Disabled or Diseased Arctic Ground Squirrel?

[Fireweed]

Hello, I'm new to this forum so please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong section. :wave123

There is about two or three litters of Arctic Ground Squirrels which have just emerged about a week ago from one burrow system near my house. All look healthy but one. She is shaking constantly. At first I thought she was extremely cold because it had been really raining for a few days. However, that's not the case. She is eating but has a hard time holding on to grass and such and her siblings often take food from her. She is able to move around pretty well but she definitely is not fast and wouldn't escape a predator. Her back legs look like they could be deformed or just poorly developed. She kind of pulls herself and hops along, whichever works. She's constantly doing face plants. She is smaller than any other squirrel. She may be blind or semi-blind. She can hear, although how well I'm not too sure. Sometimes it seems like she can only hear when you get really close to her and it seems she can only hear certain calls from the adults. Again, I'm not too sure about this. She shakes constantly except for when she stretches out and almost falls asleep in the sun---I'm thinking she doesn't shake when she's sleeping.
Have any of you seen something like this? What is it? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading,
Fireweed

[Legomom]

:Welcome to TSB & thank you for looking for information about your yard buddy. Sounds like she 'may' have sufferred some sort of head injury. Do you have any wildlife rehabilitation centers in your area?

I don't know much about them, so I'll leave guidance to the rehabbers who will hopefully see your post soon. (Might get more notice if you put a post in the Emergency thread section.) I have PM'd a few members, so I hope someone with more knowledge will be on soon for you.

Hang in there & Thanks again! :grouphug

[Alaskan Squirrel Cam]

Fireweed, I'm pretty sure there is not much one can do. Being these squirrels are not protected in Alaska. You may find a vet that will help, if you could possibly capture it. I'm sorry, but Alaska doesn't have such help for squirrels of any type here and if you did contact the Fish & Game folks they would most likely just tell you to leave it alone or destroy it.

bob

[Bravo]

Welcome to the board, Fireweed.

I'm not a rehabber, but it does sound like a severe deformity with head trauma as well. With no allowance for rehabbers in your area, any action taken would probably be on your own initiative.

Tough call. :grouphug

[island rehabber]

hi Fireweed....thank you for caring enough about this little one to reach out to us. It sounds like some sort of neurological disorder -- head trauma or genetic. My suggestion would be to take her in, because your only alternative would be to 'let nature take its course' :(. A predator will eventually get her. I am gathering that there is no mom around anywhere?

If you take her in, you can keep her in a container on heat, and provide her natural diet along with some homeopathic supplement like Vetri-DMG which boosts the neuro system and immune system. She 'may' improve -- no way of knowing. But these are resilient, strong little creatures who really do want to live!

If you do take her in, we'll be here to help you with each step of caring for her to the best of our abilities. :)

[Ontario Rehabber]

:Welcome Sorry I didn't get to you earlier, Legomom did PM me but I was out for a bit. I agree with what IR has said, sounds like her only chance would be if you can capture the little one and give her support. If you need instructions on capturing we can help you with that.

[Fireweed]

Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for the kind welcome and speedy replies. I am quite shocked at the positive attitudes here! :)

I live in the Yukon on First Nation's traditional hunting/fishing territory. They still hunt ground squirrels to eat and for "fun" here. Even though my husband is also FN, you can bet we won't be getting any help around here! We've already been shamed for letting squirrels and ground squirrels run "wild" on our property. ( :D ) Also, I've tried getting help from rehabbers in the Yukon before but they don't seem interested in helping birds or small mammals, especially since I'm so far away. I guess if I found an injured raptor or bear it might be different, eh?

Anyway, I was mostly curious about what others thought because I wasn't sure if it was a disease or not. We suspected something neurological but since we know very little about ground squirrels we were a bit worried it might be something we could pass on to our other animals or even to other people. I just wanted to get other perspectives/thoughts---and you guys were the first to respond even though I've been emailing experts and joining forums for a week now! :thumbsup

Truth is, we've been giving him (I checked) his wild foods along with broccoli, romaine, and watermelon for a few days now. We just couldn't bear to watch him take five minutes just to eat a blade of grass and get skinnier and skinnier. We already made the decision to take him in if others thought it wasn't a disease....so, we took him in yesterday, as soon as I read your replies. :tilt

There's been a raven and a red-tailed hawk circling the burrow site for a few days now. Also, I believe a male gopher has come in from another territory and is chasing and attacking the juveniles. Further, and this is something I'd love to understand, it seems some of the adult females (the mothers) are attacking some of the juveniles---could it be that they are harrassing the juvenile males in order to prepare them to eventually leave? Or do they harrass the juveniles which aren't theirs? I'm just perplexed at all the aggressiveness going on (and it's definitely not "play fighting"). So, no matter what, the poor little guy wouldn't stand a chance---he is hungry, picked on by his siblings, can barely climb up the mounds to make it back to his burrow, wouldn't have a chance to get away from predators, and would be an easy victim to a bully male (or even female?). I'm surprised he even made it this long.

