How much kitten milk to give a 3.5 week old gerbil

[sparkbubble]

I have Petag Petlac kitten milk replacer. What method and how much (ratio of powder:water) do I use to feed the gerbil? I gave it water last night, but it would only accept it off of my fingertips. is this what I will be needing to do until it is weaned?

[betty]

I assume you got your answer already elsewhere sparkbubble - but I always follow the instructions on the tub for the ratios - using the smallest animal on the chart and I make the smallest amount I can measure.

I use warm water, and then drop in either oats or bread to the dish and then serve in a small hospital set up so I can watch them eat/drink. I try my hardest never to syringe feed them as I know it is rather difficult to master - but as they step into the formula often, I make sure (when they are younger) that I wipe them off after a feeding session has ended (or the formula goes cold) otherwise it can go hard on their face.

I owuld keep feeding them the extra food on a one-to-one basis until you can see their weight rising for several days in a row. I would be looking for at least 1g a day increase steadily throughout the week. Using digital scales is best but if you only have 1g increases then don't be too put off if one day they are the same weight showing on the readout but overall the trend is 1g+ a day over a 7-10 day period. Once they are up in the 30gs you can reduce the formula feeds but still offer easy foods (oats, sunflower hearts, shucked pumpkin seeds or pine nuts, egg biscuits, etc) as an aside to the normal food - and once they are in their 40gs they should be fine on 'normal' foods going forward.

If they stop gaining weight for several days or actually start to lose weight* - then you know you need to up your game considerably.

*Ideally when using scales for small weights always have a non changing item to weigh each time to 'tare' them in situ - otherwise you might not get a correct reading each time. Scales on soft or uneven surfaces/tiles could read different weights every time.

[sparkbubble]

The ratio was 1:2 powder to water (so basically I am feeding it 1/4 tsp of powder to 1/2 tsp milk. I used my fingertips and yeah the pup got all sticky around its mouth and the dad had to groom it off. I will try the oat method and see if I can get it to eat more. I still have to feed the pup water off of my fingertips. I put a pickle jar lid with water in the tank and lined it with paper towels so that there is shallow pooling to get a significant drink.

[betty]

You could also try to soak bread in the water and have the pup 'suck' off the water (or formula) from that instead of your fingers? Might save you time - but might take away that lovely bond you have started.

Jar lids are great for shallow feeding - just need changing often as they seem to walk all through them.