Prayers please for my most recent rescue, plus an update on the baby mice I hand fed
I just took in another rescued girl, a BEW drawf hamster and she is just gorgeous! I am currently hand feeding her baby. She came into the store pregnant and gave birth as soon as she was set in the cage. She had 14 babies, 12 were stillborn and two were live. She was taking great care of them (and no I didn't handle them. She was stressed enough as it is- except when moving them into a new cage to take home) and then just a few days ago when I went to check on them I noticed the one baby was missing. The cage smelled of dead animal so I assumed it had died and she just ate it, as I looked all through the bedding and could not find it. :( I should have checked on them sooner to make sure they were OK, but I didn't want to stress her too much. The day I brought her home the one baby was noticably smaller, but I still held out hope it would make it. Though I knew it probably wouldn't, it is still very hard when you lose a baby. :( I noticed the other baby was being neglected, as in she wasn't nursing it and it was covered in the bedding on the other side of the cage, so I removed her and I am now hand feeding her. :)
I assume there was either a problem with the babies as most were stillborn, or it was just overkill stress on the mom and she couldn't handle it. I feel horrible for her, being tossed around like she was, and pregnant at the time. Very sad. She has a good life now though and I am looking for a home for her. She isn't very tame but we are working on getting her handleable.
But I really need prayers for my little baby girl. I have named her Miracle, since she is the only one to survive her litter. I have been hand feeding her now for about three days, since she was four days old. It is VERY hard caring for a baby rodent, especially one so tiny. Now that I have successfully raised two baby one week mice which I also hand fed, I feel a little better that I may actually have a chance of pulling this little girl through. She is currently being hand fed every two hours with a syringe. She is on human soy formula, as it is more fattening than puppy milk or kitten milk replacer, and I have seen a much more dramatic weight gain and overall good health when I use soy human formula over the other choices. The first day was the hardest, as the baby is not used to the taste of the new milk, but after a couple of days they get used to it and turn into little pigs. ;) :p I have to also stimulate her to go to the bathroom as well, but she does manage to go poopy on her own sometimes.
My main thing is keeping her belly full and her body warm. Luckily, hamsters can regulate their body temp a lot better than other rodents, such as mice and rats. It's very hard feeding her, as she is so wiggly. So please if anyone could spare a prayer for my little Miracle I would really appreciate it. This is hard work, and there are no quarantees.
