I've fostered pups twice. I've found in these cases
with the pup being very young (48 hours so no fuzz
yet), that the mothers accepted the baby, even though
her litter was older. A week plus old.
I would NOT try to add a fuzzed or furred pup to the
mother with the newborn (better to move a newborn).
The way I did these two fostering was to take out both
parents and bury the new pup under a pile of litter
and pups for a few minutes. Then I introduced just
dad, who dug out the pup and groomed him. Then I
introduced mom.
Good Luck!
Donna
ABC Gerbils
www.abcgerbils.com
PS -- Everything went well with the first fostering,
at 6 weeks when I placed her and her 7 week old
"sister". The second time, the mother accepted the
pup immediately and nurtured him very well for a
couple of weeks, but the mother rejected him at 18
days. It was right after I handled him with
soot/ashes on my hands, which I fear might have been
the cause.
--- "Cinthia A. Dunn-Izquierdo"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi Kathryn,
>
> >......should I foster it even though it's doing
> fine right now?
> > Or should I foster some pups to this mom to add to
> the one?
>
> Fostering to the 3 day old litter or fostering three
> or four of that litter
> to the mom with the single pup would be best.
>
> > One is a litter of 6 that is 7 days old today
> (however these are in a tank
> with TWO males and a female in it).
>
> Nope. The litter is too old. Mom would reject the
> foster pup.
>
> > The other is a litter of 8 that is 3 days old
> today.
>
> Perfect for fostering the single pup to, or
> fostering some of the other
> pups to the mom with the lone pup. Both moms would
> accept the foster pup(s).
>
> > The pup is at least 12 hours old now, and is HUGE
> compared to all other
> newborns I've ever had....he or she looks like a
> >4-day old at least. It
> also has a FULL tummy of milk.
>
> This is great! The pup has obviously gotten mothers
> first milk with all its
> anitbiotics and nutrients. Very important. However,
> one pup is not enough to
> stimulate continued milk production. Fostering is an
> IMMEDIATE need here. Do
> foster somebody somewhere. Like I said the both of
> the mothers will accept
> the new litter mate(s). Take some of the nesting
> material from the mom who
> is to receive the addition(s), and rub down the new
> one(s) to give them the
> same scent she has. Then keep a close eye on them
> for the next several
> hours. Place the cage where you can see it during
> the course of your day if
> needed.
>
> Good luck,
> Cinthia A. Dunn-Izquierdo
> The Izzy Clan
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