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"SHREW TALK" - Vol. 1, No. 13- 13August 1997
SHREW TALK - 13 August 1997 - Vol. 1, No. 13
Number of Recipients: >227
Contents of this Issue
o Editorial
o Research
1. Re: Raising insectivore infants
1a. Feeding schedule, avoiding bloating, and 'clean food'
1b. Pre-chewed food ?
1c. From milk replacers to a natural diet
1d. Mole milk composition and replacement formula
1e. Raising and breeding shrews: References
o What's New on the Shrew (ist's) Site
o Shrew Leisure
1. Thanks, Cher Rita!
o Shrew Talk Instructions
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o EDITORIAL
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Dear Shrew-Fessionals and Shrew-Mateurs,
Last issue's query on hand-feeding insectivore infants brought up some
interesting info, thanks to Donald E. Moore and Mary D. Smith (thank you
both for permission to post this as an open letter). It looks like this
may not be the final word. Please keep this discussion going.
Your's shrewly, Werner Haberl
P.S.: Isn't it about time for some parasitological topics, after all
this trapping in contaminated sites and the poisonous bites? I know that
some mites and helminths are out there lurking in the dark...
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o RESEARCH
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1. Re: Raising insectivore infants
An open correspondence and some info regarding the query on raising
insectivores in
SHREW TALK Vol. 1, No. 12
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1a) Feeding schedule, avoiding bloating, and 'clean food'
Subject: Shrew rearing
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 11:15:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Donald E. Moore" <demoorei@mailbox.syr.edu>
To: "Mary D. Smith" <v8350@bealenet.com>
Hi. I'm a member of the shrewists site, and I have some extensive experience
with hand-rearing as a former mammal curator (meadow voles, weasels, and
other really little things, but never shrews). I have two possible suggestions.
First, get ahold of the department of mammalogy at the National Zoo (Smithsonian);
they have had lots of experience raising tree shrews and elephant shrews
(I know, not the same, but who knows? They may have used shrews as a model);
there were two older guys, now very retired, Eugene Maliniak and Bill Xanten
who took an enormous amount of knowledge with them. The department may
be willing to put them in touch with you if they don't have records. Another
guy is an old friend of mine, Frank Kohn, but he is more of an academic,
and I don't know how much experience he has had with hand-rearing. Along
the same lines, Fred Koontz, a curator at the Wildlife Conservation Society
(Bronx Zoo) in NYC, got his PhD on elephant shrews, and may know how to
access information on hand-rearing for you. OK, the second mode is my personal
experience (may or may not be useful to you). I experienced bloating in
small mammals for two reasons: I saw bloating in voles when I was trying
to change the diet from milk to more solid stuff. It seems to me that this
was discussed in the literature on hand-rearing many years ago, but I cannot
remember the general cause (seems like it was diet-change, but I never
really bought that for small carnivorous beasties). I was feeding the voles
every 45-60 minutes, and after bloating I backed off on the next litter
to once every 60-90 minutes around the clock, and avoided bloating. It
seems to me the adult moles and shrews chew food for the infants, and give
them these little chunks back in the next. I did this for weasels (now
I'm pretending these shrews are just smaller weasels, hence similar diet
needs BUT higher metabolism), but this got very messy and labor-intensive
(but they survived very well). Again, one bloated (I think due to simple
over-eating, not diet change per se), but I saved it. Due to the high metabolic
rates, you have to be really certain that the solid foods you're acquiring
are "clean" (I killed a half a litter of voles once by using
lawn clippings that had been washed briefly; only later did I find out
that the lawn had recently been "treated" with a biocide of some
sort; made me sick). OK, enough rambling. Hope that helps. I don't have
the Phone Numbers for the departments of mammalogy at either zoo above,
but the general switchboard operators will get you there. Good luck!
--Don Moore, Vertebrate Behavior Lab, SUNY/ESF, Syracuse, NY
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1b) Pre-chewed food ?
