Help! What To Do For Motherless Babies?

[extremeballs]

2, 5 and 7 days old. This mother was fostering a few for 2 of my mothers who had too many to handle.

Background story here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-%28lengthy%29

She wound up getting hurt in all the commotion with the other mama. We did take the babies, and put them with our best mother, but she isn't going anywhere near them!

What do I do for those babies?

[wilomn]

Freeze em or feed em.

[extremeballs]

That is really my only choice?! I was hoping maybe I could give them baby formula with an eyedropper or something. There is no other recourse?

[thewesterngate]

You're looking at a few weeks of hand-feeding something that will end up as a feeder or breeder..it's pretty difficult. I would feed them off if the foster isn't having anything to do with them.

[rperry03]

So unless I am missing something, neither of the moms want them? If thats not the case do you have another cage for the mom that will take them?

[TacoTheFaco]

Check them for milk bellies and dehydration. How long have the foster babies been with her?

[RichsBallPythons]

I have a litter of 17 3 days ago get abandon by a first time mom in a newly setup group. Split the pinkies with other moms and all is well.

Sometimes females dont know what to do on first litters. I give 2 chances and litters, if happens again, i gas the mom and raise a new female.

[heathers*bps]

If the foster mom isn't doing them job then I would just feed them or freeze them. Unless you have another foster mom.....

[extremeballs]

This is what happened...in a nut shell... we were having problems with 2 new moms that were not meant to be housed together, but they chewed up the barrier and one mom kept stealing the babies from the other, and they had quite the fights over this toward the end, when we finally got them split up. We had given the thieving mom, who only had 7 babies, one of the babies from the mom she was stealing from, she had 14(one got fed off due to injuries), and a few from another mom who had 16. We did not realize at first that the mom that was stealing babies had gotten hurt in one of their tiffs. A couple hours later, we noticed the blood all over her cage, and how listless she was. So we put her babies and the ones she was fostering in with my best mom, who's own babies will be weaned on Sunday. Her babies kept them warm, but mom did not even go near them, aside from cleaning a few bottoms.

We nursed the injured mom all day. She seemed to be doing much better after some rest and extra fruits veggies and some baby food (chicken with chicken gravy). So around 11pm we put the babies back with her. All is well with everyone now. I am so relieved.

I know some of them are for feeders, but not all will have that fate, extras are sold as pets. So I worry about them as I would pets.