Puggle

[den]

Snorkle's refusal to eat has me really worried, to the extent that today I took him to the zoovets to see if they could help. Dr Timm immediately injected 5ml of rehydration fluid into the poor little puggle. Ooh that must hurt. To answer my question from the other day about how do echidnas feed their puggles (do they roll up? Lay on their back? curl into a ball and lay on the side) we researched the zoo's data, contacted Tarong Park and even got on to an Australian Zookeeper's forum. The answer was found in Peggy Rismuller's book: just a single line in the chapter on lactation, which mentions that you can hear the puggle slurping under the mother as she walks around.

That's it. That is the entirety of all the information on how a puggle drinks in the wild. This is the end of trying to feed the puggle the way mum did. I can't make milk stay on anything upside down. I tried at different times a sponge and a paint brush, but all I ended up doing was giving Snorkle a sponge bath and painting him in milk. In the end it was decided to try to tube feed him, which is not ideal but will get food into him quickly. I am not confident I can do this so I left him with the zoovets. Drs. Timm, Jo and Jody are all on the case. I could see a longer stay with me would be the end of him because I could not get food into him, but Snorkle has a much better chance of surviving now.

The zoo has resources and staff I do not have. If they can get him to the magic 160g mark, I can take over and bring him the rest of the way.

Comments

[glinda-w.livejournal.com]

Awww. GoodThoughts that the ZooVets can get him to a point where you *can* take him home.

(Sheesh. Whod've thought it, me here in the Northwest of the US getting all soppy about a baby echidna half the world away? Callahans connections again...)

(I need a Callahan's icon!) (wanders off to see what I can cobble up - after all, I did the badges for Seattle C'con in '98 and the Denver one in '99...)

[jamesb]

What about a small glass container (like one of the tall/narrow spice jars or a test tube) with a piece of chamois fixed over the open end?

[http://users.livejournal.com/crossfire_/]

You done good.

[weyrdbird.livejournal.com]

Aw:(!
But at least he's in good hands while he's away.
So it's *under* mum. Maybe he needs velcro or something to grip? It sounds like a puggle might hang on with their claws somehow, as ludicrous as that may seem. But then I've never been a puggle:).

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

Grump.

But best of luck to puggle. We'll be crossing our fingers and expecting him back!

[ursuscal.livejournal.com]

What about a little hampster water bottle? The kind that hangs upside down with a stem coming out of it. Gravity forces a droplet to portrude from the end, and Snorkle could lick from it if held near him/her.

[siouxsyn.livejournal.com]

You've done amazingly well against the odds. I'm pleased that you know when to pass along a challenge too.

I really really hope that you get him back soon. :)

[marmoe.livejournal.com]

Best of luck to Snorkle. It must have been hard to leave him with the zoo, but it looks like the right thing to do.