What excitement - little Mazu has just started to open his eyes. Here is a photo of his first peek!!
This morning we received the following update from Rita:
Mazu has been with us a month today. So glad we can share his development with so many others. We will try to get some precise measurements for you now that we know what is needed.
And, now, for the big change of this week - Mazu has eyes! Well, at least partially. Last Saturday Mazu's right eye began opening from the inside corner. Just about the space of a dull pencil tip. It was so small, Glen said, "Couldn't be...". By Monday it was indisputable, and there was a change in Mazu's left eye as well. Four days later and his right eye is about half open. The left a little less. We're charmed.
Yes, Alan is right about the fingernails. Mazu has nail beds on all of his fingers. That's about all I can say so far. It's funny that Alan picked up on that because I have been wondering about those nail beds too. Some evolutionary bygone, or will Mazu develop some kind of nails there soon? I will keep you posted. On his feet, his toes have interesting claws growing up and out at about a 45 degree angle. Rather different. Can't imagine yet how functional they really will be [see attached pictures].
Mazu is starting to push up on his front legs, but he either doesn't have the coordination or the strength yet to get his belly off the ground. He can look out of his box, by pushing himself up for a short time. People's impression of him is that he is very strong and chunky.
I can take no credit for the milk formula. It seems to me that we got it from one of Gerald Durell's wonderful books when we were growing up here in Congo. We have used this formula for many, many orphaned animals since then. I learned early on how very important it is to keep the formula well refrigerated, and never to let it sit in the bottle waiting for a later feeding. I rinse feeding bottles out immediately after feeding, and never re-use formula for a later feeding. (Some babies can tolerate old milk, but many cannot.) Mazu became constipated on the formula during his first week while I was also giving him amoxicillin. I diluted it by half, and then by a third for about a week afterwards. He doesn't have any difficulty passing it on its regular strength now. He feeds quite leisurely - usually taking 30 to 45 minutes to finish from 40-60 ml with potty and burping breaks in between. He'll stop feeding and waiting for me to figure out what he wants, and then we continue. First feeding of the day begins between 5-6 am, and then every 3-4 hours from then until we go to bed around 10:00. This rough schedule seems to work pretty well for both of us.
Rita
We are arranging for things to be taken out to the Congo with the help of Columbus zoo. If you would like to contribute towards Mazu's care please
click here
Thanks from Mazu