Wolf pup Guide

[Siberia]

This is a guide to help people know about wolf pups.

General:
Commonly, up the four-fix pups are born within a wolf litter. Pups are born inside a location known as a den. To learn more information about dens, please view the following topic; http://www.seasonal-trackers.com/t1445-the-use-of-dens

The pups will be safe inside a den since it is able to shelter them from bad weather conditions and it also has the ability to protect them from possible predators, such as coyotes, eagles, bears, etc.

Wolf pups are born completely blind and deaf, although, to make up for the lack of these senses, the pups have a very keen sense of smell. The pups completely rely on the mother and the other members of the pack due to their lack of senses and the whole pack will take care and help raises the pups (for example, a non-breeding female will be able to produce milk for the pups).

Genstation period:
Pups will develop inside of the mother for around 63 days on average before being born. In terms of when they are born, the pups only weigh around a single pound and as stated beforehand and they are born with their eyes closed. However, it does not take long for wolf pups to grow and develop after birth. For example, at around 12-15 days the pups will have their eyes open, at two weeks the pups will be able to walk and a week after that the pups will be able to be outside of the den (For further development information, please refer to the section 'Stages of development'. Before being able to consume solid meals, the puppies will only live on the milk produced from the mother.

Birth and nursing:
After the pups have been born, the mother will remove the fetal sac from the puppy's head, which allows the pup to take it's first breathe. The plancenta that is attached to the pup by the umbilical cord is also another factor that is delivered when the pup is born. The mother will sever the cord and then consume the plancenta, which can provide as a useful source of food when the mother is unable to hunt.

After this, the female will lick the puppy dry and then encourage the pup to nurse. The pup will move towards the warm underbelly of the mother and will then nuzzle around in order to find the source of milk. The milk that the female produces is contained with important antibodies. Whilst the nursing process takes place, the mother will clean the pups and attempt to stimulate the pups to urinate. She will swallow all of the excretions that the puppies do in order to kee the den and birthing area clean.

Mortality:
The mortality of wolf pups specifically ranges from 30% to 60% on average. Puppies are able to die from diseases, maluntrition, being eaten by other predators, starvation, etc. Due to wolves being social animals, they are known to mourn for dead puppies by buring them.

"The Pup's Early Age":
Every member of the pack takes care of the heir pups and that's where the Nurses/Nannies come in handy. They look after the dominant's pups when the dominants are away. In the wild, pack members will hunt for food and bring it to the mother so that she may stay in her dead and look after the pups. In STP, the Nurses and Nannies babysit the pups; that happens in the wild too! When pack members are allowed to, they will babysit the mother's pups while she's gone. Just to make sure they're safe and that they don't get into any mischief. cx
When the pups become 4 to 5 weeks of age, meat enters their diet. The adult wolves bring up meat from their stomach and the pups will lick around the adult's mouth.

At eight weeks old, the pups will depart from their birth den and hang out and sleep with the adult wolves. At about six months, the pup's appearance begins to mature and they look a bit more like a full grown wolf. Around about the same time as they start looking like an adult, they start hunting.

Pups are very playful creatures, often playing with bones, feathers, and other natural objects they can find and most importantly, that they can wrap their mouth around. Pups will usually "play-fight" with their siblings, playing games that are almost like tag. They chase each other around and sometimes tackle each other. All of these fun games for the pups are good practice for when they hunt large prey.

Eye Color:
A pup will usually begin with blue eyes and as they mature, their eyes will change to a yellowish-gold texture although their eye color can vary from pale yellow to deep amber. Purple, green, and red eye colors will probably never show up in an adult wolf. Occasionally a grown wolf will have blue eyes but it is pretty rare.

Stages of Development:

10 - 13 days: the eyes open
3 weeks: the milk teeth appear, they start to explore the den
4 - 5 weeks: short trips outside the den, begin to eat meat
6 weeks: moving up to a mile from the den (with adult wolf)
6 - 8 weeks: pups are weaned, traveling to rendezvous site.
12 weeks: begin to travel with the pack on hunts (with adult wolves)
15 - 28 weeks: milk teeth are replaced
7 - 8 months: begin to hunt with the pack

Hope this guide is helpful for people who RP pups or want to know about them.

Information taken from: http://www.wolfcountry.net/information/WolfPup.html

Guide by: Spirit,Terra and Siberia