Squirrel shaking really bad

[Amathis84]

Hello,

We have been raising this little girl for around 9 weeks now and everything has been great! She is probably close to 17 weeks or so. She never would take the bottle so we had to go to nuts and such. For 3 weeks we have been feeding her squirrel food consisting of sunflower seeds, corn, peanuts, and pecans. I give her treats like peanut butter and raisins here and there.

We never really take her outside much because she always freaks out when we put her on a tree and gets to shaking really really bad! Well I gave her a few raisins (3 to be exact) while she was in the tree to calm her down a bit and it never did. She also got into a bag that had a chopped onion that was once in it but did not eat anything. Now she is shaking and having a hard time to stand! I put her in her cage and she almost fell over getting into her bed.

Do you guys think it's just her little nerves from being so worked up or should i be worried and do something else?

[pappy1264]

You will need to start Emergency MBD (Metobolic Bone Disease) Treatment. Here is all you will need for short and long term treatment. The diet you have been feeding is completely void of calcium, so her body is taking calcium from her bones. This is very serious. Get a heating pad under her (half her enclosure). If she is in a big cage, you will want to move her to a smaller enclosure so she cannot climb and break a bone.



Emergency Treatment for MBD

Get calcium into the squirrel IMMEDIATELY, not later, not tomorrow, NOW.
Delaying treatment can cause death or permanent paralysis.

You will need:
Tums, rolaids, or calcium supplement (any kind)
a syringe or spoon
Crush one pill and add a little water or fruit juice to make a paste. Use the syringe or spoon to force-feed the mixture, a little at a time, until it is all gone.

After you give the initial dose of calcium, give 100 mg calcium every 4 hours. If symptoms return or do not improve, try dosing more often: every 3 hours. Severe cases may need 50 mg calcium every 2 hours.

Your squirrel's symptoms should improve within a few hours; within 1-3 days your squirrel should be alert, active, and eating, with no seizures or paralysis. You should be giving 500-600 mg calcium per day. Keep track of how many doses you give so you can adjust the dosage if needed. You should work with TSB members to do this.

Important!

Any kind of calcium pill is okay for the initial dose. But you must use PLAIN calcium carbonate (without Vit D) from then on.

Many small doses of calcium throughout the day/night are best to keep blood calcium levels as steady as possible.

If symptoms worsen or return, give an emergency dose of 100 mg calcium, then consult with TSB members or a rehabber or veterinarian to adjust the dosing schedule. Relapses are very serious and often fatal.

White feces or a white film on dried urine may mean the dosage can be reduced, as this indicates not all of the calcium is being absorbed. It may also mean you need to give smaller doses more often.

The acute symptoms (weakness, lethargy, seizures, paralysis) will usually improve within a few hours, but this does not mean the squirrel is cured. It will take many months to rebuild the calcium in the bones. (See the "Long-Term Treatment for MBD" below.)

More Tips

MBD causes brittle bones that break easily. You should pad the bottom of your squirrel's cage and keep him away from high places, where he might jump and break a bone.

Heat is very soothing for a squirrel with MBD. A heating pad turned to low and placed so they cannot chew the pad or cord, or a rice buddy (a sock filled with dry rice/beans and microwaved for about 20 seconds) will work. Squirrels with hind-end paralysis may benefit from gentle massage of the legs and hips.


Long-Term Treatment for MBD

The next step to curing MBD is to fix the diet.

1. Remove ALL seeds, nuts, corn, and treats, including stashes.

2. Follow the Healthy Diet For Pet Squirrels, which can be found here: http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=32046 and on the Henry’s Healthy Pets website (http://www.henryspets.com/pages/Healthy-Diet.html). Your squirrel MUST eat rodent blocks or squirrel blocks every day (either 2 Henry's Healthy Squirrel Blocks per day, or a small handful of commercial rodent block per day). If you choose to feed commercial rodent blocks, which are extremely hard, you should crush them up with peanut butter, yogurt, fruit juice, avocado, baby food, etc., to make them easier to chew and improve the taste.

3. You will need to continue giving extra calcium every day for many weeks. You can use a syringe or spoon, or you can mix the calcium with a small amount of peanut butter, crushed nuts, yogurt, baby food, or any food the squirrel likes. An easy way to dose the calcium is to mix 500 mg of calcium powder with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter or other tasty food and roll it into 5 little balls; each ball will contain 100 mg calcium.

Calcium Dosage:

Continue to give 500-600 mg calcium per day for 1 week. Then try reducing the total daily amount by 50 mg. If the squirrel remains stable for 1 week, reduce the daily amount by another 50 mg. Continue this weekly reduction until the squirrel is only getting around 100 mg of extra calcium per day. Continue this for at least another 2 weeks. If at any time symptoms return, give an emergency 100 mg dose, then go back to a higher dosage for 1-2 weeks.

