Baby Chipmunk!

[krushia]

At a friend's house, the cat was toying with a small chipmunk. I'm trying to find out if it is old enough to live on its own. No sign of a mom anywhere.

It has some teeth, but not enough to pierce skin.
It can't jump.
It doesn't seem to know that cats are enemies. It actually ran towards the cat for a bit.
It doesn't make adult chirps or clucks. The only noise it made was a mice-like squeel when I picked it up.

Will be posting pictures in a bit.

...is the baby chipmunk formula the same as for baby squirrels?

[squirrel princess]

I will find a fellow chipmunk person for you I hope you grabbed it up and put somewhere safe someone will be with you soon:Love_Icon

[squirrel princess]

Sounds too small to be on its own I just pm'd someone:poke

[krushia]

Transferring pictures over cell phone right now, taking forever. Here are a couple, not very good. Better ones en route.

EDIT: Adding links as they are uploaded... in case you didn't notice :P

http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2908.JPG
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2909.JPG
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2910.JPG
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2911.JPG
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2912.JPG

[Apple Corps]

Those are fine pics for the intended purpose. Keep him warm, AWAY from any cats, check for bites / wounds, provide some hydration - do you have any pedialyte (grocery or drug store)?

More detailed help on the way from chippie masters :D

Thanks for saving him - he is soooooo cute.

[squirrel princess]

Can you put some fleece or flannel in the box and maybe put some warm water in a bottle and wrap or put in a towel for it to cozy up too or if you have a heating pad you could put it under half the box. do you have a syringe to get some pedialite in the little guy get the baby warm and then give the warm pedialite they say to never feed a cold baby more important to get them warm first.:D

[krushia]

The little critter is tucked under a clean pair of pants in a box on the car right now (half on the windshield and half on the warm hood). Calling some pet stores now.

[squirrel princess]

Are you looking for supplies from the pet store:poke
Can the cat not get him or do you have him in the closed garage on the hood:dono :thinking

[krushia]

Sorry I left you hanging. Went to the store, got Pedialyte, went to another store, got the smallest syringe I could find (huge 10cc), tried to find Esbilac and failed.

To answer your concerns, the munkey has been safe in the box inside. The cat is in jail. Critter was just on the car to keep warm as I watched for mommy and took pictures. I called the pet stores just for puppy formula.

It is hiding in the corner of the box I think, under my clothes. The plan is to use my laptop as a heating pad :D

The rest of the pictures from earlier:
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2913.JPG
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2914.JPG
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2915.JPG
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2916.JPG
http://forumattachments.krns1.fastmail.fm/IMG_2917.JPG

Still not sure what to do with it. It definately has teeth coming in, but as I said earlier they aren't developed enough to munch fingers. I need to travel tomorrow so I can't take care of it. I have a friend here and she is too girly to even look at it... so I'm thinking it may need to be passed off to someone else if it does need a couple weeks of help. I'll see if it wants to drink after I warm it up a little.

Thanks for the responses so far :thumbsup

[Apple Corps]

krushia - 10cc - that is one "honkin" syringe - the feeding position should be with his lil head above his belly / chest - kind of a 45 degree angle. Don't let him get liquid into his lungs - slooooooow is the way to feed. If they gulp in too fast or you allow too much formula flow it will get aspirated into the lungs and that leads to problems. Esbilac is a very standard puppy milk replacement - most pet stores carry it. BTW - your local pharmacist / drug store will probably provide you with a 1 cc syringe w/o a needle - should not be a problem.

Do ask questions as you need to - you'll find fast / accurate answers.

He / she really is cute - we'll help you get him through this and find a good home.

[krushia]

It took a little bit of Pedialyte, maybe 0.1cc at best. It was really loving it for a bit, then it fell asleep mid-suck and didn't want any when it woke up. I'll try again if I wake up in the night.

Gotta go to work in 6 hours, and not sure what I'm going to do with this cutie. It seems like it escaped from the nest 2 weeks early, if I was to guess. From what I've seen, I'd give it a 50/50 chance on its own :dono

EDIT: By the way, I did find a 0.5cc insulin syringe, popped the needle off and have been using that. Works much better.

[Apple Corps]

.5 cc syringe was a good find :-) There are a number of people that have taken their lil fuzzers to work for some time - keeping him hydrated is really important. A number of us will try to get someone in the Boston area to adopt this lil cutie - we used to live in Providence but are now in California - wish we could get him here :) :)

[krushia]

This morning it drank 1cc of Pedialyte, much more then it had last night. I put some shelled peanuts in the box and it doesn't seem to know what to do with them. It grabbed one and licked it, but it definately isn't used to solid food.

Do I need to help it pee when I feed it? It has been making little puddles itself, so I don't know.

I checked everywhere and don't see and cat bites. The only concern I have is its right eye remains closed, not sure if it has an eye injury. I also took 3 fleas off it, other then that it looks like it is okay on the outside.

