Found injured squirrel refuses to eat healthy food

[tsevans]

I found a gray squirrel 5 days ago, we think he got hit by a car or something. At first he wouldn't eat anything but we got him to start eating peanut butter just because we knew it was a high calorie thing that would give him energy. Well he has gotten a lot better, he is now walking and climbing a little, but we want to wean him off peanut butter but he refuses to eat anything else. We have been mixing flax seeds and using chunky peanut butter, but sometimes he just licks the peanut butter off. Tried feeding him different kinds of nuts, apple, and a piece of bread. I just don't know what to do.

[Milo's Mom]

Hi and welcome to TSB. You have come to the right place for help for your fuzzer. Thank you for rescuing and trying to help him.

Squirrels are omnivores, which means that they (for the most part) eat veggies.

Have you seen the healthy diet chart, which is posted in the Nutrition Forum?

Here is the link to the chart to which I am referring. http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32218

The squirrel will also need Rodent Block. One of our members, 4Skwerlz, makes and sells Henry's Healthy Blocks, and squirrels only need 2 of them a day (in addition to the healthy veggies and wild foods). Here is a link to her website. http://www.henryspets.com/squirrel-diet/

Is this an adult squirrel?
Can you describe the injury?
Are you able to post pics yet? (as a new member you might not have this privilege until Administration approves your enrollment)

Hopefully one of our Rehabbers will be on soon and will be able to offer additional advice.

Again, welcome and thank you for helping the little guy!

[tsevans]

He's a full grown male. We re not quite sure what is wrong with him but when we found him he couldn't really stand up, he would just sort of fall over on his left side. He has use of all of his paws. I've seen the nutrition charts, he just doesn't want to eat anything. Like at first we gave him creamy peanut butter just to get something in his system, and now we switched to chunky peanut butter, but he just licks around the nuts. He pushes apples and nuts away.

[Milo's Mom]

Is he drinking water?

Have you offered him any veggies from the healthy food list?

Is there a way for you to see in his mouth? A squirrel pushing nuts away...odd...maybe his mouth has an injury or his teeth are broken or hurt.

How about some soft veggies, thawed frozen peas, green beans, he will not allow himself to starve to death, he will eat the good stuff if that is all there is. Peanut butter is NOT the best, but it does have fat and calories. It also has a lot of sugar, which will keep his blood sugar levels up, but too much sugar is not good either. Peanut butter has A LOT of salt, which is NOT good at all.

Is he still falling onto his left side at all? Sounds like a head injury...which may explain the lack of eating.

Can you take the apple and mash it up so it is almost like applesauce...so he can lick it?

You can also peel a seedless grape and offer him that.

I just posted a link to this thread in the Emergency-Life Threatening Forum, hopefully it will attract the rehabbers to come here with advice.

[tsevans]

He has been drinking water. That is one thing I ve been making sure he does a lot. I will try the mashing up the apple and some other veggies. He still is falling to one side but not as often. He is getting better every day but far from normal. He climbing better. At first he wouldn't even climb. He sleeps for most of the day too

[Milo's Mom]

Drinking water is good!!! :thumbsup

Let us know how it goes with the mashed up food.

Most squirrels do sleep a lot during the day. They are up with the sun and then for a few hours, then they are in their nests for the majority of the day, then they come out again just before sundown and then when the sun is down, they are back in their nests.

Also, since he is injured, he will sleep more. He hurts.

Is he making any noises? Grinding his teeth, crying? What do his ears look like? Are they perked up or sort of pinned back to his head?

Squirrels that are injured like dark, quiet warm places. No kids, other animals, loud music, TV's, loud human voices...

Do you have a heating pad that does not have an auto-shut off feature? If so, place it 1/2 way underneath the container you have him in. Sometimes a little extra warmth feels good to them. But make sure that there is some space in the container you have him in that is NOT on the heating pad...if he gets to warm he will crawl off the heat.

Are there any areas of obvious swelling?

Do you have any fleece or flannel items in the container with him? They like to snuggle into them.

