cindersquirrel
10-02-2009, 06:35 PM
Hi guys! My stepmom found a baby squirrel outside a few days ago and brought it inside. From what I can tell, it's a girl (I would be embarrassed if this were not the case, since I've been calling her a girl this whole time, lol), and I haven't named her yet, though my stepmom calls her "Zumba."
When my stepmom brought the squirrel in, she said that she intended to keep it as a pet because she had a few of them when she was a kid and she really enjoyed it. I was a little worried but didn't really say anything about it at the time. Then, she was busy and left the baby in my care. I began to research as hard as I could to figure out how I would need to care for this baby.
I've read tons of threads here so I know I don't need to say this but... WOW it is hard to care for! Waking up in the middle of the night to feed her has not been the most enjoyable experience. Just to clarify, I got her Pedialyte and fed her that every two hours for about a day in case she was dehydrated (I couldn't really tell and read that it was best to just assume yes). After that, I started her on Esbilac, the premixed liquid formula, 1pt formula and 2pts water. She is a good eater, and was overfed once, so she had diarrhea for about 30 minutes and then was perfectly fine again. I haven't made the mistake of overfeeding her again!
She seems to be in perfect health. Of course, I am not an expert, but she is curious and playful and eats well. She is with me for almost the whole entire day. She sleeps in my pocket, down my shirt, under the hood of my jacket, anywhere on me. She is very, very friendly and loves to be with me. If I put her in the cage, she chirps until I take her out and basically hops right into my hand, so I'm sure she would be a joy to take care of. I love her personality!
By the way, her cage is a bird cage with a bunch of my t-shirts in it. We don't have a heating pad so I warm up a water bottle for her every night and replace it after I feed her four hours later. She's always warm when I take her out of the cage in the morning so I know it's alright. She also has a sock as a makeshift sleepy sack. She is really only inside the cage when I go to take a shower or when it's bedtime. Otherwise, she is crawling or sleeping on me.
While I love this baby, and I am having fun taking care of her, I don't think this is the best place for her to grow up. I live in a seven person household with lots of children running around and I'm not sure where she would even go when she gets bigger. Obviously they grow quickly and she will eventually outgrow her birdcage.
My stepmom got very upset when I mentioned turning her over to a rehabber, and said "If you don't want to keep it, then I will." I think that she does not know what she is doing. Not that I do, but she wanted to feed it baby food intended for a four month old (HUMAN baby) and told me that I shouldn't have bothered getting Esbilac because we could have just used water and the baby food. I don't want to cause any trouble in my family by disobeying my stepmother but I really can't pretend that we are going to keep this squirrel forever. She likes it because it's cute and isn't worried about the fact that when it gets older, it should really be out living the life it was supposed to in the trees with other squirrels.
I would sincerely love to find someone near me to help me out. I am doing an alright job taking care of her, but I know there is someone out there who could do so much better and give her a much better chance at a happy life! (Ugh I teared up a little bit at that. She really is too cute to let go of!)
Thank you so much! You guys are awesome. (:
(Sorry for the huge post, I was trying to give as much info as possible!)
When my stepmom brought the squirrel in, she said that she intended to keep it as a pet because she had a few of them when she was a kid and she really enjoyed it. I was a little worried but didn't really say anything about it at the time. Then, she was busy and left the baby in my care. I began to research as hard as I could to figure out how I would need to care for this baby.
I've read tons of threads here so I know I don't need to say this but... WOW it is hard to care for! Waking up in the middle of the night to feed her has not been the most enjoyable experience. Just to clarify, I got her Pedialyte and fed her that every two hours for about a day in case she was dehydrated (I couldn't really tell and read that it was best to just assume yes). After that, I started her on Esbilac, the premixed liquid formula, 1pt formula and 2pts water. She is a good eater, and was overfed once, so she had diarrhea for about 30 minutes and then was perfectly fine again. I haven't made the mistake of overfeeding her again!
She seems to be in perfect health. Of course, I am not an expert, but she is curious and playful and eats well. She is with me for almost the whole entire day. She sleeps in my pocket, down my shirt, under the hood of my jacket, anywhere on me. She is very, very friendly and loves to be with me. If I put her in the cage, she chirps until I take her out and basically hops right into my hand, so I'm sure she would be a joy to take care of. I love her personality!
By the way, her cage is a bird cage with a bunch of my t-shirts in it. We don't have a heating pad so I warm up a water bottle for her every night and replace it after I feed her four hours later. She's always warm when I take her out of the cage in the morning so I know it's alright. She also has a sock as a makeshift sleepy sack. She is really only inside the cage when I go to take a shower or when it's bedtime. Otherwise, she is crawling or sleeping on me.
While I love this baby, and I am having fun taking care of her, I don't think this is the best place for her to grow up. I live in a seven person household with lots of children running around and I'm not sure where she would even go when she gets bigger. Obviously they grow quickly and she will eventually outgrow her birdcage.
My stepmom got very upset when I mentioned turning her over to a rehabber, and said "If you don't want to keep it, then I will." I think that she does not know what she is doing. Not that I do, but she wanted to feed it baby food intended for a four month old (HUMAN baby) and told me that I shouldn't have bothered getting Esbilac because we could have just used water and the baby food. I don't want to cause any trouble in my family by disobeying my stepmother but I really can't pretend that we are going to keep this squirrel forever. She likes it because it's cute and isn't worried about the fact that when it gets older, it should really be out living the life it was supposed to in the trees with other squirrels.
I would sincerely love to find someone near me to help me out. I am doing an alright job taking care of her, but I know there is someone out there who could do so much better and give her a much better chance at a happy life! (Ugh I teared up a little bit at that. She really is too cute to let go of!)
Thank you so much! You guys are awesome. (:
(Sorry for the huge post, I was trying to give as much info as possible!)