Midnight Feeding.
Aria's facial wounds are getting better, but her eye is still closed. She's probably going to have permanent scarring on her face...
(Daddy's sorry about prom, baby! :-( /sniff)
I think if I can just give her the strength to beat this, we won't have to feed her a bunch of antibiotics.

Regardless, it's the vet first thing Monday.

I'm going to feel like the worst pet dad in the world if she loses vision in that eye. I should have had her out of there the moment the first mark appeared on her face...but I didn't think it was really a rejection happening.
Well...excuses. I didn't WANT to think there was a rejection happening. Bah.

Well, on a lighter note.

My pinky finger has finally got the magic! Made Aria poop finally!

This pregnancy is really building the bond. And it wasn't gradual. The moment the joeys came out of the pouch, Justin and Frisby, have gotten closer to me.

For instance, Frisby just allowed me to pick her up off my sleeve and move her to the table--without trying to avoid my hand.
They are more at ease with sudden movements around them
They have better recall (Hahaha, recall...)
They just want to be on and around me more.
All this is great! I was feeling like we had hit a plateau in our relationship.
Justin just swooped in and stole some baby milk.
Frisby ate a meelie
A good time was had by all...

Except Daddy Tree, who is wondering how it is that HE's doing all the parenting and Justin is on holiday.

The dryer lint is getting eight hours sleep per day--while I am stuck in Eternal Finals Week

I mean c'mon Justin...except for being the go-to de-pooper, we could replace you with a hot water bottle. :-(
And now you aren't even doing that!

Baby milk out...need more.

7am feeding.
Big sigh of relief.
All the redness is gone from the wounds on Aria's face--and her eye is opening! She looks much better!
Arrow 19 grams.
Aria 14 grams.
She's gonna make it!

Feather, thank you.
I am sure my vet would be happy for the resource if she needs it.
Hadn't thought of the laser though. :-( I don't know if she has a laser. A laser would be much better...

My bike is almost fixed, so my windfall tenure at the motorcycle dealership parking lot is coming to a close.

So I guess, the next big destination for me is the Grand Canyon. This will take me through Albuquerque NM...do we have any members there who have a relationship with a known-good glider vet? Laser equipped?

CRAP. I left the formula out all night...err...all...4 hours. No worries, I guess. Petsmart didn't have a small sized puppy milk package, so if say, 3000 of my closest friends, need some--let me know.

5:08am...(static)
EXTREME CLOSEUP: LP needle touching down on vinyl
*queue "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor*
DAH...DA-DA-DA...DA-DA-DAAAAAA...

Time for a Glider-baby feeding MONTAGE!

Generator-GO
Coffee Maker-GO
Formula ESBILAC Puppy milk replacer 1/2 cup...ish
CL Complete 1 tsp...ish
Mini Blender-GO. GO. GO.
<Chorus>
BLEND...BLEND-BLEND-BLEND...BLEND-BLEND-BLEEEEEEND...
Coffee DONE-HOT-POUR
***HIP HOP***
Microwave Cold formula on high 15 sec
Swish Around!
Microwave tepid formula on high 15 sec
Swish Around!
Microwave almost-warm formula on high 10 sec.
Swish Around!
DAH DAH DAH...
Tool tray to table--scale, blankies, tissues, CLEAN eyedropper...
Swish Around!
Aria at 15grams! Eating well...wounds healing eyes open.

Going to try and put up some pics.

Here's Aria--pic from last feeding.
Horrible :-(

And this is a 200% improvement--she's really on the mend now.

She's adorable, glad Aria is doing so much better.

Also, you're a crazy dude, but a cool crazy. Keep the updates coming, man.

Hey again all.
4am feeding done.
Still improving.
Aria 15 grams heavy.
Arrow 20 grams heavy.

Aria pooped tonight--all on her own! I followed the event shortly after with a cloacal stimulation and she peed an ocean. So all the plumbing is working.
This rejection has clearly impacted her development though--and not just in the grams-of-body-mass category
Her fur is thinner and she's notably weaker--she gets cold easier and has less energy then her brother.

Arrow I don't worry about. He's already applying for athletic scholarships.

Here's Aria tonight...

IF this helps anyone...here's the before and after

THIS is the first mark left on anyone's face.
If you see this, it's not an unlucky claw, or a "fluke". It's a bite.


Here's her face tonight.

Do you have an incubator set up for her now? It is important that you keep her warm, specially when she is out of the incubator.

They eat better when they are warm.

Been using a bonding pouch.
Incubator comes up tomorrow. (amazon)

Hey all....
Incubator arrives today. That will be good...more sleep maybe.
Didn't get weights at the...1am feeding.
Everyone looks...heavier. Calling that art.

Mom and Dad both tried to make off with a joey and go rambling around the ship. I told them, "The joeys stay in the cage--I must insist."
Considering the on-and-off parenting we have been doing, I don't want them to wander off and leave a joey someplace I can't find and rescue it.

The big news today is that BOTH Aria and Arrow ate some solid food! Egg I think.
They started out slow, with Arrow giving the little piece of egg a few experimental licks...then kind of mouthing it, then eating some. I didn't let them have too much their first time. We will see if they want more tomorrow.

