Hey guys a bit of bright news.
After talking with the roomie, tomorrow we are gonna pick up the Powerhouse Tribute Band:
3 Rats, ideally feeders to spare them from being snake food. :)
Gonna make a new thread with pics when we get them all set up.
But why... :(
Do mice need the mom to survive when they are newborn?
No. Buttzerker was doing everything right.But why... :(
Do mice need the mom to survive when they are newborn?
I presume that they need milk? I know it's cruel, but while watching this thread I've always thought that the survival of this animal was slim. At it's early stage I just didn't think the OP had the means to nurture it to the juvenile stage. Though had it been found larger and able to move around/be aware of its surroundings I think it might've had a bigger chance of being raised healthily.
I just want to say I'm really sorry to hear Powerhouse didn't make it through despite all our hopes and all the care and energy you devoted to saving him. It has been inspiring to see someone so generous with their care, time and even going to the newborn baby feeding schedule to take such good care of him. The odds were against him, and you both fought hard. It was not your fault that he couldn't make it. He was so fragile to begin with, and watching the stream I was 100% convinced you were the best baby mystery rodent dad he could ever have hoped for.
Whatever little critters you end up taking in will be lucky.
But why... :(
Do mice need the mom to survive when they are newborn?
It's just a sad reality that not all of them make it. I mentioned in a previous post that my girlfriend does wildlife rehabilitation, which involves a lot of baby opossums, squirrels, rats, mice, etc and there's always a few that just... die. It's always heartbreaking because they seem like they're doing so well then they're just gone the next time you check on them.
Buttzerker, my friend who watched the stream often with me was heartbroken when I informed her and since she can't post on here, she wants me to relay this message on her behalf:
This is Cyclone's wife taking over since I don't actually have an account. My friend and I are so sorry PH died. I'm not going to lie, I cried at work when I saw your update. We had the Twitch stream up on our screens everyday in our offices. My friend and I work in the political field and we can see some of the worst in people. That unfortunately makes us all a little jaded and cynical when it comes to people. Seeing how you helped this little baby, though, took some of that cynicism away. You're a good person. We need more Buttzerkers in the world, maybe if we did, our jobs wouldn't be so draining. Thank you for what you did and what you will continue to do. Can't wait to see more rodent babies on our screens.
They can live on formula it just isn't easy. I may have fucked up the dosage once, or he could have accidentally gotten a bit into his lungs, etc.
Judging by what experts are telling me though, it is most likely that he had a blockage from the time I got him. His poop frequency was never ideal, and the theory now is his 'womb block' that stopped him from defecating in his mother never entirely came out and hurt his digestion.
Sadly if this is the case he never had a chance, but I guess its more comforting than knowing I fucked something up too badly
Sudden baby death surely is a thing among animals as well as humans. Sometimes 6 month old babies die for unknown reason, same can happen to animals. That's why there are so many strange rules.Yeah, when it comes to this sort of thing a lot of factors can come into play that you don't necessarily expect.
Around late May to early June we had a Robin nest on our porch where the parents would often be seen tending to the young inside. Then, we began to notice that there was less activity at the nest than usual and we got pretty suspicious when the parents weren't showing up anymore at the nest, and it would have been too soon for the baby robin(s) to grow up that quickly. When we checked inside of the nest, it turned out that there was a sole baby robin inside that had died from an unknown cause. It's eyes weren't open yet and the fuzz of the bird down was just barely growing on the infant, similar to this case. Whether it was mites or some other health issue we'll never know.
In any case, as others have said, don't beat yourself up over it. I think you actually did a pretty commendable job keeping Powerhouse alive as long as it did considering the state that you found him in.
I went and adopted these two 5-week old rat boys after work tonight:
Mandrake
Console
The big furball under Console is Sisyphus. He's just over 2 and a half years old. His remaining brother (Tantalus) died in his sleep a few weeks ago, leaving him alone -- and I've been putting off getting him some new friends.
Watching Powerhouse, I realized I had not been doing the best I could for Sisyphus -- and hearing the news today, I decided it was time for some new pets.
I'm watching them carefully to make sure they are getting along -- so far so good.
For completeness, here's my favorite photo of Sisyphus (left) and his two brothers, Tantalus (right) and Hudson (bottom):
Such a great thing you're doing, Jurg! Hope they don't mind being honorary members of the Powerhouse Tour. :P
I see a bright future for the New-Era Rat Bois under your management.I went and adopted these two 5-week old rat boys after work tonight:
Mandrake
Console
The big furball under Console is Sisyphus. He's just over 2 and a half years old. His remaining brother (Tantalus) died in his sleep a few weeks ago, leaving him alone -- and I've been putting off getting him some new friends.
Watching Powerhouse, I realized I had not been doing the best I could for Sisyphus -- and hearing the news today, I decided it was time for some new pets.
I'm watching them carefully to make sure they are getting along -- so far so good.
For completeness, here's my favorite photo of Sisyphus (left) and his two brothers, Tantalus (right) and Hudson (bottom):