Please help

[squirrelgurl]

Okay, through the grapevine on the all wonderful FaceBook, I found out that a friend of a friend had just found what they thought was a baby "chipmunk". Their dog had brought it to them and they were afraid something was wrong with it's leg. No blood though. I (nosy rosy that I am) decided to PM them to let them know that it was not a chipmunk, it was a flying squirrel and that if they needed help or formula to feel free to call. So about a half hour later I get the call that they do not want it and it was still in the backyard in the flowerbed and wouldn't move. So I go wake up my son and head over there. They had put it in a hermit crab cage with a towel and when I went to transfer it to my container equipped with fleece and a rice buddy, IT BIT ME! wow, those little suckers may have tiny teeth, but it hurt! It did take off running, I'm sorry to say that I wasn't prepared for how fast it was, even with a limp :( But I did catch it again and put it in the box. Now I'm a little afraid to open the box. I didn't get a very good look at it, but it is small. I've never even seen a flying squirrel in RL so I don't know how big they get. How do I figure out an age? If it's old enough and not hurt I am going to take it back to that area and release it, if that's the right course of action? I will try to get more pics for you, but here are a couple the girl who found him took...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Terah79/flyingsquirrel.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/Terah79/flyingsquirrel2-1.jpg

any suggestions on a course of action? I have FV and Pedialyte, but how do I handle him without him/her freaking out and biting me again? I did go ahead and slip a HHB in there so that if it was old enough it would have something to nibble on.

[Rhapsody]

Unless you personally see other flying squirrels around I would not take the baby back and release it as flying squirrels NEED their squirrel clan of 30 or more to survive....... they survive in numbers for warmth and safety.
If you are in Florida and around Tampa --you can PM "Jackie in Tampa" about taking IT --she has a large clan of flying squirrels.

Feed through wires of cage with syringe or wear thick gloves and pick up.... be careful.

Website for Flyers:
http://www.nfsa.us/

[squirrelgurl]

we're in TX and they said they've never seen one around their house before, so I don't know if it's got a clan or not :(

[Rhapsody]

From its pics its prob 4-6 weeks old..... so it either came from a nest or got out of some ones house. I would hang onto the little guy and lets see IF some one from the TX area comes along that can take him in..... in the mean time try to get it to take some pedialyte from a syringe or small bowl - them some fox valley in the morning..... make sure he is WARM before you feed him any fluids. I will PM "Mrs Skul" and see IF she can stop in and give us some of her good advice...... she is a very good flying squirrel person.

[squirrelgurl]

Thanks Rhapsody! I've got him in the box I originally had my baby grey squirrel in, half on the heating pad with a rice buddy and a fleece pouch. I am going to try some pedialyte soon, when I walked by the box a minute ago he flipped out, so I may try a small bottle cap with pedialyte in it first and see how that goes over. Any help is appreciated, I've never had one bite me so now I'm a little nervous about sticking my hand in there, but next time I will have a glove on and maybe we can get the little dude to feeling better!

[Rhapsody]

yeah - poor little thing is probably scared to death...... so I would just make sure he is warm , not hurt, place some pedialyte in a small bowl
in the cage and then give him a few hours in the dark to calm down...... check on him later.

[mousehole]

Calm and quiet and good work gloves :)

I'm not an expert but I think that little one is far to young to be without formula. Try reducing the light and ensure that that any outside noise is minimized if possible. Make sure that it is warm and hydrated with the pedialyte. You can burito it as well, that's what I had to do with squeakers because she certainly did not want me sticking anything into her mouth. I think I ended up wearing more than she ate the first feeding.

To make a burito take a square piece of fleece and place it over the baby with one corner over her head and the opposite corner to her tail - diamond shape. Grasp her gently from the back and tuck the bottom piece under her. Wear gloves if you think that she'll bite, the leather, construction type will be best. Wrap up the sides and pull back the cloth from her face. Have the syringe prepared in advance. She probably will resist at first but if she's thirsty and I'm sure she must be she'll drink it down and soon realize that there's good eats in those plastic tube.

Definitely you'll want to get in touch with a rehabber. Cute wee thing though. Poor baby doesn't realize that you were trying to help it.

LOL, while I was typing you got an expert answer. I'm going to have to learn to type faster or not be doing 40 things at once

[Rhapsody]

Thanks for the BURRITO INFO ---- Mousehole :thumbsup :thumbsup

[squirrelgurl]

Thanks Mousehole! Work gloves and burrito worked! I got approximately 1/2 a cc of pedialyte into her. I then put her in the pouch and back to 1/2 on 1/2 off the heating pad. All the lights are off. I will get up and check on her again in a couple of hours. I did a preliminary check and no puncture wounds, no blood, no obvious broken bones. One foot looks a little odd, but she was squirming again so I didn't want to stress her more. I will look at it again later on. You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for the info so far!

