Hamlet and Ophelia's second litter is comprised now of only one spotted
boy...the second pup, a cute little red fox, died on his two-week birthday.
That was about two weeks ago (a little less than that), but I've begun to
wonder whether or not to keep this breeding pair together. The pup that died
(he never really got a name...Mom called him 'Chester', so I guess that's as
close as he came to getting named) had a deformed leg...it stuck out
perpendicular from his body, and the paw itself looked as though one of the
toes (I always call it a thumb, but whatever) was kind of curled in. He
could move it and everything, though it was in more of a rowing motion, and
he moved around the nest, but I'd found his parents forgetting him several
times, and when he WAS in the nest, his brother stole all the food. I tried
feeding him KMR, and thought it had been working, but apparently not.
Anyway, I'm getting off track! What I'm afraid of is that maybe there are
too many genetic problems with this pair to breed them. Their first litter
died (though that could be because it WAS their first litter, and it was
small), and their second litter started off with three pups (not counting the
stillborn). Now it's down to one, and the second that died was deformed.
Hamlet and Ophelia are littermates (I got them from a petstore), but I don't
know how many generations they've been inbred. But as this is only their
second litter, do you think it's too soon to decide that they need to be
separated? Ophelia's already gaining weight again, so if she has more
deformities or problems with this litter, I think I definitely will separate.
I just wanted to get all of your opinions first, in case maybe I was being
paranoid! If I DO end up separating the two, I'm thinking about trying to
get a nice color to complement Ophelia. ;) Father and son will go into a
new tank, though I guess I'll have to leave Hamlet in there to help with the
babies...which brings up another question! When would be best to introduce
another male to Ophelia? Not while she has young babies, I'm sure, but then
I've heard from some of you that you shouldn't try introducing while the
female's pregnant, either...
*sighs* If only the pup was a girl instead of a boy...then I could keep HER
in with the mother to help raise the new litter, and I'd introduce a female
to Hamlet instead! ;)
Anyway, thank you (as always) for any help! :)
~*~Amber~*~
The Eisen Clan
http://burrow.envy.nu/index.html