Also, if you do not have a heating pad, you can make a rice buddy for him. Place 1 cup uncooked rice into a tube sock, tie the end shut in a knot, place it in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute, then mash it around in your hands to make sure there are not any hot spots, then place in his container. Provides something warm to snuggle up with.

[tsevans]

He just got finished with a little exercise session outside and he was jumping around. He does favor one paw over the other, but there aren't any obvious signs of swelling. He doesnt make any noises at all, very quiet. And I will definitely also try the rice buddy

[tsevans]

Oh and his ear are usually perky too

[Milo's Mom]

Exercise outside? Outside outside or outside his cage but Inside your house?

Perky ears normally means not a lot of pain. When they are pinned back it is a sign of pain.

[tsevans]

Yep outside outside. Haha he lets us just pick him right up. He was just running giant circles around the yard

[tsevans]

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/406610_10150651806279698_582999697_12074502_207430 2927_n.jpg
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/388184_10150651813319698_582999697_12074523_110114 5923_n.jpg
here are some pictures of him, his name is Steven by the way haha

[astra]

First of, thank you for taking him in and caring!:thankyou

youve' already been given great info by MM.:thumbsup

My 2 cents about the outside.

1. Judging by his injury, there is a chance he won't recover 100% and will become a NR (non-releasable).
If he becomes a NR, he needs to be used to the indoors as much as possible, especially, because he is an adult wild to begin with.
However, when he is outside, all the sounds and smells keep his wild instincts "up and running", his memories of his wild life afresh and that will make him miserable if he can never be released.
He will always want something that he cannot have.
Also, these outside sounds and smells, keeping him wild, will make his taming difficult, and will keep his wild aggression active - that will make keeping him indoors for you very difficult, will make bonding with him difficult. If he gets sick or needs meds, you won't be able to handle him.

2. Another thing - if he is still capable of running some, he might run away and never come back because he'll get lost. But having that kind of injury will make it very difficult for him to survive in the wild.

Also, predators. Hawks and other birds of prey are light-speed fast. Since he is injured, he is an excellent target, and a hawk will grab him before you get to blink. They can grab him right in front of you, and there is nothing you will be able to do.

So, it's better for everyone involved to avoid outside trips.

As for getting him to eat, MM is right - you need to inspect his mouth (sorry, if you already did - might have missed that).
You can crush blocks, you can make BooBalls - these are soft, made of ground block and formula Fox Valley. The formula needs to be ordered either from www.henryspets.com or www.foxvalleynutrition.com
The recipe is available here on the board.

Sorry again, if I am repeating what has already been said or what you have already done - I must have missed that (too little time, so skimming through posts)
:grouphug

[astra]

Gosh, Steve is so-o-o cute!!!!!!!!!!:)

[tsevans]

Well we were taking him outside because we were hoping on being able to release him again but :/ hmmmm i guess only time will tell. thanks everyone for their input though! its very much appreciated! i will definitely add updates about Steven and his recovery :)

[Milo's Mom]

Steven is a super cute Fox Squirrel!!

Astra is TOTALLY correct about allowing him to play outside. Exercise is very important, but it would probably be better if you kept him in the house to exercise.

Depending on what his injury is will determine how long it will take him to recover, in which case I believe I am safe in saying that you MUST get him on some sort of rodent block, whether it be Henry's, Kay-Tee, Harland-Teklan (sp?). The block has important vitamins that he needs to be healthy.

If he is partial to soft foods, as Astra said, get the block, grind them up, add a splash of Fox Valley formula, and some organic baby food (apples, blueberries, etc) just to make everything stick together, but not sticky. Then roll it into a small ball. There are several different recipes for the "BooBalls" and when my guys are throwing fits and will not eat their blocks, they get the BooBalls...Mommy always wins and gets the blocks into them somehow.

Also, I have yet to meet a squirrel that did not like Fox Valley formula. It smells SO good you'll want to try it yourself, seriously.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

Steve is actually a grey squirrel. Judging by the way you're handling him with ease, I'd say that he has pretty severe head trauma. Unless this was a squirrel that was used to being hand fed and came right up to you, it is NOT normal for a squirrel to be OK with being held and it would take off if given the chance outside, even if it was injured.

