Hi Deb, I've had three litter, so from my limited experience:
a) fuzz shows at 6 days, completely furred at 10 days
b) eyes open at about 20 days
c) depends on the depth of the nest and activity of the pup. Assuming
you don't have a them contained in any sort of nest box, I'd say about
two weeks they start staggering around.
d) weaning age leave them with mom until at least 5 weeks to get weaned,
6 weeks ideally. I've had to take them away as soon as 4 weeks. One
pup was fully weaned the other was small and took feedings 3x day until
5 weeks. Use kitten replacement milk (powdered so it doesn't go bad).
General comment: be careful when you take out the pups; as young as a
week old they will twist and leap right out of your hands. Hold them
directly over a pillow or let them crawl on a blanket until their eyes
are open to avoid injury.
I'll send you a follow up web site with sites on figuring out your
colors.
Good luck to you, Donna A.
Deb Rebel wrote:
> 1. Briefly, I need to know how many days between birth and:
> a.) fur shows
> b.) eyes open
> c.) mobility from the nest happens
> d.) weaning age (both the recommended and the 'emergency' dates)
>
> I am trying to guess the age of some pups that I inherited in the
> rescue efforts.
>
> 2. Color questions....
>
> Black coat, black eyes, a few dark chocolate brown patches of fur
> that only show in good light (patches are off centered and not in
> a pattern)
>
> Golden yellow undercoat; from shoulderblades back, has black
> ticking/end of hairs; tail is golden at base but black ticked at
> last two thirds; and animal has a 'moustache' at the nose of
> black. Black eyes. Does not look like moult line. Top of head
> is golden, and not in the 'arrow' type configuration....
>
> General comment. A young animal, I'm guessing nearly
> full grown, can easily jump out of a 5 gallon plastic pail. And
> a ten gallon tank without a lid. All are now securely lidded.