The treatment for each squirrel may be slightly different and you should work with a rehabber or TSB members to tailor the treatment to your squirrel's needs. Depending on the age of the squirrel, severity of disease, and other factors, your squirrel may need extra calcium for many months, perhaps for life.

Important Information
The MBD treatment is a "standardized" treatment that will get most cases on the road to recovery. But every case is different and the treatment should be customized to each squirrel. Severe cases sometimes need more aggressive treatment. There is a limit to how much calcium the body can absorb at one time, so lower doses of calcium given more often is the key with severe cases.

What is MBD?
Calcium is a very important nutrient. It strengthen the bones, but also plays a vital role in all body functions. Every cell in the body contains water plus small amounts of dissolved minerals such as calcium, sodium, magnesium, and potassium. These minerals allow the cells to transmit small electrical signals. Without this cell-to-cell communication, the organs can't function: your heart can't beat, your nerves can't transmit impulses; in fact, you would die.

When there isn't enough calcium in the diet, the body will dissolve the calcium from the bones and use that instead. This eventually causes the bones to become depleted of calcium. Eventually the bones become so depleted, there isn't enough calcium left to maintain sufficient calcium in the cellular fluids, and the organs can't function properly. This is what causes the symptoms of MBD: loss of appetite, lethargy, muscle pain, paralysis, seizures, and eventually death. Humans don't get this type of severe MBD, partly because our calcium requirement is lower and our bones are much bigger, allowing us to store more calcium.

By giving high doses of calcium orally, you are artificially maintaining your squirrel's blood calcium levels because his bones no longer contain enough calcium to maintain his calcium levels normally.

Once the emergency calcium is given, your squirrel's blood calcium levels should normalize fairly quickly. He should "bounce back" and act normal or almost normal. If you are still seeing symptoms such as seizures, loss of appetite, lethargy, or paralysis, the calcium levels may still be too low. This means the body will try to pull the remaining calcium from the bones, which means the MBD is actually getting worse. So stabilizing blood calcium levels is critical. The next step to actually curing the MBD is rebuilding bone. This is the part that takes a long time.

Stabilizing the blood calcium levels can and must be done quickly. In severe cases, calcium may be needed more often throughout the day and night, as often as every 2 hours.
__________________
Henry's Healthy Pets
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The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations… ~Henry Beston, The Outermost House, 1928


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Last edited by 4skwerlz : 12-09-2011 at 11:43 PM.












































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[Scooterzmom]

Your little one is showing definite signs of MBD - an ailment that is brought on by lack of proper nutrition. It is very painful for the squirrels, can lead to convulsions and death if untreated. Squirrels need proper nutrition in order to stay healthy... a very strict proper diet and unfortunately what she's been getting is highly inadequate - some of the worse things for her at her age in fact. You meant well, and nobody here is going to blame you, for sure. BUT, now... it is important that you start treatment IMMEDIATELY. Not later, not tomorrow... IMMEDIATELY. Delaying the treatment can cause death or paralysis.


Emergency Treatment for MBD :thumbsup

You will need:
OOOPSSS... pappy beat me to it.

[Amathis84]

Thanks so much! Everything has been great and she is a little acrobat in her cage cutting flips from limb to limb and has been very very alert and playful to this point.

What would be the proper dosage of calcium for the initial dose?

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

The first day, give a total of 600-800 mg of calcium, spread throughout the day/night to maintain blood calcium levels.



go to the nutrition thread for proper diet, but She Needs Calcium!! now



Crush one pill and add a little water or fruit juice to make a paste.
Use the syringe or spoon to force-feed the mixture, a little at a time, until it is all gone.

[Amathis84]

I started her out with 100-150mg of calcium. At first she was very fussy and fought with me drinking it out of the syringe, but then had to pry the syring from her mouth!

Scooter, thanks for not blaming me because I definately expected it. I really am the one to blame and I know that! I am the one that was responsible for her feeding and health. We got her when she was 5 weeks and she would not take it from the syringe and when we were force feeding her she started clicking while breathing so I got scared she had pneumonia.

Hopefully this is the issue and we can move forward in her treatments and get her back to the playful little thing that she is!

I have TUMS EX 750 and will mix it per 3 ml and split it throughout the day/night! Thanks again for the fast response! I will do further reading and I will keep yall posted!

[Amathis84]

The Calcium Carbonate, can it be found at most grocery stores? All of the pet stores here are closed for the day since it's sunday.

[stepnstone]

{cut}
Hopefully this is the issue and we can move forward in her treatments and get her back to the playful little thing that she is!


Not much doubt MBD is the issue, getting her calcium levels up is just the start. Her diet needs to be tottally rebuilt on a nutritional basics.

[CritterMom]

The Calcium Carbonate, can it be found at most grocery stores? All of the pet stores here are closed for the day since it's sunday.

