Unreleasable red squirrel losing alot of hair

[chrisclayton]

I found an injured red squirrel in the road in July. She had been hit by a car. I managed to save her but she will not eat solid food. She had a serious head trauma and she still seizures occasionally. I have been feeding her organic peanut butter, organic sunflowerseed butter, nutrical, and water blended together. She eats this readily, but, as I said, she will not eat any of the nuts or other foods I put in her cage. She did eat avacado when I gave it to her but another rehabilitator told me that it was bad for squirrels so I stopped giving it to her. She has been losing hair steadily and much more in the last few weeks. The hair loss is on her back behind her neck and by her tail. Is this a problem with her diet? If so, what can I do? If not, what can I do to help her? Please get back to me as soon as possible. Thank you so much!

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

Hi Chris,while we wait for a rehabber (one will be on soon hopefully)
I can tell you she needs a full spectrum light (to absorb calcium & prevent hair loss)and she needs calcium, get rid of the sunflower seeds they block calcium.
I will try & get a rehabber for you now.
By the way welcome to the board and I know you will get the help you need here!!

[GhosTS]

First of all :Welcome to TSB..

Hair loss on squirrels can be because of many reasons..One is calcium deficiancy as Rippie stated..

When I look at your diet..it really lacks proper nutrients.Peanut butter and sunflower seeds are bad for them..Does he have any tooth problems.Why isnt he eating any solids.Did you try giving Kale,Broccolli and cauliflower.How about her access to sunlight..

Is the sites that doesnt have hair red..or scabby.Is there any white, dandruff like flakes on those sites.

[Mars]

Good morning,

Yes, I do believe your reds problems could be diet related and I'm afraid there is no magic pill to correct the prooblem. But I believe there is is a good chance we can hlep.

First have you checked her teeth? If your baby isn't chewing there could be a very dangerous situation forming. Check this thread for details

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?p=37127#post37127

You can also find a couple of discussions on hair loss or balding. But from the diet you describe my guess is you are dealing with Metabolic Bone Disease. If you do a search you can find multiple discussions on this as, sadly, it is quite commom. Please look at the infomation available and then pm me and we can discuss devicing a plan to help.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

:Welcome to the squirrel board!

At the wildlife center where I volunteer, there always seems to be trouble with the red squirrels going bald. This year every single baby went bald on the shoulders and belly. At first we were all really worried, but after the first few grew their fur back, it just became a normal thing. They would all go bald for a few weeks and then the fur would grow back. I don't know what was causing it but all seemed to recover. These squirrels were young though, about 10-12 weeks old when they went bald. If this is the first time you are having trouble and you have had the little guy since July I think it is probably due to a poor diet. I found out on this site that peanuts are not healthy for squirrels and sunflower seeds block calcium absorption.

I would suggest getting your squirrel a full spectrum bulb (you can get one in the reptile section of the pet store) because sunlight is essential to calcium absorption.
Have you checked your squirrels teeth? He should be plenty old enough to eat solids. Chewing is important for keeping their teeth trimmed because their teeth keep growing. If your squirrel does have problems with his teeth you will probably need to get them trimmed because they can grow into the side of his mouth or grow so long they come out of his mouth.
If your squirrel does have a problem with his teeth and cannot chew, I would recommend the following diet, which I use as a transition diet for my squirrels:

applesauce
summer vegetable baby food (Giant Eagle Brand)
Plums bananas and oats baby food (Giant Eagle Brand)
Mixed cereal baby food
ground up walnuts, almonds, and pecans
shavings from a cuddle bone (you can get them in the bird section of the pet store)

blend this all together really good and he should enjoy it.

I am not sure this is a good long term diet though, but others on the board would know. I just use it for about 2 weeks with formula still being given twice a day as a transition diet to solid foods. I would recommend changing to a diet similar to this ASAP though and then others could give you suggesstions on how to improve it.


Also, I always give my baby squirrels avocado. They love it and as far as I know it cannot hurt them. They suggested it at the wildlife center where I volunteer as a good weaning food.