When people say, "Let nature take its course," I say, "I am nature, too" Especially when the "nature" being spoken of is out my back door, and literally underfoot at times! Heh.

Anyhoo...we've set up a temporary "cage" in the greenhouse (which is already fortified on the outside so no critter can get in. We put a squarish pot on its side and filled it with hay, laid it on a cotton sheet, surrounded it all with large rocks, and put a large board over the whole thing so that he feels he's kind of in a tunnel/den. He went in almost immediately and made himself a little nest. He then wandered around the greenhouse all evening eating the wild grasses and flowers growing on the bottom floor (I haven't done anything to the floor of the greenhouse--also, we don't use anything toxic or even "organic" that could be toxic in the greenhouse). He chirped a couple of times, but I think he felt fine once we gave him a blueberry, some broccoli, some romaine, and a cherry tomato. After munching away, he snuggled himself back up into his nest. I'm sure he feels better not being beaten up by his siblings and actually able to eat without having his food stolen from him!

When we went to bed, we put him in a small cat carrier (so that he couldn't climb too high if he decided he wanted to climb the door). We put this carrier in an unused bedroom. In the carrier we put a small box with hay for his nest, some grasses and other wild foods, and a small water dish. This morning I took him back outside to the greenhouse.

My husband is already busy making him two large kennels--one for indoors, one for outdoors. We aren't the type of people who settle for small, medium, or even large cages unless necessary. So he'll have the best we can build/afford.

A few questions, if you don't mind:

1) I'm curious if the healthy diet on this site is appropriate for ground squirrels? I mean, they don't eat nuts, or do they? What kind of tweaks should I make to it if I have to?

2) He seems to have a little swollen belly which reminds me of worms in puppies. Could that be? And, if so, do any of you know a natural way to rid him of worms? Something I could get without having to take him to a vet who won't see him anyway? (I'm going to try to get him into a vet, however, I know that's going to be very difficult to impossible.)

3) One of his eyes seems a tad weepy. Do you know what this could be? What I could do?

Any suggestions, thoughts, advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you once again for caring, and for reading this long post,

Fireweed

PS: For over a week we've been saying, There's that shaky one again! Did you see the shaky squirrel today? I wonder if the little shaky one is ok? So "Shaky" has stuck and that's his new name.

Shaky:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/shaky3.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/shaky4.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/shaky5.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/shaky2.jpg

[Fireweed]

Oh yeah! Island Rehabber: Where do I get Vetri-DMG? Also, should I stick to solely wild foods?

[Legomom]

Awww, Shaky looks so precious!! :thankyou for being willing to risk ridicule (all of us 'nuts' get those same looks/thoughts from family & friends, so don't ever feel like you're alone!) and taking him in. It sure sounds like you are willing to do everything possible to provide him with the best life he can have! :bowdown :bowdown :bowdown

I know nothing about Ground Squirrels, but I am sure someone on TSB will be around soon to help you out. I just wanted to say "Way to go!" & Thanks for helping Shaky find some safe/solid ground. :grouphug

Edit: You can get Vetri-DMG at a lot of different sites on the internet. Just Google it...but, you can start or buy it from Chris's Squirrels And More (http://www.squirrelsandmore.com/product/1820/vetri-and-dmg.htm) store.

[island rehabber]

Fireweed, I love you guys.....you are our kind of people, for sure. :D
ok you can get the Vetri-DMG from squirrelsandmore.com, but you may want to Google it for a Canadian site that could save you money. Just a drop or two on Shaky's food or in liquid will boost his immune and neuro systems a bit.
I'm not well-versed in ground squirrel natural diet so let me do some research and come back here with it, ok? I am SO HAPPY you have rescued this boy!

[Fireweed]

Thanks, Legomom, for such kind words and support! :)


Fireweed, I love you guys.....you are our kind of people, for sure. :D

You can be sure we feel the same way. We were totally shocked to read the responses last night. We had no idea we'd be so lucky to find one person like you, let alone a whole group of you!


ok you can get the Vetri-DMG from squirrelsandmore.com, but you may want to Google it for a Canadian site that could save you money. Just a drop or two on Shaky's food or in liquid will boost his immune and neuro systems a bit.
I'm not well-versed in ground squirrel natural diet so let me do some research and come back here with it, ok? I am SO HAPPY you have rescued this boy!