In other news. My tenure at the motorcycle lot has been extended a few days. They got in a big expensive custom order and they want to get that knocked out, before they hook up my winch. So a few more days here.

Daddy Tree loves winches. Everything I have has a winch. Even the bike. Can't have enough winches. Even my winches have winches.

My buddy--ex next-door neighbor--happens to be a master fabricator. Shows up here yesterday with a part he custom made for my bike! A part I have been looking for forever--to complete...the masterpiece. It's the final piece to the MG mount.
What a surprise--I'm so grateful I don't even know what to do.

Been waiting to say this since I was 12 years old.... "OH YEAH!? WELL MY BIKE HAS A MACHINE GUN!" Suck on that Mark Finn!

Now I need 4 tiny flight helmets with goggles and scarves, and tiny leather jackets.

Ok...everyone fed and put away for now....

"Chelsea, NO!...Lead your targets! Bad dog!"

Noon feeding.
No weights.
Arrow is full up on that good mom juice.
Aria doesn't care for my switch to powdered formula.
Told her to get a job.

The difference in their development is notable. You can really see that superiority of the real thing when it comes to milk.

Interestingly enough, Aria ate quite of bit of solids, while Arrow did not. You can tell she's craving something she's not getting. :-(

Both asleep in the bonding pouch...

Noon feeding went well.
Mom made off with Arrow while I was getting Aria out...we will track her down.
The good news is the incubator is in.
Which means I can try and sleep in a horizontal position!
Weeee.
Here she is. So cool to be able to watch her sleep. She has dreams of something big!

17 grams at last weigh in.
She is putting on weight, but she's not getting heat from mom and dad. Must keep getting booted from the family snuggle, while in the sleeping pouch. And no grooming it looks like. She actually looks wet, she is so unclean.
She is loving this incubator. 95 degrees. It seems to have brought her to life.
She stretches and yawns. She stands up and tries walking. She grooms and grooms.
Then she want milk.
Rinse and repeat.
The heat seems to give her engery. She must have really been hurting for heat. :-(
And now I can quit playing human water bottle and get horizontal.

Cute! Just remember you have to feed her like every hour! Your going to get interrupted horizontal.

Good morning all!

Not a good night. Tried to re-introduce Aria to mom.

Big mistake.

Mom was not having it. But Aria was not taking no for an answer. The result was a terrible fight that I could not break up.

Tried to manually separate them--another big mistake.

Glider babies are like super glue.

When I realized she actually had hold of the scruff of mom's neck with her teeth(!) I desisted.

Found myself standing in front of the cage saying, "Just let go, baby! Just let go!" Feeling my stomach twist--still looking for an opportunity to snatch them apart--dreading seeing the blossom of red start spreading across the struggling chaos of white fur...

No blood, thank goodness. After an epic struggle, mom finally cast Aria off into the darkness...where she huddled in a ball, in despair.
:-(
I'm lucky she didn't sustain any more wounds.

It's ok, little one...I'll be your mommy. :-(

Guess that's not going to work. Not until they are weaned. (Now that I am thinking about it, maybe dousing them with some water would have worked to separate them...I dunno.)

So after a big sleep in the incubator, and a big meal this morning, Aria is asleep on my shoulder, under my hoodie. (98.6!) She's making little contented pops and peeps.

That could have turned out so bad, glad there were no injuries.

You may not be able to reintroduce her to her family, even when she is older.

7pm...feeding. No issues. She guzzles it down and shortly later goes back to bed.
Incubator to 95 degrees.
Me to 90 degrees.

Justin, Frisby and Arrow are looking at Ivy League brochues. Arrow wants a Lexus...

Aria is 11 days old. She wants a tattoo.

Sigh...we are all just one bad day away from the other side...

8:07pm
Just woke up...from...something...
Don't remember going to sleep.
Aria would almost not take any milk this time; evidently because she decided to take another dive into the goodie bowl and eat some solid food!
Opened up the top of the incubator and she's perched on the edge of the bowl, nibbling away at SOME FRUIT.
Not going to cry.
She seems to have more energy. Haven't handled her much today--she's clingy...wants to snuggle in the crook of my arm. Did that for a while.
She takes a little more milk. She's asleep under my sweatshirt hood now--right at the tip top of my head.

Good segue--She also, sometimes, can poop on her own now, without having to be stimulated. Hoping for no poops *just* now. :=/
The fur is coming back in on her face.
Can't wait for midnight--want to weigh her. :-)

Will try and post some pics...

9:48pm
I hope Aria is not permanently underdeveloped because of this rejection.
She's up against the glass of the incubator trying to get out. But she doesn't want milk, or need potty help. She just wants to go to sleep on the back of my neck.
She just wants love.
No one ever promised you a rose garden. :-(
So unfair.

How old is she now?

I would get her eating one of the diets with a liquid staple, such as the Critterlove products.

It is important that she get balanced nutrients right now. Complete would be a good choice for you right now, you can mix it up in batches of tables spoons instead of a whole batch.

