URGENT - MILK needed for orphans

[arumanii]

Anyone who can help!

Got a call last night re orphans from a local rescue. I've taken them on despite all the potential health problems later on (~if they survive that is!)

Desperately need milk if any of you who have recently bred can handle your degus enough to nab some - without causing any problems with your own litters obviously! They do tons better on degu milk than any puppy substitutes (though this is what they're getting atm - every two hours on the hour! & yes, they are in my pocket at work though jacket passed to secretary when attending clients!)

Only two had survived when Jan picked them up (mother also dead- no idea why but assuming birth problems).

So milk for two needed asap if anyone has any. Willing to pay for it and any associated transport costs.

[benonthenet]

there is a great section on degutopia about this look at this link www.degutopia.co.uk/deguhandr.htm

after a quick read myself they say that kitten or puppy formula is ok with "Sherleys Lactol" being the best one.

All the best

[arumanii]

Thanks, already seen that. Have used it b4 with large litters but is no where near as good as degu milk for obvious reasons

[smux]

My theresa's lactating at the moment (babys are a little over 3 weeks old) but no idea how I would get any from her or how to get it, I'm so far away...I'd help if I could. If we work out a way, there'd be no charge for the actual milk, just transport.

I might be able to take them in with this litter, I dunno how she'd be with new babies though, would this be a better option if Theresa accepts them as her own?

[arumanii]

Thanks Smux - that would be excellent. Not entirely sure myself how to milk her... assuming u just palpate with warm water?

Quite probably will take you up in the offer to try to sneak them into her litter and see if she notices... but I'd be horrified if she then turned on them or her own. I have managed to get in touch with a few friends and breeders and left call backs hoping I can nab a lactating female and play at swapping her in and out between the pups.

Will keep fingers crossed and you in mind if u dont mind EVEN more ending up on ur doorstep?! I certainly don't mind the drive and think they're too young to really notice travelling! (How many would that be now then?!)

[smux]

14 including the 3 babies she already has...my 4 originals, 3 girls, 2 boys and a partridge in a pear tree.

I am happy to take them on if she accepts them, and if the father doesn't (he's a bit weird about his own sometimes) then he can just go in with his brothers for the duration. The cage is by my bed in my bedroom and I'm usually around so if she gets a bit weird I'm on hand to sort her out and save them. This is probably the ONLY time I would offer to take on degus, as in this case it really is a life-changing decision for them and it is something she can handle too as she's only had 3 pups and some degus have up to 10. It's also entirely possible that I'll keep them afterwards as I may be keeping the rest (I believe they're 3 boys now...if yours are girls they'd be very welcome as I'd like females to live with Theresa once they're old enough and the boys move out...they're still welcome if they're boys, of course) although I don't know for sure and the flatmate might have something to say about that now we've got 12 already :-)

Give me 24 hours notice if possible, although I will assume you're arriving tomorrow morning (not expecting you to, but any time after that I should be prepared for new arrivals) until you let me know either way. I'm not busy over the weekend (in from now onwards) or most of next week so even if I have hand-rear I have the time :-)

[smux]

Additional: I just looked into trains and there's a service from St Pancras to Sheffield that takes 2h27m. I could get that any time and pick them up, just give me training in hand-rearing when I get there and enough milk to last a day or so and I'll pick them up (and feed them on the train if I have to, although I'd probably wait until feeding time before leaving...they might last then :-)) and bring them home. If all doesn't go well with Theresa, I'll bring them back within 24 hours before the milk runs out (or if it goes well at first, I'll bring them back before the milk runs out :-)).

I'm suggesting this because Sheffield to London is 166 miles...even at 60 miles per hour you'll barely get here in under 3 hours, and you've got work to consider too. I'm unemployed, I've bugger all else to do so it's fine by me, and I may be able to afford (or at least borrow until I can afford) the fare, although if you want to go dutch on the costs it's fine by me too :-)

If you want me to pop down, there's no need for 24 hours notice, just tell me and I'll get my skates on (although I'll obviously have to borrow the money first...I have £10 until next week, and had I known about this when you posted it I would have kept the money back, but I wasn't aware and was busy elsewhere :-)) and I have enough supplies for myself and the degus to last the week.