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 22:39:54 -0700
From: "Mary D. Smith" <v8350@bealenet.com>
To: "Donald E. Moore" <demoorei@mailbox.syr.edu>
Actually, it's eastern moles I'm trying to find out about, and the
shrew site was the closest I could find. With the baby moles I had, which
were unfurred, I was quite nervous about the high metabolism I'd heard
they have, and was judging their feeding intervals by looking at the "milk
line" that showed on their abdomens. The day they started getting
in trouble was actually the day they had furred enough that it was hard
to see the line any more. Didn't think of it till now, but in fact, I didn't
back off the frequency. Certainly, comparable sized mice would be at a
two or three hour schedule then. I was super fretted about them being known
to starve quickly as adults, so may have overdone it from being focused
on that. Have learned with mice once they have a little size, to pace their
feedings to when they start getting restless and searching. Was afraid
to trust that sort of signal with the moles. Offhand, at what stage of
development would mole mums be adding pre-chewed side dishes to meals,
or would that be present from the beginning?? Would beef baby food be a
reasonable thing to try, or minced earthworms? Is saliva a necessary ingredient?
(If yes, hope you're kidding!) Here you so kindly answer a couple of questions,
and get a bucketful slung back again! Thank you so much! This is rather
like solving a mystery, and you're a wonderful "break" in the
case!!! Best wishes, Mary
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1c) From milk replacers to a natural diet
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 14:33:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Donald E. Moore" <demoorei@mailbox.syr.edu>
To: "Mary D. Smith" <v8350@bealenet.com>
I had experience with adult star-nosed moles. Each mole is, of course,
different, and has specific diet needs; I assume the mum comes back with
her normal diet, ready to be given to the kids. But backing up... I have
used Evaporated milk and water cut to an "appropriate" strength
(Yes, I guess the strength based on metabolic rate and published milk analyses)
to successfully raise mammal babies to weaning age. The new Multimilk milk
replacer has been a real boon, since you can call their technical center
for advice on ratios and all that. So, I have used that in the last five
years for everything from the small stuff to reindeer and elk calves. Works
really nicely, but you still have to figure out feeding schedules... So,
at weaning. Yup, I used Gerber baby beef stuff for the little weasels I
had. It seems highly digestible, and I start slowly, mixing it in with
the milk a little at a time at first. I also watch the milk line or degree
of fullness in the stomach to figure amounts and timing. I get really nervous
when the little guys' guts don't go down "quickly" (relatively,
between feedings), and have either backed off on the next feeding or increased
anal stimulation (like with baby bats, which however would have a lower
metabolic rate at the same body size). Following the baby beef junk, I
have mixed in the natural diet a little at a time until it becomes 100%
natural diet. When we rehabbed the adult moles, we used a shotgun approach
on diet after checking the literature on stomach contents (I used Hamilton's
"Mammals of the Eastern United States" for a quick and dirty
reference): if it was July, and July stomach contents were worms, grubs
and crayfish, we would feed live worms and injured crayfish in a shallow
dish that the beastie could easily find while working its way through the
enclosure litter (fresh grass). Seemed to work, and we just had to keep
up with the feeding rate for these adult animals (about their body weight
in worms daily). Well, that's all I have off the top. Feel free to ask
more questions if I've confused the issue. Good luck, Don Moore/Vertebrate
Behavior Lab/SUNY-ESF, Syracuse
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1d) Mole milk composition and replacement formula
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 18:36:38 -0700
From: "Mary D. Smith" <v8350@bealenet.com>
To: The Shrew Site <shrewbib@sorex.vienna.at>
Subject: Re: Mole care reply
Werner,
At D. Moore's suggestion, I spoke with Pet-Ag who make milk replacers
and they were very ready to give specific ratios of of fat, protein etc.
for various mole species' milk. (I did not ask who milked the moles to
obtain samples!)
Their recommendation is, to me, rather startling:
Eastern mole milk: 51.2% protein 30.2% fat 14.9% lactose 21.5% solids
Pet-Ag replacement formula: 13.4 Parts 30-55 Multi-Milk 4 parts 42-25
Esbilac (canned form) Above combination to be mixed 1 part to 1 1/2 parts
water. No wonder they don't live on a rodent-style formula! They are doing
further checking and will be sending more info., so this may not be the
final word. Also, the other sources Don suggested may have approaches also.
(Have some baby squirrels just now who are FULL of ideas about everything!)
