|
1-5 of 5 messages
|
Page 1 of 1
|
|
Food Colony
|
Reply
|
|
by earthguy on February 4, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
This is mostly for John Z, but anyone is more than welcome to chime in. I have a small colony of African SF Rats. Tonight when I went to feed them, one of the breeding females was in bad shape. Her babies (a couple of weeks old) were spread all over the cage in the throws of death. All of them looked like they were starving to death. Last night they were all fine. The mother even lunged at me when I put her food into the cage (a common occurance since she's been pregnant).
I have had mouse colonies for a long time, but I've never seen anything like this. Even though it looks like starvation, I can't imagine that to be the case. I measure their food out based on their mass, and starving mother rodents will cannibalize their babies. Any ideas???!!! This just sucks.
|
| |
|
RE: Food Colony
|
Reply
|
|
by Cro on February 4, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Josh, as you know, the females are very protective of the young, so having her lunge at you is not surprising.
What I am very curious about is you said the female is in bad shape ? What exactly does that mean. Has she been injured by the others in any way ?
If this happened quickly, and to all of the young, it is not starvation, as the young will survive for several days without food.
Have there been any changes in the food or water supply that might have caused a poisoning ?
What kind of shavings are you keeping them on. Is there any chance they were put on fresh cedar bedding just resently ?
Here is the most important thing though. Where are you keeping the critters ? It is most likely that they got too cold, and that is what killed them. I have had them out in a garage, and they got too cold, and that cold caused exactly the same condition that you describe. It can cause a die off of the younger ones that lack the insulating thick fur coats. Those are tropical animals, and they have no adaptation to extreme cold. If the room temperature where they are kept falls to below 40, they will die like flies !
If they must be kept in a garage or shed, add a auxiliry heater, and add stuff that they can shred to make a nest to help them keep warm. Give them a box they can huddle in and use group warmth to keep them happy. I think those things will help. Never let them run out of food or water. If they eat all the food you are giving them, then you are not giving them enough food. They have a much higher metabolism than normal mice and rats.
Hope this helps. Warm them up some, and let me know how that goes.
Best Regards
John Z
|
| |
|
RE: Food Colony
|
Reply
|
|
by earthguy on February 5, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
It's gotta be the cold. You know, for a biologist sometimes I'm not too bright :-) So in goes the auxiliary heater...
|
| |
|
RE: Food Colony
|
Reply
|
|
by yoyoing on February 5, 2009
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I remember when pig blankets were the way to go with tortoises outside on the cold Florida nights. I have an ancient one from Bush Herp. They are really good for food colonies of any kind because you can just place the animal containers on the thing when needed.
Check out http://www.qcsupply.com/Products/363.aspx for an example.
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this topic.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Check our help page for help using
, or send questions, comments, or suggestions to the
Manager.
|
