[Mermer9]

Jillian, I’ve got the same questions! Is self weaning normal at 9-10 weeks? Sometimes they seem ravenous for formula, sometimes they turn away after 4-5 mLs. Should regular rodents blocks be available, too, or just Henry’s? And as they cut back on formula on their own, should I be offering more water? The 3-6 week old period is covered so thoroughly here, and these boards got my little ones through it!
It feels like 9 weeks - release are kind of the Wild Wild West. Ha!

[redwuff]

No problem with helping you guys through this age.

This is how I do it. As soon as eyes open around 5 weeks I put Mazuri or Teklad rodent block (not Henry’s) in with the babies that will be released. Mostly at this age they just pee on it:gigg. Henry’s is a great food choice that I feed to the several NRs we have. It is too expensive for me for use for babies that are releaseable. Especially if they are being overwintered.

A week to ten days after eyes open they get moved out of a bin and get put in a wired cage. At this time I cut down feedings from five to four but increase the percentage of body weight amount of formula. For instance if I was feeding at 5-6% of body weight, I would slowly increase to 7% or more at each feeding. Now they are more interested in eating the block cos they are not getting fed as many feedings.

At eight weeks I cut down to three feedings and introduce things like kale , broccoli, cauliflower one at a time. Between 9-10 weeks I cut down to two feedings. Then 11 weeks I cut to feeding usually through the bars cos they are a bit of a handful at this time. By this time, only if eating block well, I allow the sweeter veggies like butternut squash, sweet potatoes, fruit, and sugar snaps. But the Mazuri must be 70% of what they are eating!!!

Any other questions please ask.

[KCullen]

I have a singleton male grey around 9-10 weeks. He has rat block on hand for teething, but also wild foods, veggies, and 2-4 Henry's blocks per day. Mostly he just mimics the older male NR grey in the cage next to him, but in watching the NR, he has learned a bit about eating. He doesn't want formula most of the time, but takes 10-15 cc of Fox valley at least 2x/day. Hope this helps. He is VERY active and has a good "homing" instinct. During his free room time to bounce around, he returns to his nest on his own most of the time and puts himself to bed. He's starting to wild up in little ways, doesn't spend much time with me if he isn't hungry, entertains himself, growls at me if picked up, etc. His jumping, climbing, running, etc skills are building every day, but his interest in formula is flagging too. I suspect this is normal. For reference, I have a 7 mo old NR who shows occasional interest in the baby bottles (syringe) and will try to chew or steal them if he can.