[Rhapsody]

Sounds GOOD - :thumbsup
Check back in this Thread when YOU get UP - as Mrs Skul might have made her Nightly Stop In and Posted by then..... :)

[squirrelgurl]

Gonna bump this up. Got a little bit more rehydrating into her through the night, she's not really dehydrated though. I think she was found pretty quickly. I do think she's a she. Are flying squirrel anatomy the same as grey squirrels? Gonna go ahead and try to weigh her this morning (in just a moment) and get some FV into her. I'll let y'all know how it goes!:)

[Jackie in Tampa]

where are you in texas?
TSB has members with mega flyer experience in texas...
please let us know and we can send them a message:thumbsup

[squirrelgurl]

northeast Tx, about 3 hours away from Dallas and 2 1/2 from Little Rock

[Jackie in Tampa]

do you want to relinquish him?
I will need a county if so...

do you want phone help?
Private message Muffin Squirrel...she is TSB flyer go to in Texas...
there are several helpful members...
cbell
Skul
Mrs.Skul
Lookmomchickens
Ardilla
just to name a few...
hope you can find help:Love_Icon

[squirrelgurl]

I am in Bowie County, I don't mind continuing caring for it, but if it's going to be happier with other flyers I would prefer it to be happy.

[Jackie in Tampa]

I am in Bowie County, I don't mind continuing caring for it, but if it's going to be happier with other flyers I would prefer it to be happy.
they are communal critters and always live in colonies in the wild,
as far as I know...
Muffin has a colony of wilds in her woods and also a few very large habitats...she knows flyers!:thumbsup
She also has contacts...vets etc...
good luck...

[muffinsquirrel]

I'll be glad to take her - where can we meet? I am in Southeast Texas, about 25 miles above Beaumont. I've got indoor flyers, outdoor flyers, released flyers, semi-released flyers, and flyers that absolutely refuse to leave home! And I love every single one of them!

muffinsquirrel

[pappy1264]

Oh, you are doing the VERY BEST for this baby with muffinsquirrel! She will be well taken care of, have plenty of love and her own kind!

[squirrelgurl]

Hi Muffinsquirrel! I just looked it up and it looks like we are about 4 hours or so apart. I'm going to message you my cell phone number and we can make plans from there! Pappy, I've read some of Muffin's post and I knew she'd be awesome, I just didn't know she was so close!:D I never expected a flier to land in my lap, LOL. And I want her to be happy, I know there was another lady who wanted her, but I think she wanted a pet and I just don't want such a community based animal to grow up alone and sad!

[Jackie in Tampa]

Hi Muffinsquirrel! I just looked it up and it looks like we are about 4 hours or so apart. I'm going to message you my cell phone number and we can make plans from there!

I just don't want such a community based animal to grow up alone and sad!:alright.gif

[squirrelgurl]

Thanks Jackie, You just made me smile with that emoticon!

[squirrelgurl]

update: she's doing much better, I picked her up barehanded to feed her just now and she made no attempt to bite. Took .2 cc's of FV (she's only 26 grams, so that's a good amount right?) and then back into her pouch. She feels just right warm and I've got the pouch situated so that half of it is on the heating pad too. PM'd with Muffinsquirrel and we're working on getting a plan into place!

[mousehole]

:wott :wahoo :wott - You Rock squirrelgirl! I think we need an emoticon for http://undergroundfreakz.com/s/otn/angels/angel.gif.
I know how hard that decision is. Look at me - Squeakers came into my life for three weeks and I gave her to a rehabber here in Ontario because I knew it was the best decision I could make. She's happy and has nest - sibs now and a better chance at a successful rehabilitation. I'm still lurking on the boards though.:)
oooh lookie I found all kinds of GIFs that apply :

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa326/mousehole666/5hospitals.gifhttp://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa326/mousehole666/animated-gifs-squirrels-005.gifhttp://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa326/mousehole666/26animales-plantas.gifhttp://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa326/mousehole666/29animales-plantas.gif

All to mean You Rock. Way to go!

[squirrelgurl]

awww, thanks Mousehole! She's so dang cute I could easily be tempted to keep her if she'd be happy by herself, but I bet she's gonna have a blast with Muffin's crew! And I have my sweet grey, Cami, to keep me busy! It's good to lurk! You get your baby fix that way, LOL!
Baby Flyer (Lisa) actually started licking the syringe at the last feeding! Took about .25 cc's. She looks to be eliminating okay by herself. I tried stimulating her and she did not like that at all! Do y'all think she's okay doing it by herself?

[mousehole]

Heya Squirrelgirl, As long as you can confirm that she is relieving herself consistently I wouldn't stress her. I found that a warm q-tip did the job well and it wasn't dry or scratchy, it also ensured that she didn't get urine burns.

What all is happening with the wee one? And how are you doing?:crazy

[squirrelgurl]

Hey Mousehole, I am still seeing poops, but I think I'll go ahead and try the qtip just to be on the safe side. I am still stimulating my grey to go just cuz I feel better seeing it happen! Little flyer is doing great, she chewed up one of my nipples so now I'm just using the syringe, she cracks me up when she eats cuz she bites down on it and stomps her back feet and tries to steal it from me! I'm able to handle her now without gloves, she hasn't even tried to bite since I got her home. I am still planning on getting her down to Muffinsquirrel, just trying to figure out a good time, my schedule (even though I don't work at an actual job) is really crazy to try and get in a 10 hour road trip. And I know Muffinsquirrel can't drive long distances, but I'm working on it! Til then I think she'll be okay here, thank goodness I already had all the stuff for Cami!