Peanut, should I force food

[Peanuts mom]

Ok, so he is doing good, eating, pooping, peeing fine, on is own most of the time now as well so.... here is the thing.... he eats at most 3-cc at a time and no matter what I do, he wont eat more! He falls asleep and that's it! I've waited and tried again, nope :nono
His eyes are open, :wave123 have been for 4 days now, he is staying warm on his own but I still use heat at night, I worry it wont be warm enough! he has hair on his tail, his body and some white fine hair is starting to grow on his belly so..... what do I do? He is still only at 2 oz! He looks so skinny still but when fed his belly is all full and round and he is doing good!
Am I worried for no reason :dono could he be just a late bloomer as far as growth?

[CritterMom]

How old is he and what are you feeding him? If it is a formula powder, please include the powder to water ratio.

[tina 26]

how long are you keeping the food meaning after you mix it then1st do you make sure the squirel is warm and food is warm /then you need to refrigerate untile next feeding it is only good 24 hrs next as they grow they like baby ceareal add to it and blue berry baby food stage 1 next how have you feed the squirrel? how are you getting the milk at feedings to him i use suringe slip off needle holding squirrel in standing uo on back feet position .they never should be on there backs laying down! and feeding making sure it dose did not come out the nose this is bad it means it gets in the lungs if it comes out the nose you have to know how to hold and sling carefuly them stright downward and the milk will not set in lungs this kills they an eat apple small amouts
iam not sure if this is helping you are now your lost you can email me back i will galdley answer any question if you wont all i try to do is help the wild life have a 2nd chance to life worked with wildlife center 3 years

[Peanuts mom]

Ok...... he is on FV, has been for two weeks.
We think he is about 4 weeks old, he had no hair when we got him, a pinky for sure, someone found him and vet called me because I had rehabbed Kiwi prior!
His food is tossed after 24 hrs and fresh one made, he is warm, hydrated and otherwise doing well, just small and eats like I said at most 3-cc's!
I've not added anything else to his diet as he was so little and appears to be too young yet to have other food. It has occurred to me that perhaps he was the runt of the litter and is just growing slow... maybe?! He is developing all his mile stones, eyes open, teeth, tail, bathroom issues, tail growth, as he should, he is just..... tiny!
I've placed a order today for the next step in his diet, 20/50 FV and will see how he does on that. I do have baby cereal and have thought about adding some but like I said, when he eats he eats to, what seems to be his fill, his belly is nice and round so I fear forcing him to eat more, if even possible could cause bloating and more harm than good so...... open to suggestions!

[gs1]

i wouldn't force... especially on the 2:1 ratio ...2 water, 1 formula...

that's just me... :)

:thumbsup

[muffinsquirrel]

Hi. What part of Texas are you from? I live in southeast TX, about 25 miles above Beaumont. If I can be of any help, let me know. Meanwhile, have you tried adding some heavy cream and some yogurt to his formula? I usually use 1/2 part cream and 1/4 to 1/3 part yogurt - I use Dannon natural vanilla yogurt - just make sure that you don't get 'lite' or low fat yogurt.

muffinsquirrel

[CritterMom]

You can also call Nick at FV and if he hasn't shipped your formula out, he can add some of the Ultra Boost to it, which is made for this.

Instead of trying to force him to eat more, maybe you can convince him to by gussying up his formula a little. Put a few drops of maple syrup into his formula - they seem to love maple - and also put some maple syrup and enough water to thin it down in a little bottlecap when you feed, and when he starts to slow down, dip the nipple in the syrup/water mixture before it goes in his mouth - he might take an extra half cc that way. He should be gaining weight daily.

[Peanuts mom]

Tried Nick, left him a message! I'm sure he said it would go in the mail on Monday so he has time to add it!
As for Maple syrup, yeah have some will try to get him into it! Yogurt, we tried that but I was told once he got the FV to take it out :dono same with the heavy cream! I tossed that out, can get more though, kids liked it too :D

He is on 2/1 ratio and this morning took 3cc's :tilt his tooth is there, he nibbles, looking for antlers, had them for Kiwi and he loved them! Thinking of stopping in the butcher shop for a slice of femur bone, clean it of course before I offer it!
He is fine other than the weight, has to be forced to start eating, keeps turning his head and now that he can see....well that didn't help that situation one bit:sanp3 besides that he climbs on wibble/wobble legs, is strong, thin, almost invisble hair on belly, tail is getting thicker.... such a cutie :Love_Icon
Thanks for all your advise, we will get to it.....:thankyou

[Peanuts mom]

Hi. What part of Texas are you from? I live in southeast TX, about 25 miles above Beaumont. If I can be of any help, let me know. Meanwhile, have you tried adding some heavy cream and some yogurt to his formula? I usually use 1/2 part cream and 1/4 to 1/3 part yogurt - I use Dannon natural vanilla yogurt - just make sure that you don't get 'lite' or low fat yogurt.

muffinsquirrel

I'm 3 hours west of San Antonio... will try to add those items again, we had them but was advised to take them out once he went on FV!

[skunkangel]

We weigh in grams, not ounces, but if I did my math right, he weighs like 60grams if he's 2oz. At 60 grams here in Missouri, we feed 3cc's 5x per day, 6x if we can make it happen. That's 5% of his body weight.

Personally though, not that this is anything but my opinion, we only use FV 20/50. We just never use that eyes closed formula. Our success has always been specific to 20/50...not sure why. I'm sure it's a case of 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' so who knows. Maybe he'll take the 20/50 better as he grows, but I wouldn't worry about him taking 3cc's. That's exactly what we would have him on. If he insists on only 2cc's, I'd just feed him more often.