fawn not sucking

I posted this about ten years ago in the old forums .......



A fawn refusing to eat somrtimes is due to

A swollen tongue and is sometimes caused from the chemicals used in manufacturing of the nipple.

Deer are just like humans with allergic reactions to some chemicals. So I personaly taste tested all the new nipples and threw away about 1/4 of then because they taste like rubber!

You should go to my website and read the fawn section.

Good luck!

Will it suck on your finger? If it does sometimes you can convince it shes getting milk because she sucking if you let milk drip into the corner of their mouth. You can use a small 3cc syringe filled with milk at first and then switch to bottle. Make sure the milk is the right temp. this isn't that important after they are taking the bottle good but at first they expect it to feel warm to them. Remember they are slightly warmer than we are 101 to 102 degrees so the milk should feel verily warm to us. When nipples are new they sometimes feel slick and like Wayne mentioned taste like rubber. I take all my new nipples and boil them until they soften up and gets that rubbery taste nuetralized somewhat. Also you may want to make a few extra cuts in the end of the nipple so milk flows very easy out of it, but if you do this be careful as milk can get into the lungs if her mouth fills to rapidlly with milk. Thats why I hate to see people sqeezing the bottle a little to put milk in their mouth. Good luck. Rick

Don't give up on her Cloudycr. There have been times when we thought they would never take the bottle and suck, then all of a sudden they take off. Don't know what kind of nipples you are using, but they should be soft, and all aren't. What you are dealing with is one of the reasons why I want nothing to do with bottle feeding. I havn't the patience, but thank God my wife did for all the years we did bottle feed. You might want to just cut the holes bigger in the nipples, which is the first thing we always did with all of ours, and gently squeeze some little by little into its mouth as it swallows. This was always our procedure prior to them just all of a sudden taking off. Patience, persistance and good luck to you! Mark

I use the cheap pop bottle slip on nipples. You might wanna try stimulating her by wiping her to defecate at the same time as you allow her to nurse...just like momma does. It DOES work. Good luck.

I found that it works best if the slit in the nipple is at least 1/8" up to 3/16" most nipples come with just a pin hole.

All the above advise is good just don't give up.

Good point Bill. We've done that before and it can work. Seems to set the stage for what they are suppose to be doing. Ya might have to incorporate 2 people to make the effort easier Cloudycr, but like Bill says, it's worth a try, or trys rather.

Heck, many of us have done this for years. Letting a shy fawn hide under your chin and reach up to suck your earlobe, standing over her so shes secure, theres lots of tricks. How many of us have gotten the fawns with "lockjaw" lol! Been there done that, right? Every fawn teaches us another lesson. Long pop bottle nipples, while oversize for duplicating the doe, also fit the upper palate of most fawns easily to allow a good fit for sucking. I agree with you folks who open the hole at the tip, too. When the fawn wont suck and the milk is spilling I dont like it, but it does help them get to nursing when theyre stubborn. If nothing else, have someone "groom" the fawn while you apply the nipple, it stimulates them like the wiping does.

Sounds like you got one of them that makes you want to grab them by the hind legs and.......! Yes it's gonna run out the side of the mouth and down the neck. If the darn thing is fightin ya, I would suggest that you get on your knees with the fawn. Turn her around with her butt towards or against you if necessary, corral her in with your forearms along her sides, put one hand in front of her on her chest which will be a main controlling point, and force the bottle in by sticking your finger in the side of her mouth. We've seen these stubborn ones fight and fight, but keep the bottle in her mouth as much as you can and keep putting it back in when it comes out. If she stops struggling, just hold still with the bottle in her mouth and wait. This is apt to have to be repeated before she finally takes. I have seen some so stubborn that once we let them outside, they would run from us, and at times would have to be caught and in the midst of their frantic struggle to get away, we would get the nipple in its mouth and it would immediately stop fighting and start sucking. I don't know how long you left that fawn on momma, but the longer you leave them on, the harder they are to start. And for that reason, we liked to pull them at around 6 hours to no more than 12. Spending as much time with this fawn as possible - laying by it, petting it, holding it, etc will also help your cause. Patience and persistance ''grasshopper''. Best of luck! Let us know.

I don't know how often your trying to feed but if I get a stubborn one I find if you don't offer it anything for 8 hours it becomes a little easier to convince you and your food offering is a good thing. If its getting just enough to tide it over it may keep this up for a week. They go for 8 to 12 hours sometimes in the wild without a visit from mom. They are practical animals and hunger is a motivator to cooperate. Rick

A pinch of tablesalt in the mouth and a dose of thiamin will do wonders