My guess is that the teeth were damaged when he got the head trauma and that is why he isn't eating solids. Adult squirrels tend to be fussy in captivity, but would eat nuts in the shell for sure. He should be able to crack open walnuts. Try some soft foods like banana and avocado. If he eats those, but avoids all the solids, that's a definite sign of teeth or mouth issues. Can you get a picture of his mouth?

A good soft diet is if you can soak monkey biscuits (primate chow made by Zupreme) You can order it from Chris's squirrel store but not sure if you can get it in the store, I think one of my rehabber friends actually gets hers at the feed store, so you could try calling around. If you soak it in water, it becomes like a sponge. I soak it and wring out the excess water than add peanut butter and yogurt. Squirrels seem to love it. If you can't get monkey chow you can try doing the same with rodent block, but I know that doesn't soak well.

I'd say something is seriously wrong since the squirrel is friendly and didn't get away from you outside. My guess is that the squirrel will either be nonreleaseable or will require several months of care before being releaseable.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

Oh, and in the pictures, his eyes look a little dull and he looks kinda puffed up, so I'd guess he is a little dehydrated. I'd try giving pedialyte and see if he'll take that.

[Milo's Mom]

Thank you Astra & SR&BT!!!

Yes, a grey squirrel, sorry about that. I just saw the reddish ears and immediately went Foxer!

Squirrelsrule&bunniestoo (SR&BT) knows her stuff and she is a Licensed Rehabber. Try what she says...she's great with fuzzers!

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

Cute little pudgekin!!

[tsevans]

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394224_10150654928459698_582999697_12092428_203995 1629_n.jpg
heres his teeth. this is the best picture i could get. he did NOT want me doing that haha. Well i don't know if its his teeth because he wouldn't eat a banana earlier today. I didnt try mashing it up or anything though so that could be it. And as his eyes, when we found him they were barely opened and one was kind of crusty and such. So this is actually much better! I will be more diligent on fluids. I ll go to the pet store tomorrow and get him some blocks of some sort. I just wish you guys could see how much hes improving!

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I think you are doing a great job :thumbsup. I have had a few head trauma squirrels, so I can imagine how bad he looked when you found him.

In the picture, as long as his bottom teeth aren't super long, they look fine. He could just be being a picky squirrel. Have you tried walnuts in the shell or out of the shell? That would NOT be a healthy food, but he should like it. I'd try pedialyte instead of water in his dish for 24 hours or so and try some new foods. Grapes are usually a favorite, sometimes watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, just get some stuff and try it and see if there is anything that he'll eat. Unfortunately it often ends up being a guessing game with injured adults.

[2ndHandRanchRescue]

I've had some head trauma kiddos - Ensure is a good suppliment until other items can be found. I've had some so severe I thought there was no way they would survive - but they do!!! I'm in North Central Illinois, where in Wisconsin are you? If I can help you - let me know - I'm often in DeKalb (Rockford area) if you need me.

[Jackie in Tampa]

good job:alright.gif

all good advise too!
Yes a grey...
I agree...Boost or Ensure from the Grocery store..where the health shakes are found...
ask the pharmacist for a small 3 cc syringe for feeding, without a needle...get a few as they start sticking.
If the grocery store doesn't have them...ck at the feed store for feeding syringes.
yeah, probably not ideal to allow himoutside time until he is really ready...
too risky when we know something is not right with him....

however thank you for finding him...he deserved the rescue!:wott
You can ck Craigs ist for a cage...something with 1/2 inch bar spacing. a large finch flight cage works great for starters.

Use fleece or T shirts for bedding...offer heating pad set on low half under his container..covering most of the cage will help him relax and adjust to indoor noises etc...
Yes spiukey fur is dehydration indicator...
home made pedialyte will help rehydrate him, it can be syringe fed for up to 24 hours...between the ENSURE or BOOST ..
you will see big improvements.
1 quart warm water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
mix well, store in fridge for up to 72 hours.

great job, glad you Found him and TSB!!!!
:bowdown :Love_Icon :bowdown

[Margie]

If you can't get syringes at the pharmacy, some require a prescription for them, you can get them at a large animal feed store or a Tractor Supply if you have one in your area.