Another option that might work with this is for me to bring Theresa with me (and the babies, as she's still nursing) but I am not sure how she would feel about such a journey twice. I've taken her out with the babies a few times for an hour or so and she ends up gnawing at the carry box so I would have to strengthen it with gaffa tape or something (she really is a gnawer for England) if I were to do this. I think she would be okay with the journey as long as I took her out of the box every so often for a little cuddle (she's well enough behaved that she won't try to escape, I trust her implicitly or I wouldn't consider it) but I guess all this is up to your personal judgement. She might need some time with the babies somewhere quiet once I get there so she can feed them, I don't think she will do so while in the box.

I have NO idea on the cost, but it is looking like £22 each way on Saturday (Friday prices are laughably high) although I can get slightly cheaper if I play around with the times a bit...for instance I can get the 11:25 which arrives at 13:52 for £22 and get the
17:35 back which arrives home at 20:05 for another £22 (both trains are around 2h30m)...this is a for instance, of course, the exact time could be decided beforehand although I think a few days notice might be needed for cheaper fares.

Saying all that, I'm on new deal and I can probably go get my photocard tomorrow...that brings "super off peak" price down to £30 return. :-)
Edit: Scratch that new deal, I'm actually not on the normal new deal it seems and all I get is a bus/tram discount...it'll still not be much dearer though at about £22 each way, but I now have to be a lot more specific with departure times at both ends...I'll look into how "off peak" works with this train company and work out the best option :-)

[arumanii]

THANK YOU so much Smux!

REALLY cannot describe the relief your posts gave me! I've had a hell uva coupla days so didn't have time to check on here myself and reply but the brother has been checking regularly (student with faaar too much free time) and keeping me sane with updates on the alternatives you're happily offering! Honestly gobsmacked that you'd even offer to travel up and get them and keep them on afterwards - tho tbh I'd probably end up offering the same in a similar position as I'm also a sucker for rescues! (I'd certainly have paid for your travel if you'd had to or atleast met u most of the way down there. - Can I send u something as a thank you / reward for being such a marvelously caring person? Just need an address if u want to PM me it?)



But, the issue has now happily been resolved - horrah!

Managed to catch a breeder in Bradford (Leeds) who has 'loaned' me his female together with her five (days old) pups for £20.00 for the four weeks and a £100.00 deposit in respect of their health. Agreed £25.00 per pup and £35.00 for mum if (god forbid) anything happens while in my care. Collected by the same lazy student this morning and immediately placed in new cage with pups and May (VERY submissive to everything - including the gerbil b4 she passed). Brother stayed in attendance til I got home (just now) and thankfully we've had no harsh words yet - they seem to be working at combining the nests atm tho they've yet to move any babies in together...


Oh yeah, and the other disaster (just to keep life interesting!) is that Manic developed a prolapsed eye (read: eye hanging out of socket all bloody and horrible) last nyt due to an absess. So after midnight I was speeding it down the road to rush her to an emergency vet - convinced that it required urgent attention (it is gross!). Operation tomorrow morning. (First quote for that was £300.00!!!! Rest of quotes around £200.00!! My reliable vets = £50.00!)

Chaos strikes again with Madness, Mayhem, Manic, Mischief, Minx & baby x!
(maybe I needed better names originally?)


Please do pm an address to me...

[smux]

No need, it was a rescue that you took in, you do it all for the degus and I was just doing the same...the babies surviving is reward enough for me :-P

If ever someone needs help in what could potentially be a life and death situation for degus like that, I would help every time if I could...in this case I was able to but in the end it wasn't needed. The likelihood of me having a lactating female at the same time you get in two baby degus that need the same is low...and it's unlikely to happen again...but if it did I'd offer the same again to whomever needed it. I've offered to help people in the London area with simple stuff before too, if they'll pay my travel (which isn't much, usually) I don't mind helping out as it'll improve the lives of their degus and make the whole thing a more fun experience for all. It's all about the degus, because they can't do it for themselves :-)
Travelling up to you isn't an issue, it's not like I'm doing anything else with my ample free time...about the only thing that's exceptional in all I've offered to do (to me, anyway) is the paying of half the costs to get there and back, everything else is well within my means.

