VERY Badly treated suggies -URGENT HELP NEEDED

[Nell]

Have just picked up my two rescue suggies from their supposed "safe haven" however they are SEVERELY underweight and their fur is dark brown and matted, they are passing soft red stool (not the colour of blood, more a cranberry colour) and I am very worried about them. I would be very very grateful if anyone with experience dealing with severly malnourished suggies could give me a call in regard to these two. I'm off to the shop to get some supplies but will be back in 10 minutes.

Their ears aren't back, and they're still v active so this is a good sign I am just very worried as the contrast between these and my suggies is stark! Tghe pink on their noses is almost a deep crimson and they are so so so skinny!

[Nell]

A pic of them:



The nest box they came in was absolutely filthy and smelled disgusting, being stained black in parts because it was so dirty, so got my o/h to get a new nestbox. I wouldn't have moved them as I didn't want to stress them but it was really really disgusting. I am SO SO ANGRY AT THE WOMAN WHO HAD THEM. UUURGH. Poor little guys, no wonder they wouldn't let her touch them

[Marie]

My phone battery is dead and charging upstairs atm!  The so called safe haven needs a good slap.  As their poops are red s/he was probs just feeding them strawberry and poss raspberry - very broad guess I know but they are the seasonal fruit and red!

Feed them as you would your own suggies but also get a couple of extra supplies - get zolcal D, and get some oatmeal (from Morrisons with the cake ingredients), honey OR applesauce.  I would also weigh them both if that is at all possible.

Zolcal D - offer it to them (dosages are on the bottle) on something absorbant and nice or if possible drop it on to their tongues.  If it's not possible to put it on their tongues, I find a tiny bit of cake is readily accepted.

Oatmeal - you can use one of two ways, either add it to their fruit mush (if you feed mush), about a teaspoon each.  Or, put a couple of teaspoons in to a couple of bowls (so they each have one), add boiled water and a little bit of honey or applesauce to sweeten and stir in to a paste. 

Oatmeal is full of protein and is great for weight gaining, it also has a neutral ca:p ratio so you don't have to worry about that. 

Keep an eye on the female as her fur is all matted - she may not be 100% on her hind legs.  Watch her when she moves, if she seems stiff, or has trouble letting go of the bars or anything that doesn't look 'normal'. 

[wjohnw]

that's awful at least they've come to a good home where someone will care for them properly. Good luck with nursing them back to full health

[Nell]

Marie, you beautiful human being you -thank you so much for the info! I've ordered some zolcal d express delivery, so hopefully it'll come on thursday, I've weighed them (on my dodgy kitchen scales) and she is roughly 55g and he is just under 70g. She wouldn't eat much earlier, I mushed up some papaya and scrambled egg with a little yogurt and offered it to them -he loves it but she'll only take a tiny bit. She's taken down some yoghurt but she seems to be refusing most fruit, apart from a cranberry she had earlier and a bit of apple. She's taken a few seeds and a waxworm -so some good fattening food- but I'm worried about her lack of fresh fruit. I've been giving her small amounts of low fat yoghurt, and she's taking it just about.

Considering what this Vikki woman told me about the suggies they are very very calm. They crab to high hell when you open their nest box, but it you offer them your hand gently they calm down and cuddle up with it -they even let me weight them!

If she won't take any fresh fruit, am I ok to feed her sunflower seeds in yoghurt for a bit? They're not amazingly nutritious, but full of fat, and with the yoghurt have a good calcium ratio.

[Amalthea]

Jesus....  Poor gliders!!  I would also add calcium to their food every night for a couple weeks.

[Nell]

Thanks Jen, will do -I've managed to persuade the girl to take 2 feeds now -she woke up at 2 and seemed more interested, but I've been tricking her by peeling a sunflower seed covering it in the papaya/yoghurt/egg mash, and she's then been getting a taste for the mush 

HPL wise, the girl does seem to have a little stiffness, but it's barely noticeable and the only other symptom she seems to have is low appetite, and I will be ensuring good amounts of calcium in their diets, so I'm cautiously optimistic on this front.

