The situations where hand rearing of a cria may be necessary include the death of a mother or the unlikely event of the dam having no milk. Partial hand rearing may be necessary with extremely weak or premature cria or cria that are not gaining weight on a regular basis.In the case of the weak cria, simply giving a little honey and milk by bottle may provide the cria with enough energy to get up and start feeding. A ratio of 2 teaspoons of honey to 4 ounces of warm milk works well. Frail cria may be unable to suck on a bottle. An eye dropper may be used, or gentle pressure on the bottle may help but be careful not to overwhelm them with milk which will cause a choking response. You may want to rub their throat as you urge them to take the bottle. When the mother initially has a poor milk supply, it is possible for milk production to be stimulated through continual suckling, so don’t give up too easily. Cria that have been unable to feed for up to four days can stimulate their mother into full production. As the mother’s milk satisfies the cria and its weight increases your bottles will be rejected.
1. Nutrition
2. Immune support
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