pups temp

Question
think i should stop reading book's now,mum and pups are doing great,(i think)mum has settled down lovley no more SAS missions to look pups over,still realy fussy with her food so the vet has said to give her a recovery supplement mixed with puppy food,pups are feeding well, putting on weight,hardly crying at all and seem to be content?.i thought they were content because they will quite happily lay alone spread out around their box even after they have feed and mum is with them, BUT now i'v read this could be chilling i have a hot water bottle in the box which they dont seem interested in and the light above them is on all the time am i over reacting AGAIN!!! or should i be turning up the heat.

Answer
LOL Oh, poor Donna! No, dear, you're over-obsessing! If they're nursing well & gaining weight, trust me, if they were feeling cold or uncomfortable they'd be huddling together & being extremely vocal in protest! They do not suffer in silence. As long as they're away from drafts & it's not too chilly I'm sure they're fine. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of hot water bottles because they don't maintain an even temperature. I have an actual whelping box heater which basically consists of hard plastic mats which are material-covered. It keeps them at about 85 F. However, even though that is the optimal temp it doesn't mean they can't usually deal with less. Once they're over the three week mark you won't have to be as concerned about this. But for now it sounds like they're thriving just fine so don't worry & stress yourself more than need be. You're doing a great job & as I stated earlier, the puppies would be the first to tell you if they're uncomfortable. Just hang in there!

One tiny little suggestion - be wary of too bright a light over them if it's possible for them to look at it too easily once their eyes begin to open. They'll still not see anything clearly for a while but it's very fragile & being exposed to a really bright light source could damage them when they're this vulnerable. (Now I've probably just given you something new to worry about!)