Spotty Pinkies -- Help! Any ideas?

[island rehabber]

These three cuties fell in their nest when the whole tree limb came down Sunday afternoon....the lady who found them tried to get mamma to come for them all day but no show, so I picked them up. They seem OK except they have scabs and/or dry flakes on their skin as if they had some kind of bites or condition that has now dried up and gone.....any ideas?? I would love to put something soothing on them but don't want to do the wrong thing, and I have never seen this before....

[kellymm]

maybe fire ants or fleas maybe some one with more experience will chime in

[rygel1hardt]

Hey IR
I have actually never seen this before on babies. Are the babies itchy or sore? If not I dont know that I would put anything on them. If you put anything on them for dry skin try using pure vitamin E oil, it wont hurt them and will sooth dry skin. Keep us posted on them with pics if you can. Good luck! Stacey



These three cuties fell in their nest when the whole tree limb came down Sunday afternoon....the lady who found them tried to get mamma to come for them all day but no show, so I picked them up. They seem OK except they have scabs and/or dry flakes on their skin as if they had some kind of bites or condition that has now dried up and gone.....any ideas?? I would love to put something soothing on them but don't want to do the wrong thing, and I have never seen this before....

[island rehabber]

Thanks Stacey -- they are not itchy or behaving in any way other than like typical pinkies. Eat, Sleep, Poop, Twitch, you know. :) Whatever it was it looks like it's drying up and going away. I'll just keep taking care of them as best I can and hope it is not something that got into their little systems. One of them is very very dark, especially his head....could be my very first black squirrel rehab baby!

[thundersquirrel]

oi vay....i dunno what to tell you. i think it's definitely some kind of bug bite issue. thing is, i don't think there's a lot of biting ants in new york. maybe i'm wrong. we have very few red ants in michigan, and they're tiny.

there are creams you can put on squirrel wounds, but i'm not sure about their effect on a pinkie. it might harm them if their skin absorbs it. i'd suggest an anti-biotic or dermatologic cleanser, but again.... perhaps if you dilute it and put a very thin layer on their bodies, it would help and not hurt them.

i'd be hesistant though.....the thing is, infection will kill them, so if you could just clean the wounds up a little bit and keep them as sterile as possible, that might be enough. if they get worse, you could try an actual cream, but for now maybe just warm water and very soft soap would work.

some good creams that i've used before (on squirrels) are bacitracin and derma-clens. once again, though, they were older squirrels. you should really go with your instinct as far as creams go, i guess. :dono

good luck. keep us updated. seems like pinkies are the most likely to not make it, and i always root more for the underdog. :)

[thundersquirrel]

p.s. yeah, i think you've got some black or dark grey squirrels there...congrats! :thumbsup i've always wanted to rehab a blackie.

[Momma Squirrel]

How strange but what cuties. There are so many babies it is hard to keep up with them all, we need a nursery forum :)

[Secret Squirrel]

Was the nest infested with bugs? Did you see the nest? What kind of tree?
You may think I am crazy but it looks like a hortaculture insect to me !!:carzy2
It almost looks like scale...an insect that perices and sucks the sap out of tree branches and or leaves. It has been so dry that it maybe possible for the pest to transfer to the babies. :dono
Can you wet a cotton ball and remove them...or see dried blood on the wet cotton ball?
I'll try to attatch a pic of the scale I am referring to.
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:5iGCcZkg8DIOQM:www.arc.agric.za/institutes/ppri/main/divisions/biosysdiv/insects/images/scale.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.arc.agric.za/institutes/ppri/main/divisions/biosysdiv/insects/images/scale.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.arc.agric.za/institutes/ppri/main/divisions/biosysdiv/insects/hemiptera02.htm&h=180&w=194&sz=21&hl=en&start=41&tbnid=5iGCcZkg8DIOQM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dinsect%2Bscale%26start%3D40%26ndsp%3D 20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN)http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:lFKH4aSy9L1AvM:http://www.dacom.nl/pics_2003/model_pics/red_scale.jpg (http://www.dacom.nl/pics_2003/model_pics/red_scale.jpg)

[Secret Squirrel]

I'll probaly never live this one down in the rehabbers hall of shame!!!
But here is another pic!!! Call me crazy but....aw shucks just call me nutz!
http://www.denverplants.com/foliage/images/Scale.jpg

[island rehabber]

I'll probaly never live this one down in the rehabbers hall of shame!!!
But here is another pic!!! Call me crazy but....aw shucks just call me nutz!
http://www.denverplants.com/foliage/images/Scale.jpg

Your suggestion is as good as anything else I've come up with, LOL. The scabs have mostly fallen off and since I put the babies in a basket with all white polartec around them I have not seen one bug or egg or anything strange. I've decided not to treat them with anything unless the situation changes for the worse....after all, where would mamma squirrel get Vitamin E, or Lubriderm? :rotfl

[muffinsquirrel]

Are the spots raised? smooth or rough and scaly? Does anything wipe off - blood or some other color? Are they hot? or sticky? Since I am fairly new to this, and there are a whole lot of things I have never seen, I'll ask one more question - what does Squirrel Pox look like? That looks like a rash of some sort. I hope you find out what is wrong, and I hope they do OK.

muffinsquirrel

[island rehabber]

Are the spots raised? smooth or rough and scaly? Does anything wipe off - blood or some other color? Are they hot? or sticky? Since I am fairly new to this, and there are a whole lot of things I have never seen, I'll ask one more question - what does Squirrel Pox look like? That looks like a rash of some sort. I hope you find out what is wrong, and I hope they do OK.

muffinsquirrel

Hi -- they are rough and a little scaly....nothing wipes off. It's definitely not squirrel pox though -- that makes these huge horrible lumps like boils...the poor squirrels look the Elephant Man when they have that.

[Mrs. Jack]

um.. I wonder, do you think it could just be sap and accumulated dust/dirt/etc from their fall with the tree branch and subsequent time on the ground waiting for mama? I ask because sometimes when I come in from working in the yard I have "weird" stuff on my hands or legs, and it doesn't always wash off, though eventually it does wear off.. and since they don't seem otherwise affected by the spots... :dono

[GhosTS]

Hey IR..looks like you got your hands full again..I can see long sleepless nights ahead..

The spots looks to me like a wound mark..perhaps a little parasite..I suggest that you clean them with a sterile saline solution..If they show any sign of irritation perhaps a dialuted beterdine solution will help..If this is indeed a parasite or a wound there can be secondary infections.

And momma squirrel does have a good source of anti-bacterial fluids.Her saliva.The lysosimes in the saliva act as a great anti-bacterial against infections.

Just my thoughts..Keep us updated..