Thank you for posting my questions. It's been two months I've been
searching for the information you brought me in two days! Am still following
up the leads furnished and will make a summary for other rehabilitators
and your file. Need moles to help now and verify!!!
Mary _______________________________________________________________________
1e) Raising and breeding shrews: References
From: Werner Haberl
Some references selected from 'The Shrew
Bibliography'
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339 Baxter, R.M. 1993 Fostering in southern African Soricidae. Acta
Theriologica 38(4): 451-452.
The successful raising one young of one female Crocidura f. flavescens
by another is reported. Attempts at using C. h. hirta and Myosorex varius
as foster parents, and as well as at hand rearing of C. f. flavescens were
unsuccessful. An attempt is made to explain the significance of this occurrence.
442 Blus, L.J. 1971 Reproduction and survival of short-tailed shrews
(Blarina brevicauda) in captivity. Lab. Anim. Sci. 21(6): 884-891. 443
Blus, L.J., D.A. Johnson 1969 Adoption of a nestling house mouse by a female
short-tailed shrew. The American Midland Naturalist 81: 583-584. Two mice
killed, one survived for six days before dying.
662 Buttler, G. 1953 Ein Beitrag zur Sexualbiologie der Insectivoren
unter besonderer Beruecksichtigung der Accessorischen Druesen der Soriciden
Crocidura leucodon Herm. und Crocidura russula Herm. Unpublished Thesis,
Technische Hochschule Carolo-Wilhelmina, Braunschweig (27. Oct. 1953),
Germany, 94 pp. 1034 Dehnel, A. 1952 The biology of breeding of the common
shrew S. araneus L. in laboratory conditions. Ann. Univ. M. Curie Sklod.
Sect. C 6: 359-376 (Manuskript: German). 1178 Dryden, G.L. 1980 Observations
of Mus musculus raised by Suncus murinus. Z. Säugetierk. 45: 249-250.
1187 Dryden, G.L., R.R. Anderson 1978 Milk composition and its relation
to growth rate in the musk shrew, Suncus murinus. Comp. Biochem. Physiol.
60A: 213-216. 1643 Genoud, M. 1989 Energy and water transfer through milk
in shrews. Fifth International Theriological Congress, Rome, 22.8-29.8.1989.
Abstract of Papers and Posters, Vol. II.: 659. 1839 Gruenwald, A., F.P.
Moehres 1974 Beobachtungen zur Jugendentwicklung und Karawanenbildung bei
Weisszahnspitzmaeusen (Soricidae-Crocidurinae). Z. Säugetierk. 39:
321-337. 2159 Hellwing, S. 1973 The postnatal development of the white-toothed
shrew Crocidura russula monacha in captivity. Z. Säugetierk. 38: 257-270.
3560 Michalak, I. 1982 Reproduction and behaviour of the Mediterranean
water shrew under laboratory conditions. Säugetierk. Mitt. 30(4):
307-310. 3562 Michalak, I. 1983 Reproduction, maternal and social behaviour
of the European water shrew under laboratory conditions. Acta Theriol.
28(1): 3-24. 3566 Michalak, I. 1987 Keeping and breeding the Eurasian water
shrew Neomys fodiens under laboratory conditions. Int. Zoo. Yb. 26: 223-228
(1987). 3584 Miller Ben Shaul, D. 1962 Notes on hand-rearing various species
of mammals. Int. Zool. Yb. 4: 300-. 3586 Miller Ben Shaul, D. 1962 The
composition of the milk of wild animals. Int. Zool. Yb. 4: 333-342.
3585 Miller Ben Shaul, D. 1962 Short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda)
in captivity. Int. Zool. Yb. 4: 121-122.
3709 Mover, H., A. Ar, S. Hellwing 1989 Energetic costs of lactation
with and without simultaneous pregnancy in the white-toothed shrew Crocidura
russula monacha. Physiological Zoology 62(4): 919-936.
