Squib is being anti social

[KimbleSquible]

Hi all. sweet Squib has gone from being absweet natured curious little boy to bein quite aggressive towards other people and sleeping all day. He then goes bananas for 20 minutes and then literally flops over and sleeps again.
I'm worried about the biting, I don't want him to bite people or me.
What can I do to try to stop him from biting? I understand his need to lash ouit when frightened but the biting isn't great.
Any thoughts and ideas?

[island rehabber]

KS I'm wondering if he isn't feeling well.....you said in another thread yesterday that he was urinating on himself a lot -- cloudy and then clear. It's possible he has a urinary tract infection which is causing the excessive urination and bad mood. You are giving him formula, right? You may want to try giving him some diluted cranberry juice (in water) in between formula feedings, if it's possible to find it where you are. Otherwise an antibiotic may be required. A baby squirrel his age should not be overly aggressive unless he is extremely stressed or not feeling well.

[TexanSquirrel]

Good luck with him!

[Gabe]

Is it possible he is older than we first thought? His size is very misleading

Could he be a teenager or adult that was ill and is now feeling better and coming around?

[KimbleSquible]

Hi. You know, I thought he might be older to. But when I got him his ears were still sealed and his eyes were to. I gave him a Marula stick to chew after he bit me this morning, luckily he isn't very strong yet and it didn't break the skin but, *damn* it was sore.
He was constipated yesterday and then it went all runny (all over my hand). So took him back to just formula (I've been giving him about half a teaspoon of carrot mush, a bit of apple and a pea or something else at every 2nd meal) and he was Ok last night.
Since i've had him he's had this dark spot on the right hand side of his tummy (I can see it when he rolls over for me to scratch his tummy) is that something I should be concerned with?

This morning again, he was constipated but not as agro with other people. He had a go at my husband at lunch when he went to stroke him.

I'll try to get some crannberry juice when i go to the bakery, I know they sometimes have it. It will do him good to taste something new.

Should I try playing with him more? He only goes to his cage to sleep or when I need two hands and am planning to bend over, otherwise he's in my shirt or on my shoulder for the rest of the time. Maybe some playing and running around will do him good?
Thanks!
Have a good day!

[KimbleSquible]

Just to add, he has started shivering after his meals. Despite the formula being very warm.He's upset and unsettled while he's shivering and only wants to be in my hand. Then the shivers stop and he's fine and goes to sleep. And just after he went for my husband he started shivering, but in fits and starts not as a continuous drawn out shiver: Shiver....pause...shiver....pause

We've asked the bus driver to fetch cranberry juice from town, it will be here tonights with any luck.

[island rehabber]

KS is there any way you can get Baytril or another antibiotic? I am concerned with this new symptom -- 'shivering'. We can help you with the dosage if you can get some type of rodent-friendly antibiotic. (the 'cillins are okay but not great....'ceph' drugs are good.....clindomyacin is not good.)

[Gabe]

He should be on a mostly formula diet for a while yet. I would lay off the mush and fruit juices. Calcium is extremely important during this stage of their lives.
It does sound as though antibiotics should be on hand. His actions are not appropriate for his age. I think putting him in a seperate area with a heating pad will help also. At this age it is important to seperate yourself from him as he is getting his wild instincts and you certainly don't want to take that away from him.

[KimbleSquible]

OK. I'll keep him off the veg etc.
I'll phone the vet tomorrow and ask him to send stuff up with a friend on Sat.

He will only stay in his cage after food, he gets quite sleepy after eating. Or if I put a towel over his cage. Otherwise he climbs all over the place and cries and yells for me. My heart gets sore when he starts pawing at the bars of the cage and his little whiskers flutter and his tail puffs up..
I'll try to encourage him to stay in there, may need someone to sit on me!
He's grown and his fur is really thick now.Very cute when he's not being silly..

[Gabe]

Does he have a heat source in his cage? He should snuggle right down into it. He may want you for the warmth. When he is awake, he should want out, but he still needs regular heat at his age.

[KimbleSquible]

Yep, he has a nice flat tupperware filled with hot water and wrapped up in newspaper and fleece (my favourite fleece jacket has been donated to the Squib cause). I refill it every few hours.
Apparently it has to be the dead of winter in Botswana for the shops to stock hot water bottles. I wanted to try the 10w light bulb in a can idea as a heat source but the thought of electric wires and sharp teeth within the same area totally freaked me out...
Right now, I'm his favourite plaything, he likes using my arms as a slide or playing hide and seek in my hair.
The bus driver brought back orange juice instead of cranberry. Eugh....
We have a bicarbonate of soda and citric acid fizzing thing (bit like ENO's but you drink it post fuzz) used for bladder infections and acid urine in humans, I mixed up a light batch of that and mixed it with some apple puree. I've been giving him around a ml at each feed. No adverse side effects yet other than the raging hiccups for a minute this morning (so cute! His whole body hiccups), but then that has happened before.
His pee seems less cloudy at the beginning this morning and he's really hyper.
Still trying to get hold of the vet. If you ever think productivity is slow in the States, just imagine it being 30 times worse... That's how it is in Bots...
Lunch breaks happen for most of the day and the only reason to go to Med School is to get the Dr infron of your name... Maybe I should study to be a vet... I suck at Biology and Maths though...

[Buddy'sMom]

It might be helpful to change the water more frequently as it does cool off. I'm guessing you don't have access to a heating pad to go underneath his container (eliminating the teeth-wires issue).

