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Adopt a Wild BabyThe process of hand raising wild babies is not as simple as some may think. The mother of individual species produces highly specialized diet/milk for their babies. For example, human infant formula is not nutritionally adequate for most mammal species (To make it simple, it does not provide adequate protein or caloric density.) Therefore, many rehabbers and researchers across the country have worked hard to develop specific regimens as milk replacers for wild mammal babies and extensive recipes to prepare the food for baby birds.
We would like to invite you to become partners with us in raising some of our babies. Support us financially, so that we can continue to provide for our little orphans.
 Most baby song birds have high metabolism. They need to be fed every 20-30 minutes. To mimic their natural diet of a variety of bugs and worms, we feed our baby birds the "FoNS" Diet ("Formula for Nestling Songbirds"), which is an extensive recipe that needs to be made fresh daily. Considering their size, you will be surprised how expensive to raise a baby song bird!
 Baby raccoons are one of the rabies vector species. A special permit is required to rehab these babies. Their eyes open at 3 weeks of age, but they cannot be weaned until 10-12 weeks of age. Baby raccoons are playful and destructive. In addition to the expensive Kitten Milk Replacer, they require an extra sturdy cage to house them.
[$100 to sponsor a baby raccoon]
 We tend to get a lot of orphaned baby squirrels in early spring and again early fall. Baby squirrels tend to fall out of trees during storms and come to us with injuries, or they will wonder out of the nest if mom died. Depending on their age, baby squirrels are actually one of the less demanding babies of all species. All baby squirrels are raised until their tails are bushy and that they can crack any nuts with ease.
[$50 to sponsor a baby squirrel]
 Baby cottontail rabbits are actually one of the most difficult species to rehab. They get stressed easily and diarrhea can become fatal within hours. We are lucky that two of our rehabbers are wonderful with them. Although we are no match for natural moms, we have much better survival rate than the national statistics.
[$25 to sponsor a baby bunny]
 Opossum is the only marsupial species in North America. Opossum babies are born “pre-mature”. They stay in mom’s pooch for a long duration. Young opossum babies are difficult to raise because they do not suckle. Passing a feeding tube into their stomach is the only way to feed them until they are old enough to lap.
[$25 to sponsor a baby opossum]
Please call WRARI at 401-294-6363 for more information.
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© Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Rhode Island Development Team (Bryant University) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Fawns are expensive to raise because of their size and duration that they required under our care. Fawns are ungulates that have similar requirements are goats. They are monogastric and drink milk as babies. As their ruminant stomach develops, they begin to switch over to a variety of plant products as they age.