Ate a nibble of peanut butter ant trap

[Petnick]

My 11 week old squirrel found an commercial ant trap that is made with peanut butter. For some reason, the tap had been opened, and he took a nibble.

What should I do?

[island rehabber]

Get him to take some fluids -- whatever he likes, flavored water or formula, as often as you can today to flush him out. This happened before to a squirrel here and, as I recall, other than almost killing his poor mom with worry, the baby was fine.

[Nancy in New York]

If I remember right, this is a little red, so a nibble to a little red....:dono
Yes like IR said, push the fluids! Get that crap out of his system....:thumbsup
I'm sorry, can't remember, are you the teacher?
If so, can you get a sub or take the little one in with you today?
Is somebody home that can keep pushing the fluids?

[Petnick]

He has been drinking his formula from a bowl for the last month...I tried to give him some with a syringe, but he won't take it anymore...so I put a big bowl of formula in his cage, next to a bowl of juice. He is a red squirrel so he moves a lot...he is almost like a liquid when you try to hold him.

I also gave him blueberries since I know he loves those and I hope they will help him flush his system.

I have to go to work but I'll be back by 1pm.

[Nancy in New York]

He has been drinking his formula from a bowl for the last month...I tried to give him some with a syringe, but he won't take it anymore...so I put a big bowl of formula in his cage, next to a bowl of juice. He is a red squirrel so he moves a lot...he is almost like a liquid when you try to hold him.

I also gave him blueberries since I know he loves those and I hope they will help him flush his system.

I have to go to work but I'll be back by 1pm.

OK try watermelon also, that has a lot of fluids too.
When you say a tiny amount, what would you think....maybe just a teeth scraping size along the ant trap?

If you need to hold him, take a piece of fleece and wrap him like a burrito so his legs are inside and just his head is out.
Do you know if he drank after ingesting the peanut butter? If not, I would definitely push some fluids before you leave.

[CritterMom]

Read the trap. What is the active ingredient?

[Petnick]

I just burritoed a few cc's of formula in him.

[CritterMom]

Active ingredient???

[Nancy in New York]

Do you still have the box that the trap came in? If so look at the ingredients, what is listed under active ingredient? What is the brand name of the trap?

[Petnick]

I'm at work now.....I managed to give more formula before I left...I also gave him tons of watery fruit...I hope he eats it until I get home....

I do have the trap with the name of the stuff, but it's home....I'll check when I get home around 12h40...

I'll let you know....I am sooooooooo worried

[CritterMom]

Do you perhaps remember the brand? I did some reading - sometimes the chemical used in the peanut butter traps is not terribly toxic to mammals - I was looking at a vet site and they were of course referring to dogs, but hopefully yours are not extremely toxic.

It is like babyproofing the house. I used to use those things and I crawled around and behind EVERYTHING in the house to locate and throw them away...

[Petnick]

By a nibble I mean that I saw teeth marks in the bait...so he didn't take much.

The trap is Raid Ant Bait II (from memory)...I've been googling, trying to find the ingredients..... I'm in class now.....and the kids are working on some math problems

I'll keep looking...

[Petnick]

OK....I found this:

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=19001285&query=raid+ant+bait&searchas=TblBrands

[CritterMom]

Allright, avermectin is the active ingredient and is the one I saw referenced as being not terribly deadly to dogs. Hopefully he only got a very small amount and is fine...

[CritterMom]

http://www.justanswer.com/pet-dog/3q6ep-dog-ate-one-raid-ant-baits-iii-trap-contains-abamectin.html

Read the whole page. Hopefully, you dodged a bullet.

[Petnick]

Ok....I'm home and Merlin seems just fine.:jump
He just spent some time out of his cage and was as fuzz rockety as usual.
I managed to burrito a few more cc's of formula into him.

I'm sure he can't believe his luck with the blueberries. He usually gets one in the evening. He just finished destroying a pine cone and after fighting me as I was trying to get some formula in him, he is now drinking formula from his bowl.

I will keep you posted....thank you for your help.

I learned a few things from this.
1- All the traps are now in the garbage.
2- I need to get him a smaller carrying cage or fit the pet carrier so that he can't escape.
3-The physics lab tech, whose office is across the hall from my class, told me that if I ever have to bring a sick animal to school, I could put it in her office.
4- Trying to hold on to a red to feed him formula when he doesn't want to is like trying to hold on to water:D

Knowing that I could count on you all for help, and getting help from you was simply wonderful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.:thankyou

[Nancy in New York]

Ok....I'm home and Merlin seems just fine.:jump
He just spent some time out of his cage and was as fuzz rockety as usual.
I managed to burrito a few more cc's of formula into him.

I'm sure he can't believe his luck with the blueberries. He usually gets one in the evening. He just finished destroying a pine cone and after fighting me as I was trying to get some formula in him, he is now drinking formula from his bowl.

I will keep you posted....thank you for your help.

I learned a few things from this.
1- All the traps are now in the garbage.
2- I need to get him a smaller carrying cage or fit the pet carrier so that he can't escape.
3-The physics lab tech, whose office is across the hall from my class, told me that if I ever have to bring a sick animal to school, I could put it in her office.
4- Trying to hold on to a red to feed him formula when he doesn't want to is like trying to hold on to water:D

Knowing that I could count on you all for help, and getting help from you was simply wonderful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.:thankyou

Tell me about the reds.....:rotfl :rotfl :rotfl :rotfl
Sounds like a great update.....:thumbsup

[island rehabber]

*whew*:tilt:tilt

[Petnick]

it's now 11 hours since the incident. He looks great!

He just spent an hour outside his cage and he did not look sick. He sure is fast. He also peed a lot, which was expected after all the forced drinking! He is now happily nibbling on some cedar nuts and I will put him back in his cage once he is done.

I think I'll feel everything is OK tomorrow morning, but judging by his activity and his appetite, I pretty sure he is OK!

Again, :thankyou

[Nancy in New York]

How's the little one this morning?:Love_Icon

[Petnick]

Little dude is fine! He was his usual fuzz rocket this morning...but a bit dissapointed not to get a zillion pieces of fruit!

Thanks for asking!

[Nancy in New York]

Little dude is fine! He was his usual fuzz rocket this morning...but a bit dissapointed not to get a zillion pieces of fruit!

Thanks for asking!

They are smart little buggers....don't put it past him to take a nibble of something else where you might have to "flush" his system with fruit again...:rotfl

[Petnick]

Here is the little fuzzbutt tonight as he eats his cedar nuts. And Nancy, you are right...I wouldn't put him past to find a way to has his system flushed with fruit again:D

On the picture, notice the little milk mustache (he drinks his formula from a bowl).

[Nancy in New York]

OMG There is nothing cuter than this little one, I swear. You should have put a warning up before you posted his picture....:Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon

:Love_Icon CUTENESS OVERLOAD :Love_Icon

[Petnick]

Thanks Nancy.

The fact that he is cute might make me forget that while I was uploading the picture he chewed a big hole in the rabbits' water bottle...arg!

[Nancy in New York]

Thanks Nancy.

The fact that he is cute might make me forget that while I was uploading the picture he chewed a big hole in the rabbits' water bottle...arg!

Oops....but look at those eyes and those little hands, and those whiskers, and, and, and....:D