Hand Rearing Cotton-tops: A Pragmatic Comment
We have hand-reared many cotton-top tamarins and find the
following works well: 10 ml S26 or SMA (baby formula milk) with 25 ml
of cooled boiled water, and about .005 gm glucose powder. It is a good
idea to test for glucose in the urine and adjust the proportion
accordingly. Sometimes the parents eat the babies if there is something
wrong with the babies. If you suspect that the babies might have an
infection you can add a mild antibiotic like Oxytetracycline for three
days, after which you must add a drop of natural yogurt to the formula.
On the fifth day we start adding 3-4 mls of rice cereal to the
gluten-free formula. The babies are introduced back to the parents as
soon as they start to eat on their own (6 to 8 weeks). The earlier the
better; you can always feed the babies in the enclosure. The parents
will usually not carry the babies so they have to be old enough to run
about on their own.
It is important to feed cotton-tops a high protein diet for the
last two weeks of pregnancy. Live grasshoppers are good if you can find
enough of them. If the female was hand reared, then she will drop the
first two or three lots of babies. If, however, you reintroduce those
babies back to the pair, then the next ones usually will be reared by
the parents. -- _Posted on 9 Dec 1997 to the PEF mailing list by Jimmy
Magill, Director, EndoFaun cc, P.O. Box 136, Bapsfontein 1510, Gauteng,
South Africa [+2711-964-1446; fax: +2711-964-1294; cell: 082-445-8256;
e-mail: endofaun@fast.co.za]_