Thanks for the link. We've watched what the other groundsquirrels are eating and have been giving him a mix of all sorts of wild foods (sage, grasses, flowers, etc.)--plus he's eating what he can on his own, but he can only get the stuff that is right on the ground so he might be missing out on flower buds or what-have-you that we don't know about. I'd sure love to know what the best diet for him is! Thanks for taking the time to help us out. It's so utterly appreciated my heart feels heavy, if you can imagine. :o

[Legomom]

Wow! I am so fascinated by these critters....they hibernate for months & at a body temp below freezing! Anyway, I've been doing some poking & here are some sites that I've found:

http://www.yukonwildlife.ca/animalshabitats/ouranimals/groundsquirrel/

http://www.nps.gov/dena/naturescience/arcticgroundsquirrel.htm

http://everything2.com/title/Arctic%2520Ground%2520Squirrel

I'll let you know if I come up with something specific to cages & diet, but it sounds like he needs something low & wide, not tall.

Fireweed, I hope your heart feels lighter now that you have joined our family! :grouphug

[island rehabber]

:thankyoulegomom!!
I looked up Arctic Ground Squirrels in my Squirrel Rehabilitation Handbook, but the species is not listed :osnap .

[Sarabi]

Shaky is just too cute for words.:grouphug God bless you for caring:grouphug

[Fireweed]

Hey, you guys! Yes, AGSs are fascinating little creatures, eh?

Thanks for searching for us, Lego! Let's hope one of us can find specifics soon. I've been researching AGSs for some time now and can't find much more than the same basic info.

And, yes, I do feel better now that I've found this board and people like yourselves. Thank you. :)

[Ontario Rehabber]

I can't find anything in any of my reference books on ground squirrels, but from what I've found on some of the internet sites their natural diet sounds similar to a tree squirrels, with the addition of insects and some meat.

This is a quote I found from another rehabber site in reference to a 13 lined ground squirrel - sounds like the diet is similar to the arctic ground squirrel.

The adult diet of the 13lined ground squirrel consists of the seeds of weed
plants, spring forbs, flowers, grasses, especially new prairie grasses.
About 2/3 of their diet consists of protein sources. These sources include
ants, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and the young and/or eggs of ground
dwelling birds and mammals. Mice, voles, bunnies, meadowlarks, killdeer are
just a few that come to mind.

You should try to forage at least some of their diet from natural sources.
You can supplement with rodent chow, ZuPreem primate chow, mealworms, and crickets. Be sure to provide for their little rodent teeth by making some
bones available. They are also opportunistic feeders in the wild, as you
well know if you have ever seen 13liners hanging out around McDonalds.

I will have to check similarities between 13 liners and arctics - not sure.

[Bravo]

Wow. I'm impressed that you've taken in little Shaky as a project. Whenever someone new comes and tells us about a troubled wild animal, there's quite often a silence when the poster realizes what kind of commitment is involved.

Good to have you here, and I hope Shaky responds to your efforts. :bowdown

[Fireweed]

Ontario, thanks for the list of foods. Do you think Shaky will know if a plant/flower is toxic to him, or do I need to be extra careful about which grasses/forbs/flowers I choose?

I don't think I've ever seen a 13 lined. Richardson's, yes. As far as I know, there are only Arctic Ground Squirrels in the Yukon.


Whenever someone new comes and tells us about a troubled wild animal, there's quite often a silence when the poster realizes what kind of commitment is involved.


:) I once took in a nestling White Crowned Sparrow which was maybe 36 hours old, after a neighbour's dog had killed both adults. Of course, every expert and bird lover out there told me to "put her down" and "you can't raise a bird from so young" and "it requires too much effort" and "let nature take its course." Well, I did take the bird in (and I gave up sleep).
It took a lot of common sense to raise her because it's so difficult to find enough specific information on the net and I live so far from anyone/any resources. Even the rehabbers here admitted they had never raised a songbird--so I didn't get too much help from them besides the obvious.

I could tell you many details about what exactly I did, but suffice it to say, she was a healthy, birdy, WCS who could catch insects, fly strong, and scratch for seeds with the best of them when I released her close to two months later. She stuck around the yard and area for almost a month afterward so I got to make sure she was definitely ok...and then she hooked up with a group of juncos and left with them when they headed south for the winter. (You can bet I fully understand Empty Nest Syndrome. LOL!)