I'm going to stay with it all day, and if it is getting better I'll hand it over to my parents tomorrow.

[krushia]

Just wanted to say that my mom is picking up some Esbilac and the pet store was trying to convince her to get kitten milk, saying Esbilac "only works on larger digestive systems" :shakehead

It saddens me to see them give out misleading information that would result in dead critters. If I wasn't on the phone with her while she was in the store she probably would have gotten the wrong stuff (they were so convinced that they were right and she was wrong).


Little critter is doing well. After a feeding this morning it didn't want to go back in the box, so I let it crawl on me for a bit and taught it how to jump. That was a big mistake... it kept jumping out of the box :)

Now I have it in a pet carrier, sleeping peacefully.


EDIT: I've just been told that the guy giving the kitten milk advice teaches wildlife care courses.

[Chippy Tails]

Hi Krushia - judging from you pictures I would say your little chippy is about 4 weeks old. It's mom had probably taken it out with its siblings to start their training. There is a site on the net that deals with orphaned chipmunks. I'm sure you will find the information you need here. This is the URL - http://www.orphanedwildlifecare.com/chipmunkcare.htm There are also plenty of folks here willing to help.

Good luck with your little fuzzer. It's a real beauty. How fortunate you saw what the cat was toying with.

[krushia]

Thank you for that link Chippy Tails! It has a lot of great information, and the age chart answers the questions I was about to ask regarding feeding schedule. Looking at the chart, I agree it is probably 4 weeks old, perhaps 5. Definately in the teething stage - it is always nibbling on the syringe and my fingers.

Can't really tell for sure, but I think it is a boy. My mom came down to pick it up. I gave her good instructions, and we did some Pedialyte then Esbilac feeding together (first formula feeding). It is now in its 3rd cage (poor thing) curled up on a sock buddy and en route to my parents' house, where they will take good care of it for the rest of the week. When we have free time we will see about getting it to a rehabber by the weekend.

[Chippy Tails]

Good luck to you and your little chippy. Glad that site was helpful to you. Chippys are cared for a little differently than squirrels though not by much. I was pleased when I found this site becasue it takes you through all the different stages with changes in diet and overall care. I've never raised an infant chippy although one of my wildies use to bring her kids out so I could babysit (if you can believe). I became an instant grandmother. The babies are so sweet and very trusting. Please let us know if you find a rehabber and of course how well your little one is doing.

[krushia]

He has been developing an infection on the right side of his face. I mentioned before that his right eye was being a little lazy... well it no longer opens, and the area below his eye to his nose is swollen. He is also clicking at times due to his nostril closing up from the swelling.

On close inspection, it looks like it is from a cat scratch right below his eye that I missed. I feel so bad now for not seeing it and getting him to a professional for antibiotics :sad

I scrubbed the wound with antiseptic (Benzalkonium Chloride wipe) and cleaned him with warm water. I'm going to try getting him to rehab tomorrow morning, but I'm wondering what else I can do in the meantime :dono

He's doing well otherwise. He's ramped up to full Esbilac and has been nibbling solid foods. He eats well, has healthy pee + poop, sleeps well, plays well (he LOVES the hampster running wheel I gave him), and has begun taking baths. My dad named him Winky because of his closed eye. I hope Winky's wink goes away.

[Chippy Tails]

Hi Krushia - so sorry to hear your little one has an infection. Maybe one of the rehabbers on TSB can help you out till you can get him to a local rehabber. It sounds like the wound has abscessed. Do you know if it's draining at all? If it's not I would think it wise to get him to a rehabber immediately.

You are doing a wonderful job with this little fuzzer. There's no need to feel quilty. Some things are completely our of our control. I'm sure he's in good hands.

Good luck to you and your little chippy. I wish I could be of more help, but I prefer to leave that to those with more experience. Please keep us updated.:grouphug

[Apple Corps]

Chippy Tails - getting him to a vet or rehabber this morning is the way to go. Are you going to get him back from a rehabber and raise him?

[Chippy Tails]

Chippy Tails - getting him to a vet or rehabber this morning is the way to go. Are you going to get him back from a rehabber and raise him?

Hi AC - I do agree with you. It's Krusia that has this little one. I was just asking a few questions. Sounds to me like he needs to go to a rehabber ASAP.

Sorry Krusia - didn't mean to jack your thread.

[krushia]

Winky is in rehab now. Got a shot of Baytril, hopefully the infection reverses. I'll give them a call next week to see how he's doing.

I'm feeling pretty bad for not getting to rehab for antibiotics before the infection took place. There was no sign of any injury when I found him. Moral of the story is to never wait if there was a cat involved. Missing a day of work to get help is nothing if it can save a life.

Thanks for all your help. I'll be sure to give an update when I hear more.
- Ken

PS - Two of our wild chippie girls have been staying underground the past week. I expect to see litters of little fuzzies soon.