Baby Servals Rejected by Mom Find a New Family Together

Having baby sables in the house was like having 10 kids at the same time. As soon as they could walk they were up to mischief. It became Lucina Mjolnir's house more than ours. We were constantly cleaning up after them because they would play with absolutely everything. They will do a little squeaky noise when they're happy to see us but looking at those two playful servals you would never guess how crazy their story is. Raising servals wasn't in our schedule but life had other plans. We have a wildlife sanctuary in France and we welcome a lot of animals that are in need of rehoming and for a few years we've rescued a few servals. Every morning we go and see every single animal to check on them and as we arrived to the serval's enclosure we heard some very strange noises. We could not believe baby servals were in this enclosure. We were very surprised because we didn't see the mother pregnant. We realized that her sterilizing implant didn't work and she ended up rejecting her babies. They were born overnight because they weren't there the night before but they didn't have milk because they were calling for their mother but the mother wasn't responding. They were very very tiny and we felt like we needed to give them the best help that we could so we took the decision to take them with us. We were hoping that as we walked towards the baby she would come at us growling but she completely let us grab the babies and go. I felt very sorry that their mother didn't want to look after them because obviously it would have been better for them to be raised by their mum and from the moment we had them in our hands we absolutely fell in love. It was a very strange feeling because it was the first birth on our site so we call up all those two sisters Mjolnir and Lucille. When they first arrived in the house we built a little pen in our bathroom but at that age they're so fragile so you need to be keeping an eye on them all the time and it's really watching them every minute of the day to make sure everything is okay and when they are just a few hours old their eyes are still shut so the day they're going to open their eyes they open it on you. You have to wash them, you have to feed them, you have to do everything for them just like a mother. So as we presented the first ever bottle they literally jumped on it they found it straight away and they suckled straight away. That was great news for us but strangely enough this only happened for the first bottle then all the following bottles they were a bit of a struggle. Then we started to get into a rhythm where it was a lot easier but Mjolnir had health issues to start off with. Her skin wasn't in a good condition and her hair wasn't either. She wasn't digesting the food properly and we had to work with different vets. We were terrified because we thought we were going to lose her. She was going weaker and weaker and eventually we found the right formula that helped us. Mjolnir instantly bonded with me and Lucille bonded with my husband. Both made a decision on who they wanted to be the closest with. So we decided to listen to them and I went to feeding only Mjolnir and my husband fed only Lucille. And so when we were feeding them we would to start off with when they were too little we were carrying them on holding them into our arms and giving them the bottle that way. But as they grew they would just jump on our lap and take the bottle on our lap with us sitting on a chair. So they instantly trusted us because the fact that we were around was to make them safe and I'm pretty sure that they knew this. Within a few weeks they started moving a bit around. When they first started walking it was so funny because they didn't know what to do with their legs. It felt like they were too big for them. They weren't moving a lot but as soon as they could walk they were up to mischief all the time. But very quickly they started to get a good grip on it and they were running everywhere with a lot of ease. Every time they were in the house they were climbing everywhere they were trying to steal everything that they could, toys, clothes, socks. They loved playing with that and they also loved empty toilet rolls. That's their absolutely favourite toy. So they were stealing those every time they could. As they would grab one they would just run everywhere in the house, on the bed, running after one another, trying to pinch it and they were growling as well because they would defend their toilet paper roll. They also destroyed a lot of things including our sofa. So we had to empty the house from pretty much everything. We locked most of our stuff in one room that we locked as well because they could open doors very very early. And they started to show their personality very earlier on. Mjolnir was very loving and always always wanting cuddles. Every time she saw you she would just run towards you and push her head against yours. She would purr as loud as she could. And Lucille was loving too but she was a bit more independent and a bit of a princess when it was the right time for her. So she was not as demanding as Mjolnir could be and Lucille definitely had the upper hand on her sister. Because obviously Mjolnir just wanted cuddles from her sister as well and Lucille very often turned those cuddles into playtime. But as time went on there wasn't enough room for them to play. We had to make this little pen a bit bigger and then we had to really completely change their environment because they were just coming out of the pen to run into the house. So we built this big cage in which they could go. We made it to make sure that they were being able to play in this and they were also safe. Then we had the time where they started to eat meat. They gained in agility and it was absolutely incredible because they can jump so high and so far. They have a very very powerful body. We felt very proud because our little babies were getting bigger and it was great to see them develop at such a great speed. But the hardest when I gave them their last bottle that really broke my heart because our little babies became adults. We always remain very aware that they are also wild animals and we need to respect them for that. They might have been very very cute when they were little but they are not pets. We understood it was time for them to move outside they were very close with each other from the beginning which is pretty normal with babies but as they grow older they tend to separate in the wild. So we had to make sure that nothing was going to damage their relationship. So we had a very strict protocol to give them food where they couldn't fight over food. They also always had everything in double so they wouldn't fight for anything. They wouldn't fight for a toy, they wouldn't fight for a bed. Everything was duplicated so they could have one each. They were scared to start off with so we wanted to make sure they could always come back. So their enclosure is linked to our bedroom. They want to be around us all the time so we spend as much time as possible with them. But we make also sure that they can grow and evolve as individuals and together as well because they have a great bond as well between the two sisters. I think they are a great source of enrichment for one another. They love cuddling, they love playing and whilst we love them very much we are not servals and I'm sure that together they can have best life because they are the same. They're very special to us because we've created this bond. They're like our babies. We've looked after them from day one, we've done everything we could to make sure we would raise them in the best possible way. We're so so happy that we saw them that morning and I'm absolutely glad that we managed to save them. It was definitely worth it. They are absolutely adorable.