Couple of Q's:
1. Just wondering -I'm v aware it's early doors right now (tbf with the weight of the girl I'm not sure whether she's going to be ok ) but as far as weight gain goes, if feeding them up is successful around how much should they be gaining a week?
2. Is it advisable to be feeding them a relatively high number of high fat foods such as waxworms and seeds, provided I balance calcium intake? I'm uncertain as I know a lot of animals which have had poor diets don't function well when given such a sharp increase in food. I really want to see the girl putting on some weight soon considering she is half her ideal weight and a complete bag of bones!

[Marie]

The ZolCalD should blitz the calcium issues in a few weeks assuming that is all it is.

Weight gain per week all depends on the individual.  So long as she is gaining weight steadily then don't worry too much. 

I wouldn't be stuffing her with too many fattening things, steady weight gain is far healthier.  All I would be doing once she is eating is feeding a normal daily amount (whatever your lot have) and oatmeal on top of that.  Oatmeal is a high protein food and healthy.

[Nell]

Marie, thank you so much for all the advice -I really appreciate it!

Had a massive panic attack as she went missing for 5 hours -I was giving her a feed and she ran off for an explore and I couldn't find her -I was a blubbering wreck for a little while as I couldn't find her anywhere after turning the flat over (it's ridiculous how much these guys have touched me considering I only got them home Tuesday) however found her safely when it got dark scrabbling about in some of my clothes.

She wasn't eating however she's just about got her appetite back now -he's eating like a pig! They've got a mix of papaya, honey, egg, oats and calcium, some fresh fruit on the side, and a few iams. They've both had a couple of waxworms today dusted in calcium, but I'm limiting their intake.

Also they both now have names...based on a bad joke made by one of my friends...so welcome to Maddie and Oliver

[hday]

good luck with them long while ago but can empathise as thats how my guys phil and lil started out... tbh due to the severity of their calcium deficit I think they ended up on zolcal every day for several months after their initial 2 week boost of daily intake... and mixed it in food.

I think with any new diet they struggle... phil and liil didnt eat well intially but did settle in after a bit...
If you are unsure about their bone quality, maybe worth being cautious with how much they climb outside the cage area.

I just kept them on the fruit mush mixes as per menus on here and put extra honey in initially to tempt them
and they soon started liking it!
maybe if they had lots of red mixes start with that
ie strawberry carrot papaya
or raspberry melon papaya squash? (cant remember that one properly from memory)

etc

they wont change quick but they will get there although it is always hard with the worry that they may hit problems before their health catches up.
big jumps or caught claws and pulled legs could be problematic.
but you do also need to let them move to strengthen their muscles as I am guessing they havent had much chance too!
 
sounds like they are very tame considering if they let you weight them!
( I had to put yogurt in a bowl and get them to climb in!

slow and steady weight gain is definately  better as for humans!
I think... cant realy remember now took 4-6 months for my guys to get there...
and they have remained at bottom end of weights for their gender (normal considering their start apparently)
presuming they arent insured/insurable.
would be very worthwhile making sure tyou have a vet fund!
hopefully you wont need it and the diet can be reversed, without them having any problems from their low weight...
all the best

[Nell]

Hey hun thanks for all the info! they're now eating really well, and seem to be doing great, I got some electric scales today and she is currently at 61g and he's 74g. Zolcal d is going down well and they're now in a big cage as I got my boys a new set up. Sadly it's pretty apparent that Oliver has HLP as he walks like John Wayne atm, however he can still run pretty fast so I think that's a good sign, and the zolcal d should sort him out

[Marie]

Yay!!!!  Glad they're gaining weight and it's all looking positive!

[Nell]

Thanks Marie! just a little update on these guys, she's put on another 5g! I'm really chuffed, and they love attention -so long as it's proceeded by a mealworm or a piece of dried papaya 

[Nell]

Dear Mods I'd be super grateful if you could delete my mobile number from the first post and any subsequent quotes TA x

[Marie]

Done