Surprise we are here!

[inzeos]

One of our rescues Bonnie, who has been separated from her male friend Jack since we rescued her gave birth today.

The kits look healthy. She has cleaned them and is nursing them. Both kits have their eyes open. She is paying attention to both of them.

I read through the FAQ real quick. Any other knowledge I should know about?

We are getting a better kit friendly cage this afternoon since I'm currently at home without a car, wife is at work. We will also be weighing them then.

 

[AZChins]

That's good that everything went well with the birth!

I hope that you can find a cage soon because those little wiglets are going to start looking for an escape route very soon. They start looking for weaknesses in the perimeter as soon as they are a little more coordinated at maybe five or six hours old.

Right now they're nursing and the mama seems to be doing well, so all you need to do is watch and wait. Make sure that the kits aren't fighting. I always feel mama's belly to make sure that all the kits are out and to see if she has passed the placenta. That may be something you want to do.

I'd take the wheel out for sure. That could lead to accidents with the little ones.

 

[inzeos]

What type of feeling am I looking for on the momma to see if she passed the placenta and all the kits?

Cage is coming very soon, wife gets off her nursing shift in 2 hours. Until then I sit next to them in my home office watching patiently while I work.

 

[inzeos]

How soon should the kits be handled to be socialized? Is there a to soon after birth time frame?

 

[RDZCRanch]

You can handle the kits as soon as they are born. I personally prefer not to stress mom out or bother her too much after a hard labor. If I'm curious, I'll just get weights, gender, and color and then leave them alone for the first day, except to check on them every hour or so. The second day I also do minimal handling. The first 48 hours are crucial for kit survival so I give mom those hours to feel safe and alone with the babies.

Congrats! I'm glad everything turned out well and glad again that you guys were able to take her in!

 

[inzeos]

Update!

Unfortunately our not so baby friendly FN-142 lead to the escape of a third baby! The baby is back in with mom and seems to be taking to her OK. I have my eye peeled now for a 4th escapee?

 

[inzeos]

You can handle the kits as soon as they are born. I personally prefer not to stress mom out or bother her too much after a hard labor. If I'm curious, I'll just get weights, gender, and color and then leave them alone for the first day, except to check on them every hour or so. The second day I also do minimal handling. The first 48 hours are crucial for kit survival so I give mom those hours to feel safe and alone with the babies.

Congrats! I'm glad everything turned out well and glad again that you guys were able to take her in!

Thanks! I removed the wheel carefully and broke down some cardboard boxes to slip in between the bass pans and the FN-142 cage walls. Temp solution, which will hopefully work for another hour or two.

I found a little guy crawling on my foot so we have 3 now. His eyes do no look as opened as the others and appears smaller.

 

[Rickman]

Mom may help with the eyes, but if they're open, just let it be.
Cardboard should be good for a while - the youngsters shouldn't chew it.
Congrats and good luck!

 

[inzeos]

Yeah, I figure the cardboard is now at least 6" high up on the cage. Still watching them like a hawk from my desk across the room. I'm debating a new baby safe cage from Petco and or PetSmart (retailers in my area) or getting some finely woven mesh from Home Depot and retrofitting the sides of the FN cage.

 

[cindyv3737]

Congrats! I'm glad they are all doing well. Have fun with your new babies.

 

[AZChins]

As far as feeling the mother for anything left over inside goes, just gently touch her belly and if there's any babies still in there you will feel them. She's probably alright. Most of the time everything comes out without any problems.

Three babies now? Your new kits are smart! The wire mesh might be the way to go. There's not a lot at petstores that would be baby safe...and anything that is probably is very small.

I don't hold the babies right away usually because I want them to bond with mom and get to nursing. The sooner they start nursing the sooner the mom will have her milk come in. I pick them up, take their weights and tell them they are adorable and put them back in. At about three days old I start holding them as much as I can. I wait for times when they are awake and not nursing so I don't interrupt them too much.

 

[inzeos]

I'm most likely going the wire mesh route. I'm thinking wire mesh with a few strips of metal or wood to bolt it into the sides and top of the cage.

I only handled one kit so far and that was to keep him from escaping. When we get the scale later today I will probably pull them out to weigh and determine their gender.

 

[starleomach]

Don't forget to mesh the top of the cages too...those little stinkers can and will climb

 

[AZChins]

That's right, they will find any hole that they can squish through to make an escape. The top of the cage is not too high for them to escape through.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Ooh they look really cute in that first picture! ^^
You're in Rochester too??
CAN I COME OVER AND SEE THEM?!
Haha, just kidding. I luff babies, but I swear I'm not that crazy. :cough:
Good luck! They might start eating solid food within a day or two, Ivan had his first pellet before he was 24 hours old But they will also nurse from mom. I don't have any other real advice, everyone on here is much more experienced than me (MUCH more, lol) so I thought I'd just let you know about that little quirk.
Good luck! They're beautiful :hearts:

 

[Rickman]

I was going to mention the 1/4 x 1/4 wire mesh - but it's a PIA, and just looks terrible!
You have to cover every side, including the door, cut with metal shears, watch for sharp edges, and find an effective way to secure it without gaps, as they'll squeeze in them!
Been there, done that,and it takes about 1-2 hrs for a small cage, and FN's aren't small.
Try to find a small baby-safe cage for about 6 weeks - you'll find it's worth it!
It can later be used for a lot of reasons, or sold as 'lightly used'.

 

[inzeos]

OK, so after a frantic afternoon wrapping up work, watching the kits, forgetting about dinner and then heading to home depot! We now have a baby safe FN-142 top half. Mom and her kids seem to be doing well. They are huddled together and nursing as I type this. We tried to weigh them; however, the scale we got from Walmart this evening was defective. We managed to weigh the mosaic kits in at 47g and I expect her sibling who is a standard and similar size to weigh ~47g. The runt of the litter unfortunately did not get weighed. We are going to attempt getting another scale tomorrow.

Here are a few pictures to help us determine their genders;

Standard (Runt)

Mosaic

Standard

Tomorrow when the light is better I will try and get some pictures of the cage modifications. In essence we used 1/2x1/2 19gauge hardware cloth, which is fairly workable. For the FN-142 I suggest getting the 24"x25' roll from Home Depot. You need about 13' total to do the cage the way we did.

 

[Rickman]

I'd say Male, male, female, ln the order of the pictures!
Good luck with them!

 

[starleomach]

I believe they all look like males to me

 

[RDZCRanch]

All three are males. Females have a slit on the part of the cone that is showing. They also have those VERY distinct little funny bendy penis. Trying to explain where I'm going but without a doubt you have THREE MALES. Congrats again! I hope you got the cage figured out earlier!