[Liza]

HI- I have 3 reds that are about 6 months old...(I'm not a rehabber-just an untrained squirrelmom) I agree that the diet you are giving is probably the problem. We learned the hard way that peanuts (and thus peanut butter) are not good- We were feeding our little guys peanuts once in a while because they love them SO MUCH, and it was so much fun to make them so happy (I have 6 kids at home, and so they were REALLY HAPPY- LOL) Right about then, they started losing hair- balding around the shoulders, and patchy on the upper body (no itching, or scabbing or anything, and no signs of pests or disease..just thinning and then lost hair). I read somewhere, (maybe here on the boards?), that peanuts have an enzyme in them that causes hair loss. We banned peanuts, and soon the hair was growin back... We have had no problems like that since! Now, I know it might have been coincidence, but the timing was just too perfect for my tastes. No peanuts here anymore, ever! (although my 5 year old still tries to sneak them to them cuz she loved the pictures of the bald squirrel that somebody posted here!!)

I had an injured male grey once that had been burned by a power line and could not eat solids... His favorite yummy was babyfood broccoli mixed with cashew butter and esbilac..Squirrel Pudding we called it!. ... He also liked a bit of banana and he was absolutely passionate about Yoplait strawberry yogurt. These might be something your sweetie would like, and they have the benefit of having calcium and minerals that those little bodies need so much....especially those recovering from trauma.

Oh, and I agree with squirrelsand bunniestoo- I fed my babies avocado once in a while, and they loved it!
I think variety is really key- keep the fruits and veggies coming, and put away the nut butters for now. You can always steam the stuff that is too hard for her to eat, and mash it up a little. You can re-introduce the nut butters (but not peanut or sunflower) once she gets used to other foods..but with the nut stuff accessible, I bet she will continue to reject other foods.. after all, peanuts and sunflower seed are like candy to squirrels.. It would be like expecting your kids to eat asparagus when there was a big pot of chocolate pudding right in front of them! LOL


Take care, and good luck with your little one-

Liza, mom to many

[GhosTS]

On the matter of Avacado..Its not bad for them..However avacado should not be given in big quantities and on every meal..Too much of it will cause diarrhea..And also the peel and the pit is toxic..so only the good part should be given to them..( I dont know about the rest, but my wilds dont eat any avacado that is on the tree..they wait till it falls to the ground.and when it falls, it will crack.Then they will eat the good part.And they love it. )

[muffinsquirrel]

Hi. I have a 5 month old non-releasable grey that has trouble eating. His problem is that he can't hold things very well to get them to his mouth to eat. I give him large pieces of fruit and veggies, and he does manage to eat some of them. But to make sure he gets enough of the necessary nutrition, I mix him some soft food every day. I use Esbilac, since I know it is a fairly complete food. I mix it just as I did for formula, then add baby cereal to thicken it to make it easier to eat. I also add Dannon LaCreme yogurt for extra calcium, and the 'baby food of the day', usually veggeis or fruit, but often the chicken or turkey for protein. (Sometimes I add a little honey, because everyone deserves a little treat once in a while.) I mix it thick enough to have some 'substance', but thin enough to lick.

He has plenty of branches to chew on, and in-shell nuts available at all times, to help keep his teeth trimmed. I don't know that he has ever managed to hold a nut and chew through it, but he does chew ON them a lot. I also put some cracked nuts in the cage for him, and he eventually manages to get them open. He gets a shelled pecan every day, fed by hand so that we can help him hold it up to his mouth. He's very tame and sweet, and gets a lot of out-of-cage time, and I have a strong suspicion that he manages to con my DH out of more than his allotted one pecan per day!! So far he has stayed very healthy on this diet - not too fat and not too thin. He is very active, both in and out of his cage. I have a full spectrum light bulb on all day. As I think of things that would be good for him, I add them to his diet and see how he does. Scrambled or hard boiled eggs are next on my list of things to try.

This soft diet is something that I pretty well came up with myself, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to make them. I have always used Dannon yogurt with Esbilac powder mixed in it when I wean my babies, just to make sure they are getting the necessary nutrition during the change-over from formula to solids, so when Ducky, my grey, came along, I just experimented with adding things to it. And all my squirrels are given yogurt 2 or 3 times a week just for the extra calcium.

I hope this gives you some ideas for feeding your squirrel a more nutritionally complete diet, and I hope she gets better soon. The rehabbers on here are great - you've come to the right place!

muffinsquirrel