Bio-sponge dosage for cottontail baby

[Msk]

Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum. My name is Mary, I am am wildlife rehabber. I read about Bio-sponge and I got it in today. Tomorrow I have some cottontail babies coming that still have their eyes closed and have been with the rescuer for 5 days on puppy milk, according to her 2 have already died. I will have their exact weight tomorrow but what is the dose for rabbits. I have the tube not the powder. Most of the time babies cottontails with eyes still closed do not live in captive care so I am hoping this may work. Any advise at all is appreciated. It sounds like you all know a great deal about rabbit care and I am so happy to have found your group. I am very open to new ideas!
Mary

 

[Msk]

Thank you. Will do that.
mary

 

[Msk]

Hi again
I have been looking but do not see a Breeders section. Could it be called something else?
mary

 

[LakeCondo]

Yes: Bunny Business, Rabbitry & Showroom, sorry.

 

[ra7751]

Hi...there really isn't a true dosage for BioSponge. If you tried to make one, you can multiply the weight of the animal by .01 and convert the amount of Bio Sponge. In reality, just a "pinch" in formula is all that is needed. It is quite effective and is fairly inert so unless you just feed all Bio Sponge, there isn't much of a problem. I was probably one of the first to start using Bio Sponge with wildlife and now use it in all small mammals, including fawn. Works great with squirrels that have been fed cow's milk. Platinum Performance also has the best probitoic I have even used....called Gastric Support. I would urge caution in using puppy milk as there was a reformulation a couple of years ago that results in heavy metal toxicity in wildlife....specifically an excess amount of copper. Fox Vally Animal Nutrition is an excellent choice for wildlife formula.

 

[Msk]

Thanks so much for your reply. I have not seen any other rehabber comment about this product. I google some info and came across this forum. I am so interested in your experience with it.Did u say on another post there was a paper presented at NWRA? The babies died soon after but they were in pitiful condition. I do have 11 more right now all doing well. I have 4 eyes closed that I worry about when they begin to eat. I have only saved one in the past which is why I am so interested in the bio-sponge. Have you ever used it when you get eyes closed cottontails before the diarrhea starts when they begin eating solids. These guys are good eaters and gaining grams each day. I so want them to make it. I would love to hear some the the situations you used it with rabbits. Good to know about the squirrels. I will buy the probiotic. I do not use the probiotic from Fox Valley as it has so much sugar in it that it worried me. I do use fox valley 32/40 for squirrels and opossum. I just call it puppy milk on forums. I was part of Shirley Casey's test group with the Esbilac issue. I took mine off even though she encouraged me to try the new way of mixing. They became very sick but survived. Please tell me why you like the Gastic Support. Do u use it with infant cottontails? Now i am just opening a capsule of mine when I make formula. Thanks and i appreciate the info
mary

 

[Jules]

Dear Mary
I too am a wildlife rehabilitor and am trying to learn more about raising eyes closed cottontails. I"ve been using fox valley 32/40... do you know where I can find more information on the bio-sponge? Do you believe it works, or is there another formula that's more successful? Do you add more fat to the 32/40 for baby cottontails as well?