It gets mixed 3 parts water to 1 part powder, So you could mix it up 3 teaspoons water and 1 teaspoon Critterlove Complete and you will have a little over a Tablespoon of Staple. All you need is a shaker tumbler.

These guys came out of pouch 10/24
The milk I have been using has has CritterLove Complete in it, in the amount of 1tbsp per 2/3cup
And everything everyone eats is doused in CrittrLove powder.
Defrosting a cube now to see how she likes it at full strength. :-)
I would love it if she would eat this--get her on what everyone else is eating.

Ahhhhh....dang it.
Slept all day! ALLL DAY! GONE! Little bastages have me in their grip. Flipped me to nocturnal...
Need...tinfoil...hat...

Capturing this while it's still fresh.

Myself and...some unknown friends...near future? Were at a fancy hospital somewhere in Europe.
The four of us had come there looking for...some kind of treasure. A device that would let us travel in time.
But something had gone terribly wrong. We had been framed for a bombing, and were sentenced to die by lethal injection.
I took the needle first.
There was lots of weeping and sadness. Lots of "Tell so-and-so this for me..."

Evidently this fancy hospital was short on budget because it was going to take me a while to die--low budget execution drugs.
Started running out of things to say. "Doc how long is this going to take?"

Where the heck is Justin? You come drag me out of the Naked Nacho Party dream because you want candy, but you are absent for THIS? What good are you?

Just at that moment, one us us realizes something, "Wait a sec. That tower in the courtyard wasn't there in 1963! That's the missing piece.
The device is there! We can get it, go back in time, stop the bombing of the hospital. No trial, no verdict, no executions!"
"Sweet! Um...what about me?"
Yeah, they already shot you up. You're screwed.

Great. Dang it, Justin...

The rest involved lots of running and bombs falling. We had to reach the courtyard tower, find the device, go back to *before* the bombing, and fix everything...

...which, we had an advantage on, because--being a time-travel dream--we had apparently done this several times before.
Wait...don't go down that hallway! KABOOM!
Oops...nope...don't go into that stairwell! FWOOSH!
Hehe.
Got to the tower under fire from German aircraft.
Dodged guards through the tower to the basement...
Secret tunnels lit with a weird green and blue light..
Lethal injection drug starting to twist in my stomach...the rest of my team has vanished.

Ancient Chamber half full of water--the device floats in the middle.
Timeless guardian creature starts it's speech, "Who disturbs my slumber..."
"Yeah-yeah buddy. Time travel dream--heard it before. I'll take that."
It readies it's claws and bares it's teeth--the edges of it's bony spikes and ridges light up with a blue glow.
(veteran Starcraft players will recognize this creature as a Protoss Hybrid)
I pull out my weapon, and smile. Action hero time!
Say something cool, "WEEEEB WEEEB WEEEB WEEEB!!!"
The creature stops, puzzled. "I'm sorry...what?"
Clear my throat.
"WEEEB WEEEB WEEEEEB!"

Sigh. He's too small to make anything useful out of. Maybe one white mitten...

"RAY--the next time someone asks you if you want to have Sugar Babies you say NO!"

Seriously though.

Solid foods for Aria! And she loves the CritterLove nectar!

Justin and Frisby are back to normal parenting for Arrow. Evidently Frisby's milk production is enough to handle one baby. Arrow is looking great.

Aria looks like a pink yoda--played by Danny DeVito.

Let's hope this diet change helps her catch up.

Thank you guys for all the advice. Be lost without your help! :-)

I am really hoping this is the end of this thread--IE the end of the hand feeding. Not that it hasn't been fun, expensive, messy or exhausting...but yeah.

Justin! Hey buddy! Wanna go to the zoo?

Epilogue: Aria is still hanging in there--slowly putting on weight and letting her fur thicken up. Last night, she even demonstrated that she could eat CHICKEN!
(The uncontested favorite food round here). She really loves chicken.

"See how big I am? Look how hard I can bite! Raaar! Got you, bird!"

Her eyes are open and clear--- her wounds have vanished.
Still has fur trying to come back onto her face, from where mom scratched it all off...

She's still so far behind her brother though. And her fur always looks wet, thin and scraggly. :-( She's eating well and pooping *almost* entirely on her own now. But so small and weak compared to Arrow.

Currently she's asleep on the back of my neck, under my hoodie. This one is going to be a real snuggle bug...if I can keep her alive. :-(
Any suggestions most appreciated.

Other than that, it looks like we are fully clear of the formula mixing routine. Once these two can thermoregulate on their own they will be...well...all grown up. /sniff

My advice, in closing. The most important thing I took away from this experience. "Have your poop-in-a-group BEFOREHAND"
Incubator, ecollar, first aid kit etc.
BEFOREHAND.
By the time you realize you need this stuff, it's too late to build/buy it: they need it RIGHT then. Having it ready when it's needed--not 48 hours later--can save a life.
My 2 cents worth. Thanks for looking.

Dave, Justin, Frisby, Arror, Aria




Thanks!
Dave