If you have a microwave, here is something else you can try (holds heat longer than water): a "rice buddy." Take a sock, fill it 2/3 with uncooked rice or lentils and microwave for about 45 seconds (just until very warm -- not too hot). Place it near the squirrel so it feels like another warm body to him and cover him up. He will love snuggling with it.

The other thing you could try is to rig the light above him -- we did this with a clip-on shop light fixture. But -- CAUTION!! -- this ONLY will work if he can't climb to reach it. We did this with a very young squirrel that was not climbing or jumping yet. Squib might be too old now to do this safely.

[KimbleSquible]

Thanks for the advice! I actually have a rice buddy that I made for my cat when he was little. I make hand made soap for a living (among other things!) and fried our microwave. It doesn't cook anything but the fireworks it emits from it's back end are quite spectacular!!
I've got the hot water down to a fine art now, it stay quite warm for about 4 hours and gradually cools off. It's become part of my "deep in the night' routine to shuffle to the kitchen, but the kettle on, go to the loo, swop tupperwares, stroke his tummy and give him a kiss then fall over back into bed..
When he bites me, it's almost like a demanding thing, "Now!!! Now!!" And if I ignore him he bites progressively harder on the same spot.
But if other people touch him its a definate "hands off" with quite a scary sounding squeeeeeek. I'm still worried about him peeing on himself and all over me, the shivers after food and his little squeeking hiccups though. The vet was no help from town.
I'll be phoning his competition in the morning...

[KimbleSquible]

Just to add...again!
He's not pooing properly now, it's all foamy and watery. What now??? This morning he was pooing rock cakes...
I've put him back on rehydration fluid and I'll make his formula weaker tomorrow. Is it something I'm doing wrong? Am I not stimulating him enough or am I over stimulating him?
Sorry, it's like a bad dream, just when I think the boogey man has been beaten he pops up again...

[Gabe]

Seems like we need to go back over the basics.

What is he eating?

How much is he eating?

How often is he eating?

It would help to research his natural diet a bit and find out how much protein they eat, such as insects and how much fruit they eat. Balance is essential.

[KimbleSquible]

hi Gabe.
He's still on puppy formula. I dilute it 1 tsp powder to two tsp of water, but have since increased it to 3tsp water. I also add a probiotic pwder and a bit of Calsup to his daily formula quota. And he gets a feed every 4 hours. By four hours he is really hungry and just about swallows the syringe in antisipation. I finally got an antibiotic, turns out I had the stuff all along, it is the Doxybiotic for birds that I keep and the vet said the dilution ratio would be the same for Squirrels as it is for birds (1TBSP to 1 litre of water and get as much down as possible for 5 days). I got 1ml down him, he pulled a "Blegh" face and bit me so I added some honey to it and he quite liked it.
After the antibiotic he ran around for about 2 hours instead of sleeping like he does and _demanded_ to be noticed by ALL!!
His poos are back to having a shape and are the colour of watered down mustard, there are a few greyish patches in some of them. Like when you over boil an egg and get the grey/blue shade around the yolk.
He is still peeing on himself and me.
Looks like I'm getting the flu so goign back to bed with my rice buddy (which is being heated in the oven..) and a cup of cocoa, Squib and my husband are spending time together watching rugby (squib sits on the top of his house and watches the world, my husband sits and stares at the TV!).

[Gabe]

I'm not sure I would dilute the formula any more than 2 parts water. He needs the calories and calcium at this age.
Is he eating any food on his own yet? He should be. He should also be chewing to maintain his teeth which grow continuously.
Doxybiotic is used in birds, poultry. I'm not sure that it is suitable for squirrels as it will affect the bone and teeth formation in juveniles.
In human children it actually turns the teeth gray permanently.
Doxy is generally used for lyme disease, tetanus and pasturella.
If you do continue to use it then he should have 0.05ml once a day.
It may cause GI upset and diarrhea.
Do you have an sulfa based antibiotics available?

[KimbleSquible]

Hi. I've got Erythromycen and Flagyle.
Its what I said to the vet and was basically told to take it or leave it (re: Doxy).
I have little hamster blocks for him as well as sticks. He's eating apple and likes cold chunks of carrot. He's also busy destroying his cage. The chewing is becoming more frequent. I'm worried about his tummy running with extra fruit like it did when I started him on normal food so I'm taking it slowly.
Also doesn't want to stay on his tupperware, prefers staying at the top of his plastic house.

I'll go slow with the Doxy, I'll finish the five days with him but won't overdo it with it everyday. He seems much more active already so maybe it's sorting all the nasties out and we won't have to give him "Blegh'" stuff again!
SO FUNNY to see the face..

[Squirrelly]

Hi all, I was just scanning through this thread and noticed post #5 in which KimbleSquible asks about a dark spot on the right hand side of his tummy, etc. The question may have been answered in a PM, but I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't missed as a possible symptom.

[KimbleSquible]

Hi. Dark spot still there. If I rub it he doesn't seem to notice. He was picked up by a dog when he was found, with the intention of being a light snack (thank goodness the dog saw a cat and dropped him. Dog obviously wanted something a little more substantial). I thought that he might have internal bleeding and kept an eye on him expecting him to go downhill due to that.
After a week I assumed it was probably just bruising. But hasn't gone away.
It's more noticeable when he eats to much and his tummy is full.
For all I know, its suppossed to be there.