Milk composition, gas exchange, and energy intake in food were measured
in Crocidura russula monacha, in lacating females (LF) and in simultaneously
lactating and pregnant females (LPF). Milk contained 51.2% +- 11.3 SD solids
and 9.4% +- 1.0 SD proteins. Milk fat increased from 28.5% +- 0.46 SD on
day 2 of lactation to 42.6% +- 3.5 SD on day 20. Lactose decreased from
3%-8% during the first week of lactation to 2%-4% at the end. Energy content
of milk paralleled fat concentration, increasing from 14.86 kJ cntdot g-1
+- 0.4 SD to 17.92 kJ cntdot g-1 +- 1.04 SD. Mass-specific oxygen consumption
rate (ovrhdot MspO-2) of the LF reached a peak value of 3.68 mL cntdot
(g cntdot h)-1 +- 0.58 SD on days 6-8 of lactation, then declined to the
nonreproductive value on day 16(2.48 mL cntdot (g cntdot h)-1). The ovrhdot
MspO-2 of the LPF remained unchanged throughout lactation at 2.75 mL cntdot
(g cntdot h)-1 +- 0.47 SD. Energy intake in food in both LF and LPF increased
daily depending on litter size. In a one-pup litter it increased from 31.4
kJ cntdot d-1 +- 4.4 SD to 62.3 kJ cntdot d-1 +- 11.2 SD on day 10, whereas
in a four-pup litter it increased from 53.0 kJ cntdot d+1 +- 7.5 SD to
119.3 kJ cntdot d-1 +- 19.2 SD on day 10. The milk with moderate protein
and high fat content suits the fast growth rate and heat loss of the pups.
Although lactation imposes a severe energy load on the LF, this burden
is mainly expressed by the up to fivefold increase in energy intake in
food where ovrhdot MspO-2 increases only up to 1.5 times the normal value.
The energy requirements of simultaneous lactation and pregnancy are not
simple additives. They seem to overlap partially and thus are energetically
less demanding.
3853 Niethammer, G. 1950 Zur Jungenpflege und Orientierung der Hausspitzmaus
(Crocidura russula Herm.). Bonn. Zool. Beitr. 1(2-4): 117-125. 5780 Wahlstroem,
A. 1928 Beitraege zur Biologie von Sorex vulgaris L. Z. Säugetierk.
3: 284-295.
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Haberl, W. (1996): Fostering in European common shrews Sorex araneus
(Soricidae, Insectivora). Acta Theriologica 41(4): 433-438.
The successful rearing of young Sorex araneus Linnaeus, 1758 by conspecific
foster mothers is reported. Nursing shrews showed no aversion towards the
presence of strange young in the nest, irrespective of age and size differences,
as well as non-familiar odours of these young.
WH - The Shrew Bibliography - shrewbib@sorex.vienna.at _______________________________________________________________________
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o SHREW BIBLIOGRAPHY: New Papers
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ÒThe Shrew BibliographyÓ is a collection of more than 6000 references
to research on the biology of the Soricidae (Insectivora, Mammalia) and
small mammal ecology. More info: http://members.vienna.at/shrew/shrewbib.html
To announce your new research papers/books, please follow the instructions
(separate fields with the character "#"): Author(s)#Year#Title#Journal&Page
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of your paper and/or a list of your publications to add to the bibliography.
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o WHAT'S NEW ON THE SHREW (ist's) SITE?
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http://members.vienna.at/shrew
o Last Update: 7 August 1997
o Number of Visitors (Date: 13 August 1997): >3742
o Number of "Shrewists on E-mail": >151
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1) There is a GUESTBOOK linked from the entry page. You may leave your
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o SHREW LEISURE
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Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 19:37:06 -0700
From: "Eileen M. O'Brien" <ObrienEM@mda.state.md.us>
Organization: Maryland Department of Agriculture
Subject: Thanks, Cher Rita!
.
I loved Cher Rita Jones' Shrew Art! Upon seeing it, I laughed aloud
with glee. It's lovely!
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This refers to a picture at: http://members.vienna.at/shrew/leisure3.html
(wh)
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o SHREW TALK INSTRUCTIONS
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Dr. Werner Haberl Editor, SHREW TALK (http://members.vienna.at/shrew/shrewtalk.html)
Hamburgerstr. 11, A-1050 Vienna, Austria
Email: shrewbib@sorex.vienna.at URL: http://members.vienna.at/shrew
(The Shrew (ist's) Site)
The Shrew Bibliography (> 6000 references) (available on CD ROM)
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