As for offering to keep them on afterwards, well, if they've been fostered out to my Theresa the least I can do is let the babies stay with their foster brothers/sisters/mum (dependant on their gender, of course) rather than splitting them up afterwards. One of the reasons I wanted 4 originally was because it wouldn't have been fair on the males to split them up...if they'd have had 5 males I'd have 5 now :-)
(although if they'd have had 5 males and 4 females I'd have taken the females probably...gender wasn't important, the number 4 was but I'd have taken 5 if I had no option for 4)

Good luck with Manic, if it's a good vet (and I'm sure it is if you keep going back there and you're getting good prices from them...I need to find one like that around here...I do most of the vet stuff myself, although I obviously couldn't handle a prolapsed eye :-)) they'll clean out the abcess and sort the eye out and Manic will be up and about and living up to their name in no time with no visible difference to how they're acting between now and before the incident.

[smux]

With the whole Manic thing, we've not had an update on the babies...how are they? Did the mum accept them okay? Do they seem well-adjusted (or as well-adjusted as degus can be, I'm sure they're all born psycho :-)) and the same as their foster brothers/sisters?

[arumanii]

lol sorry has been a mental few days... hmm... maybe Baby X can be called Mental?

But yes, thankfully with the addition of step mom and her litter all has gone swimmingly well! Everyone but Maddy and Missy are in the main cage (Well, I say the main cage... its since had an extension knocked through so its taken over the two main cages - just when I now conveniently need more separate cages) and the babies seem to be doing fine.

When I last updated I see they were trying to make one nest. Well... that went really well. But then May had a change of heart and moved all mum's babies across to her den (while mum was trying to move bedding into the shared one!)! Then she started moving the bedding back from the shared nest they had been building to her den with all the babies in! It was quite funny after the event but during it I was ready with towel and spray incase mum decided she didn't like May's theft and got upset...

Luckily she eventually seemed to get the idea and started moving bedding direct from her old den to May's den and bypassed the shared one they had been building!

Mum is now feeding (seemingly the whole litter but I've not seen for definite to confirm) and May is in training to stand above a dropper or seringe without moving so hopefully if needed I can feed babies from under her (its interesting and we both more often than not end up covered in lactol!)

Missy is joining them when i can supervise as she's a bit unpredictable being a recent addition. Maddy will NOT be joining them at any time until mum leaves and she can be introduced to the kids properly as I know she'd attempt to kill our guest and then I'd hav even more pups to try to feed throughout the night!!! Naughty Maddy! If I didn't love her most...

Cant tell at all re psychological factors... just hoping the loss and temporary human only contact hasn't stunted their development overly. Guess time will tell on that one.

[smux]

Good to hear they're getting along, and degus are notoriously hardy creatures (even as babies) so I am sure it was nothing but a slight hiccup in their life and they'll forget all about it now "mum's back and feeding" them again. I think the only developmental problem would really have been the short time when they didn't get to hear mum's voice (which they're hearing in abundance now from both degus, I'm sure) and the fact that they weren't getting the right nutrients from the milk because of the replacement, but both of these have been sorted and I'm assuming it's only been a few days so they'll get through it.

Soon you'll be at the fighting and squealing stage, where it sounds like a cat's being strangled but it's two (or all five) of them having a little spat...that's the stage when you can't properly punish them for doing something wrong because they're still too young to be learning right and wrong so you just have to let them be naughty :-)

I can't wait for the next two weeks to be over, then Theresa's on her own for a while I think (I'm pretty sure they're all boys and her siblings are also boys so now she's had the babies I *have* to keep her separate...if she's not already pregnant after the "introduce the father" incident, I might let her get pregnant in a number of months so that hopefully we'll get some females she can have as company) and the babies will be going in with their uncles...THEN the fun begins, with 6 degus in the one cage! No idea where Theresa will go either, the spare cage is being used for Dante while he and Elsevier are being separated because of fighting. I might instead give the babies away, although it's not going to be easy, they're too cute :-)

[arumanii]

hahaha! I'm actually just relieved i no longer have to do night feeds or take them into work!!!

looking forward to the spats- in part - as it'll show they're being normal troublesome degus!

Poor Theresa - she's completely outnumbered! Tho maybe she likes being the only girlie goo?

Yeah, I'm thinkin these two pups may hav 2 stay with my lot tooo - they are toooo cute! Luckily got two adopted out just b4 they came or like u I'd've had no spare cage unused!