All that to say: Yes, I'm committed. :thumbsup

[4skwerlz]

I don't know anything about the specific needs of Arctic ground squirrels, but if their diet is heavily protein-based, you'll definitely want to provide insects (you can buy mealworms and crickets in a can, but not sure if she will eat them dead). You really can't totally duplicate the wild diet for a captive animal, so make sure she gets some kind of rodent block too--this will provide a nutrient base and extra protein. Then she can fill in her nutrient needs by nibbling on a variety of wild foods.

Just my .02

[Fireweed]

Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for all the help so far. I know I tend to blab a lot so I'll try to make this short. I want to get the Vetri-DMG, some kind of rodent block, maybe a dewormer, if anyone thinks the little guy might have worms, and anything else you think I may need that I won't be able to get here (which is pretty much everything but water and grass ;) . Does anyone know where I can get these things online in Canada? I would love to get them all in one place. I've been looking online and I can't find any rodent food that I would dare give. I really hope I can find one without preservatives etc. Any brand names to look for available in Canada?

I realize I'm asking a lot. :0

[island rehabber]

Fireweed you could PM our member, Ontario Rehabber, here -- she may have good info for you!

[Ontario Rehabber]

I've pm'ed her with as much info as I have. Unfortunately there really are no Canadian sites, would be great, it's very frustrating. Think maybe I should start one in my spare time. :D

[Feeze]

Okay, I just wanted to say, I'm impressed, and I'm so glad you found TSB! It sounds like Shaky has it far better than the other squirrels in your yard now.:) Good luck with him.:thumbsup

And the white crowned sparrow, what a sweet story.:D

[Fireweed]

Just wanted to let you all know I've contacted Chris and got a whack of squirrel goodies at her online store. She was a lot of help. Thanks OR for directing me!

Shaky seems to be doing really well. He's been digging some, snoozing lots, and hanging out, relaxing in the sunshine in what can only be described as The Shakycake. I'll try to get a picture of that for the Pancake thread! :) It's the only time while awake that he doesn't actually shake.

Do squirrels sleep a lot during the day? I've noticed Shaky sleeps about every 10-15 minutes or so for about 10-15 minutes each time. Could it simply be that it takes a lot of energy to shake so much? Because I also noticed before we nabbed him that he often wouldn't show his cute mug until later in the day, even though I'd see almost the entire litter on and off throughout the day. It's interesting.

One more question (yeah, sure ;) ): What do you use for litter? I've noticed Shaky likes to go in one general area, although he often poops in other areas. But I'm wondering what would happen if I gave him an area filled with sand or some other organic matter---do squirrels use any kind of litter?

[Legomom]

Chris is a great lady!! Glad she could help you out. :thumbsup

Squirrels (at least tree squirrels, not sure about the ground type) do sleep/rest a lot during the day. Typically, they are most active for an hour or so after sunrise & an hour or so before sunset.

As for litter, you could try. Some have used Care Fresh (http://www.carefresh.net/) as bedding/litter. But, in my experience, you can't potty train a squirrel. They will pick one area of the cage/enclosure to urinate in, but tend to leave little poops everywhere they go. :dono

I can't wait to see a picture of Shaky pancaked!! Sounds precious!! :grouphug

[Fireweed]

Good to know all that, Lego! And I won't stress about litter then. I'll leave him to poop where he will. :wiggle

Is there a thread around these parts about ott-lights and the like? I'm wondering about them and if they are good at all to use in the winter and for days like today ( :raining )? I did a search...came up with a bijillion threads which didn't even mention them. :dono

[Ontario Rehabber]

The ott-light is definitely recommended if they do not have access to natural sunlight. If he has access to sunlight, I wouldn't worry about the rain days, that would be normal in nature. If he does not have sunlight access I would recommend the light. As far as the winter months, from what I have read about the Arctic Ground Squirrel they hibernate, therefore wouldn't be required.

[whopoopwrasse]

Hey fireweed! :wave123 I was just going back the beginning with Shaky,
Ott lights are very hard to find now but the equivalent would be the reptile lights they sell at a pet store, they are full spectrum lights that Shaky may need if she spends the winter indoors, that's what I used for Amelia when I had her.

[Fireweed]

Hi, who! Thanks! I tried to get an Ott light from Chris' Squirrels and More but she didn't have them in at the time and I needed the other stuff I had ordered pronto. You are reminding me I should look for the light again...I just might be able to find a reptile equivalent here...maybe. :)

[whopoopwrasse]

If you have a pet store in town I'm sure you'll find one, just be sure it's full spectrum. :thumbsup
What's your closest town anyways?

[Anne]

Possibly a dumb question, do you have a Wal-mart there?

[Anne]

Oh-catalogs, Dr Foster, That pet place, Petco, Petsmart.