help...

[molucass]

I'm not too sure what it looks like. But I know that baby mice and rats will have a white milk band on their belly when they are full.

Have you seen this with the baby at all?

[CagneyDog]

Nope. I haven't noticed that.

[lv4dogs]

I'm not too sure what it looks like. But I know that baby mice and rats will have a white milk band on their belly when they are full.

Have you seen this with the baby at all?

If I remember correctly you should be able to see the see the full "milk belly" in all most all baby animals that are hairless.

If I remember correctly baby rats start getting hair when they are about that big so I doubt it is a rat, but I can't guarantee that. My guess would be a squirrel, opossum, mink, etc...

Do you mind if I copy & x-post the pics?


I would say that the baby needs more food than that. You will probably have to force feed him by gently pushing the oral syringe in his mouth but only give a TINY amount at a time, if you push too much into him it can go into his lungs, at that age & size it would be deadly. I think he also need to eat a little more frequently, like every 1-1.5 hours.
Also be sure to read the article on stimulation the bowels & kidneys.

[buttercup132]

You have to make the baby pee. Get a warm wet paper towel and rub its genitle area until it pees after every feeding.

[IRescue452]

Baby oppossums are born underdeveloped, since they are marsupials. You wouldn't have been able to recognize it as a baby anything if it was a possum. It was probably newborn when you found it because it was still alive. Let it lap up the milk that goes on its lips. I know with rabbits they can't really suck at the bottle, they lap up the milk as it comes out, so maybe its the same with this guy.

[CagneyDog]

Do you mind if I copy & x-post the pics?

Sure

I've been stimulating it to pee but only a little drop came out last night and that was the first time. Perhaps it's just dehydrated though. I'm going to find one of the forumlas that was recommened here. This morning it didn't want to eat so I'm leaving it for any hour and going to try again. I'm not sure why the rescue isn't calling back but I'm going to try and contact them today as well. Thanks everyone.

[k9krazee]

Instead of a milk replacer, I'd recommend a homemade formula if you can. It has more calories than the milk replacer, here's the recipe we used on Kyra when she was a baby.

10 oz of canned evaporated milk or goat's milk
3 oz. sterilized water (baby water or boiled water) this is not needed if using goat's milk
1 raw egg yolk
1 Tablespoon of regular mayonnaise (optional)
1 cup of whole plain yougurt (avoid skim or fat free)
1/2 tsp of corn syrup

Just an idea. Good luck!!

[CagneyDog]

It pooped! Woo Hoo. haha.

I thought I read somewhere to not feed it your own mixture?

[Ginger's Mom]

I haven't replied because I didn't really have anything constructive to offer. But, I have been following this thread closely, and I am very impressed with the efforts you are going through for that poor little unidentified animal. I hope everything works out well for him. Thanks for trying so hard.

[lv4dogs]

Instead of a milk replacer, I'd recommend a homemade formula if you can. It has more calories than the milk replacer, here's the recipe we used on Kyra when she was a baby.

10 oz of canned evaporated milk or goat's milk
3 oz. sterilized water (baby water or boiled water) this is not needed if using goat's milk
1 raw egg yolk
1 Tablespoon of regular mayonnaise (optional)
1 cup of whole plain yougurt (avoid skim or fat free)
1/2 tsp of corn syrup

Just an idea. Good luck!!

I probably wouldn't add any corn syrup, especially seeing as you don't know the species. Anything sugary, especially for something so young & tiny can cause major problems in many of the animals in the mustalid family (ferrets, mink, etc...) I would also avoid mayo.

If you can get goats milk that would be great, you can feed just that alone. I wouldn't add anything else to it until he starts eating better, you want something thin (not may or raw egg, could cause choking problems).