:shock:
It has been a while since I’ve last updated this! Guess it’ll be a pretty long post, then.
My apologies for not being around more the last two weeks, by the way, work has been absolutely brutal for me lately, and I’ve been busy keeping the kits all healthy and well-cared for (which had the converse effect of not leaving much time for checking in on RT, although I’ve been trying). Hopefully things will slow down again a bit by April!
So, I think I’ll organize this by litter, to make things easier:
Judy’s Litter
Judy’s kits are getting chunkier by the minute (they better be, with the feed they’re putting down)! At two weeks old, they started getting real curious about what’s “beyond the box”, and I started finding them out of the nestbox every other morning.
At 3 weeks, they’re climbing on top of the nest box, into the food bowl, and on top of mama (to her obvious displeasure). Still scurry back to the nest for most of the day, though. The opals have completely opposite personalities (one is super shy, the other is a total lovebug), and the castors are spunky little things… this is DH’s favorite phase.
And now they’re 4 weeks old, and every time I come out to see them, there’s bound to be one in the food bowl. Mama gets a little treat when I feed in the evenings, to let her know I appreciate her patience with the little horde of monsters. :grin:
Valley’s Litter
Valley’s kids are growing quick, too. We did have a bit of nest box eye in both of the older litters (or at least their eyes were lightly gummed shut once or twice), but everyone tolerated the gentle warm washcloth treatment. At 2 weeks, these little guys were getting… bouncy? They definitely realized they didn’t have a roof to contain them!
At the 3 week mark, these guys are only slightly behind in weight compared to Judy’s litter (they’re also a bigger litter by 2 kits, and were born 2 days later… and I’ve been lazy and measuring everyone the same day). I’m super proud of this first time mama, I think Valley’s been super chill with her little ones. Actually, shout-out to Valley for being super mellow and laid back with kits racing all over her and pushing her all over the place!
And now we’re at 4 weeks… the little black babies are a bit tricky to get the camera to focus on, but the two castors and the blue kit are easy to target. I also keep getting the cutest tongue shots from these kits! They’re lickers!
Bonus shot of sweet Valley acting as a step stool for the hungry little ones! Poor dear…
Jane’s Litter
And these little guys… Jane’s litter has contributed to my sleep deprivation, for sure. I don’t think she was letting them nurse long enough on her own (I had two very skinny kits, and one that was starting to get skinny), so I started taking Jane and her babies inside twice a day (before and after work… it was dark both times) to make sure they got enough milk from her. Giving the three smallest kits a head start at the milk bar worked for 2 of the 3, we lost one on day 5. What really broke my heart, though, was that they had all been showing signs of improvement, but I found the third white kit (skinniest of the lot) away from all of its siblings and cold after a day of work. I tried to warm him up again, but no, all gone. So there’s 7 left in this litter, which is still a lot for this doe, I think. But with the assisted feeding, everyone is doing much better now.
At week 2, they are getting cuter and cuter every day. I’ve finally been able to stop getting up an hour early every day to check their bums (Jane’s notorious for being a pig in the nest box, and doesn’t seem too interested in cleaning her kits, either), and they’re all feeding plenty on their own. Eyes are open (thankfully these guys aren't having any issues with that), and they're starting to wander a bit more.
I’m absolutely in love with all the colors and variety of this litter, and the booted castor is getting some really pretty rufus along the top (hopefully it fills in the rest, too). And the broken otter and castor both have super cute (and full butterfly) markings! I keep looking at them, begging them to all grow up with great type… I’m working on convincing DH that eventually we’ll need to replace Jane. :grin:
So, that’s how my girls are doing for now… and I’m starting to feel a little less stressed, as well. So by and far, everything is going well again.
Hope you’re all having a good week!
