Hi,

I have problem on my hands that I don't know what to do. I had a breeding pair of gliders who raised a big sis without any problems. Well not I have a new Joey who is OOP about 2 and a half weeks now. About a week ago momma passed away so now I have a 2 week old Joey who we have ben supplement feeding every two hours. He has been doing great! Poppa and Big Sis have been doing a great job taking care of him. His eyes are open and he has gotten licking down to an art! Everything was going great until last night. Last night he ate about 930pm almost a half teaspoon of the formula that we have been giving him (before yesterday he was only averaging about 1/4 teaspoon). Well now we can't get him to eat! We tried mixing new formula, different temperatures, different settings in the house, different light levels, but nothing! He would take a lick maybe once every other two hours of trying to feed him, but nothing sufficient for nutrition. We also tried to give him just straight pedialyte to see if he would take that and he wouldn't. Is this common? Any Suggestions?

Go on Face Book and look up Connie Small she is the best one to help you. Do not delay time is very important.
I will private message her and have her get in touch with you.

What is the best way for her to get in touch with you. Cell phone??

That would be great!! Yes cell phone would be the best method for this. My number is 856-816-1225 thank you so much!

I private messaged her this information.

Is the baby warm? They will not eat well if not nice and warm.

Is the baby dehydrated?

How long has it been since he has eaten?

Keep us posted on him please.

OK either Connie or Aimee will call you shortly. They are both good at this.

Did you get some help??

yes yes! we did. With being so new to hand feeding gliders, we actually were able to get an appointment with a vet who see gliders. They gave him some fluids under the skin and said that something has upset his stomach (since he vomited twice in a very short time- only a very little amount) and that the vomiting made him dehydrated. Then because he was dehydrated he didn't really want to eat. Little Tegan Is 29grams and only 15 days OOP! We just got back from the vet and he ate about a half a teaspoon before he fell asleep. Thank you solo much for the help and being concerned and supportive with me through this!

Make sure you are also stimulating him to pee and poop at regular intervals until you are sure he is going on his own. A full bladder or bowel could also cause him to not want to eat.

Any news on this baby?

Baby is doing great! He was slightly dehydrated so when we took him to the vet they put some fluids under his skin to help him. Then about 20 min after that he was eating! Not as much but his appetite is increasing as the time goes on! Thank you all for the concern for Little Tegan!

Great thank you for letting us know. If you can update from time to time that would be great. We like to follow along :)

You might want to contact Connie, she might have some very good tips for helping you out along the way. She has been helping with hand fed babies for a long time and has some wonderful pointers.

Update!

So Little Tegan has increased his appetite and is starting to venture outside of the nest. We found that he eats more if we feed him in the nest with papa and big sis around. (Please let me know if this is going to cause a problem in the future) He's now eating the right amount of food in a sitting. He overall is doing great!! In the next couple weeks we can start him on solid food! I'm really looking forward to it!

Update please ~~ How is this baby doing?

Update~

For Tegun we have introduced oil into his diet to start his body on supporting its own nutrition. We are going to introduce baby food within the next week to get him eating solids. I feel like it is right around the corner where we can sleep through the night and stop disrupting my glider family every 4 hours! I hate waking them up during the day :(

He will probably begin to venture down to the dinner you feed the other gliders very soon (if he has not already done so at night).

I would not add baby food to his 'daytime' feedings, but perhaps add some to the dinner you feed the rest of the gliders. At about 6 weeks OOP he should be able to eat what ever staple you offer your gliders and will follow Dad's lead in trying the fruits and vegetables on his own.

Thanks Candy, the vet said that he wanted me to give him baby food. But Tegan has already started venturing around; earlier this week we went to feed him in the middd of the night and he was trying to use the wheel! Growing up so fast!! So Question then, how will I know that he is eating enough of the real food so we can stop hand feeding? As of right now, when we take the sleeping sack out of the cage and open it to look it, Tegan pops right up to the top of the gilder pile and looks for the food now! he's eating over 6ml!

I have not hand fed any joeys but I would gradually spread out his day time feedings - say 1/2 hour longer between each feeding for a day or two then add another 1/2 hour between feedings etc.

If you have a gram scale, check his weight every day about the same time - just before a feeding to make sure he continues to gradually gain weight.

Once you begin to see him eating from the same plate as the other gliders you could continue to cut down on the formula feedings as long as he is still gaining weight.

You might also try NOT supplementing in the late afternoon so he will be hungry when they wake up - he will be more likely to follow dad to the dinner plate if he does not have a tummy full of formula.

Glad he is doing well.

Can I ask what the oil is for?

Thank you for updating :)

Bcchins- The oil is used to help force the baby's body to start producing the nutrition that he needs I it's own. The vet told me that the momma gliders body would produce oil in her formula for the same reason. Yup help make the baby's body support itself. He said to do a one to twenty ml ratio. Which is what I have been doing.

Candy- thank you for the advice. I will keep a close eye on him!

Keeping track of his weight gain will help you know how the Joey is doing. If it looses weight after starting solid food, you may need to back off the solid food and start giving formula. The joey that I hand fed took longer to be able to eat solid foods.