Fang Ye gently set the lid of the box aside, barely daring to breathe too heavily for fear of disturbing the little White Tiger that was still sound asleep.
Across the White Tiger's white fur sprawled ink-brush-like stripes conferring a bizarre and mesmerizing charm that made it hard for anyone to look away. Bending down to take a closer look, one could even see its small body faintly rising and falling with its breath.
Fang Ye fell in love with the little White Tiger at first sight!
He instinctively reached out to touch it but then seemed to remember something and stopped himself.
He went to the washroom, lathered up with soap, and scrubbed his hands clean, then dried them with a towel.
Only then did he reach his fingers into the wooden crate and tenderly stroke the back of the little White Tiger, feeling the warmth of its living body.
The little White Tiger continued to sleep with its eyes shut, eliciting a feeling of affection.
[Bengal tiger: Unnamed
Age: 8 days (cub)
Mood: Deep sleep/Calm]
Fang Ye slid one hand under its belly and cradled its bottom with the other, lifting it securely and musing, "Judging by sight, its body length is about 40cm, right? And the weight 1 kilogram?"
This needed to be measured accurately.
Tape measures and electronic scales were common tools in the zoo, and he had them in his office.
Body length could mean the length of the animal from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, from the neck to the base of the tail—it's not about right or wrong, just depends on the specific situation.
Fang Ye measured from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail and discovered it to be 47cm!
It was a bit longer than his estimate, with the tail alone being 15cm, which is a whole third of its body length.
An adult tiger's tail is thick and strong, serving not only as a balancing aid during physical activity but also as a potent weapon in attack.
However, the little White Tiger's tail was still very weak, the tip as thin as a chopstick.
He placed a towel on the electronic scale and set the little White Tiger on it.
The weight was 1330 grams.
For an 8-day-old Bengal tiger cub, that was within the healthy weight range!
Fang Ye kissed the little White Tiger's forehead and a smile formed on his face, "You adorable little fella, what name should I give you?"
With that thought, he subconsciously glanced towards the base of its tail.
Hmm, testicles present, it's a male tiger!
"For a male tiger, should I choose a name with a strong masculine vibe? Zhuangzhuang? Thunder? Prestige? Hm, it's hard to decide... or should I let the netizens brainstorm? But if I let the netizens decide, they will certainly come up with some ridiculous names…"
Fang Ye found himself deep in thought.
Naming was indeed a difficult task!
As he pondered.
"Wah."
Accompanied by a faint cry, Fang Ye suddenly felt the little White Tiger in his hands beginning to wriggle restlessly.
The sound the little tiger made was quite similar to a human baby's cry, a continuous "wah wah wah."
Looking down, the little White Tiger had already half opened its eyes, turning its head around and seeming to look for something in confusion.
Its eyeballs were blue-gray, as if shrouded in mist, looking somewhat hazy and not very clear.
Tiger cubs could open their eyes between 8-10 days after birth, but they still lacked vision at this stage, unable to actually see anything.
"What's wrong, little guy? Are you hungry?"
"Wah," the little White Tiger made another weak cry.
Fang Ye did not dare to be negligent and used his Eye of Observation to examine for more detailed information.
[Bengal tiger: Unnamed
Mood: Urgent! Urgent!]
Health status: Hungry, longing for milk. Recommendations:
1. Find a gentle and recently postpartum medium to large-sized dog, such as a shepherd, to serve as a wet nurse for the tiger cub.
2. Use formula milk, mixing 1 scoop of formula with 30ml of water to feed the tiger cub artificially. It is recommended to use lamb's milk formula specially designed for puppies, as its protein, fat, taurine, and vitamin E content are superior to that of human infant formula, thus able to meet the nutritional needs for the tiger cub's growth. Continuous use of human infant formula can lead to extensive hair loss.
3. Choose a well-ventilated room with good sunlight as the nursery, maintain room temperature around 28 degrees, and clean and disinfect daily...
Such detailed recommendations!
Including how to feed, how to care for them, what kind of environment to provide, etc.
"Thank goodness for the Eye of Observation..." Fang Ye couldn't help but feel relieved. Raising a tiger cub involved so many intricacies, and if he were to feed it improperly causing it to lose a lot of fur, not only would the cub suffer, but he would also feel extremely heartbroken and guilty.
The panel for the little White Tiger flashed, revealing a new message: "Ding! It is detected that the host owns an item [Protective Potion], which can be mixed with 3ml of milk each time to help the tiger cub grow up healthily!"
"Oh, that's right!"
Fang Ye realized that a newly born tiger cub needs immunity, and as it is smallest at this time, it would benefit most from the effect of the Protective Potion.
In fact, for the young of all mammals, including human babies, the best way to enhance immunity is to consume their mother's milk.
Especially the colostrum produced in the first few days after birth, which contains a large number of antibodies!
However, he couldn't find a suitable wet nurse for the little one right away.
That being said, if mother's milk is best, why do so many animals still need to be hand-reared?
Because some animals, especially first-time mothers, aren't very adept at caring for their young.
For instance, they might accidentally suffocate their offspring by rolling over them in their sleep, which would be very unfortunate.
Others may not be very assured and, while trying to move their offspring to a different place by carrying them in their mouths, inadvertently use too much force and break the cub's neck.
Or perhaps they might find the suckling annoying and refuse to nurse their young altogether.
In the wild, every young animal that grows up is extremely lucky.
Artificial rearing is about reducing the occurrence of such accidents and increasing the survival rate of the young animals.
"Wow, wow."
The little White Tiger was desperately calling out for milk, one cry after another, its voice becoming hoarse.
Fang Ye quickly made a call to Lan Li, speaking rapidly, "Hello, Lan Li? Hurry and get a bag of formula from the storage! Lamb milk formula! Send it to my office! And bring a bottle too!"
"Alright!"
Lan Li, on the other end of the phone, listened to the hoarse cries of "wow, wow" with some bewilderment, "Did a cub just get born?"
But then, he thought there weren't any pregnant animals in the zoo recently, right?
Although puzzled, he did not slow down and immediately took action.
Fang Ye wasn't idle either, he began to boil water.
Since the water in the kettle was already boiled before, it just needed a quick warm-up this time.
Fully boiling it again wouldn't be good, as he would then have to wait for the water to cool down.
He directly inserted his finger into the kettle, silently feeling the water temperature.
Feeling it was about hot enough, he turned the switch off.
"Little guy, don't cry, I'll feed you milk in a moment!"
Fang Ye gently stroked the little White Tiger to comfort it.
But unexpectedly, the little White Tiger, in its innocence, bit down on his finger!
Chomp, chomp.
The "king" mark on its forehead creased as its little face got serious and it began to suckle earnestly.
However, no matter how hard it tried, it could not draw any milk.
It's just a few days old, so its emotions were not yet well developed. Otherwise, its feelings would certainly be "doubting tiger existence"!