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Hi everyone .......Baby advice

roarysmam

Young Bun
:wave:

I am new to the board and just wanted to say hello.

Been reading for quite a while now and the advice on here as been priceless to me.

My female lionhead has just given birth to six overnight, (rescued her 7 weeks ago and was told she was spayed!:shock:) I obviously havnt disturbed the nest, and all seem quite big and healthly. Its my first time having babies and would welcome any advice please.

Mam has plently of food, greens and water. She is on her third bowl of food since 6.00 am this morning!

But please any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you.

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Hi,

Firstly I assume you have removed the dad? If they have still been together after she gave birth she could well be pregnant again so that is something to keep in mind. Basically I would leave the nest be. If there are any dead/sick babies mum will usually push them out of the nest. If you do feel you need to check them please rub your hands in some dirty straw and stroke mum for her scent before disturbing the nest. Feed plenty of greens and pellets ad lib. She will eat and drink a lot more whilst she is nursing.
 
Sorry i dont have any advice never had babies, hopefully soemone more experienced will see this thread soon and reply! oh and welcome to the forum:wave::wave:
 
Oh gosh a bit of a surpise for you!

Firstly, food for mum - Excell Junior and dwarf, feed as much as she wants this is the best food for lactating does and also the babies can wean onto it. Also feed dark green food such as broccoli to help her milk production. Make sure she has plenty of water she will be drinking much more.

If the nest is covered and you can hear movement then I would leave it be for now. You will probably not see mum feed the babies at first as she will tend to do it in secret at night, so don't worry.

After about a week rub your hands in mums litter tray (if you can get a nice wet bit !) and then gently lift the top of the nest to check on babies. Try not to move them just check they are fat and moving, any dead babies should be removed.

Some people say try not to let mum see you looking into the nest but depends on her temperament, if she trusts you and comes to watch just talk to her and let her see you do it.

I can't think of anything else ... good luck ! xx
 
Hi thanks to everyone who replied. I had read about dirtying my hands in her mess before touching the nest etc which was thanks to reading that before on here! So many thanks for that useful info.

Been out to Ruby a few times to make sure she has plenty of food and water etc and noticed that she had dragged one of the babies out and it was laying on the floor, unfortunately it had already died, is this common? Also now she has four together and one seperate, will she remember to feed the seperate one?

Many thanks

Diane x
 
Been out to Ruby a few times to make sure she has plenty of food and water etc and noticed that she had dragged one of the babies out and it was laying on the floor, unfortunately it had already died, is this common? Also now she has four together and one seperate, will she remember to feed the seperate one?

Sadly it's fairly common. The mum may have sensed something wrong with the kit and removed it from the nest, as dead or ill babies can chill the others. As for the one that's separate, try and pop it back as it'll get too cold away from mum.

AMETHYST
 
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