felix's progress

felix, photo by levin, canon digital 350d

after days of feeding and no poo from felix i got worried, his tummy had ballooned like a ping pong ball (well, not quite that big, me exaggerating a ‘lil). this afternoon i fed him milk with yogurt, come feeding time in the evening… whoala! found a poo size of a rice grain! hahaha… it worked!

he’s growing fast… from the naked pinky 5 days ago to silky black & brown fur now. did some searching on the web, here’s what I got on shrew:

Comon tree shrews, Tupaia glis, are limited to Southeast Asia.

Tupaia came from the Malay word “tupai,” meaning squirrel. This is fitting since common tree shrews, with their pointy snouts and bushy tails, bear a resemblance to squirrels. However, T. glis can be distinguished from squirrels by the absence of long whiskers.

The breeding season peaks during February to June. (ahh… that explains it!)

Time to weaning
36 days (average)

Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
3 months (average)

The young are altricial and have a birth weight around 10 to 12 grams. Ears and eyes do not begin to open until 10 and 20 days after birth, respectively

Female common tree shrews visit their young every 48 hours to nurse them for 10 to 15 minutes. In that time, an offspring will receive 5 to 15 grams of milk that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates. The maternal care does not include any toilet care. The total average amount of time that a female spends with her offspring while in nestling phase is only about an hour and a half. (and here I was worrying about no poo! *rool eyes*)

Common tree shrews are known to live about 2 to 3 years in the wild. However, the longest-lived common tree shrew and tree shrew in general was in captivity for 12 years and 5 months.

hmmm... interesting. lesson learned while caring for a shrew. very educational ya? :D