Yes, calcium carbonjate can be found at drug and grocery stores, and you can even use Tums - lots of them like the taste - for now.

You MUST get the diet fixed, too or she will continue to have issues.

The MBD treatment is a long term issue - not just tonight, or this week - she will need months to completely recover.

[redwuff]

I started her out with 100-150mg of calcium. At first she was very fussy and fought with me drinking it out of the syringe, but then had to pry the syring from her mouth!

Scooter, thanks for not blaming me because I definately expected it. I really am the one to blame and I know that! I am the one that was responsible for her feeding and health. We got her when she was 5 weeks and she would not take it from the syringe and when we were force feeding her she started clicking while breathing so I got scared she had pneumonia.

Hopefully this is the issue and we can move forward in her treatments and get her back to the playful little thing that she is!

I have TUMS EX 750 and will mix it per 3 ml and split it throughout the day/night! Thanks again for the fast response! I will do further reading and I will keep yall posted!


Hi Amithis84,

:Welcome so glad you found the squirrel board. I am a relatively newcomer to the board. It is very hard to know how to feed a squirrel until you learn the right way.

There is much conflicting information on the internet. I started my squirrel with the wrong kind of food and she barely survived. Then I found the board and my one year old grey squirrel is doing great.

It can be hard to convice your squirrel that he/she needs to eat what is healthy for them. Please keep reading and learning and send us lots and lots of pictures of your little one. We love all squirrels.

Trysh

[SammysMom]

You are getting the answer to your prayers here! Just commit yourself to loving her enough to follow through with tough love for her survival. Keep up the calcium and fix her diet ad she can surely live a long healthy life! The Squirrel Board is a wonderful source of information that has saved many (mine included) squirrels from certain death by teaching nutrition. Ask every question that pops into your head and someone will either have the answer or help you to find it. :grouphug

[Amathis84]

The shaking has subsided and she is seeming much better. I bought the Calcium as directed! I'm surprised she takes it the way she does! I know that we have a long way to go before she is back to health but I'm committed and I don't mind that one bit! I just thank you all for the quick answers! I've never seen a squirrel wrestle with anyone the way she does!

:thankyou again, and I'm off to do some reading!

[Scooterzmom]

I'm glad to hear of some improvement for your baby. Remember however that you have to keep up the emergency treatment all the way (a few hours of looking better doesn't mean she's out of the woods yet) and then continue on with proper diet. You love your baby, that much is obvious, :) just keep up the good work and she'll continue to improve.

Keep us posted and take some pics.

[Amathis84]

Absolutely! She had her second dose of 100mg a few minutes ago. I just ordered some rodent blocks off of Henry's website! I'm just working on getting a list together of daily food other than the blocks. I really want to get a few videos of her playing and jumping and wrestling with my hands! It's the coolest thing I've seen a squirrel do lol..

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

:thumbsup

[Jackie in Tampa]

If your squirrel is readily taking the syringe, is it possible you weaned her too early?
Will she take formula again from the syringe?
from a lap bowl?
She may also be having hypoglycemic seizures and MBD symptoms.
Please read in the nutrition forum, there will be many threads there with ideas to change her diet and her health before she injures herself.
It's recommended to keep them contained when they may possibly have MBD, brittle bones.
Will you be releasing her?

Good luck

[Amathis84]

If your squirrel is readily taking the syringe, is it possible you weaned her too early?
Will she take formula again from the syringe?
from a lap bowl?
Will you be releasing her?

Good luck


I definately weaned her to early! When she was 5 weeks she refused a bottle and syringe. I fed her a couple times from a syringe and could hear fluid in her nose or lungs clicking when she would breath in and out. The fear of her having pneumonia and fighting the bottle/syringe is why she was weaned too early. I'm to blame because I should have been more persistant. Regardless though, I need to get Squirrel back to health.

Should I try to incorporate a little formula in her diet?

I don't really know. I planned on it originally but have grown to love her and she is terrified of being outside. I built her a cage for outside but she just shakes when she is in it. I live in Louisiana where the weather is usually in the 60's and 70's so it's not a cold shake.

Also, all of the pet stores here have no rodent blocks. What can I feed her for the next few days until my blocks come in? Pecans ok? What do you guys feed your squirrels on a daily basis besides rodent blocks?

Thanks

[pappy1264]

Do you give her any yogurt in a dish? Most love yogurt (good for calcium) and you can mix formula into it as well. Glad to hear she is responding. It will be a long, uphill battle, but as long as you are commited, give tough love (NO NUTS, at least for quite a while) and get her on a good food regime, she will get there. But remember, once an animal has had MBD they can very easily have a recurrence, so even when she is 'better' you have to stay strong and keep her on a good, balanced diet. Most consider squirrels who have suffered MBD to be NR (non-releaseable) just due to the fact they can regress so easily. Good luck and keep up the good work! Glad you found this place!!

[rocky63]

Amathis84,
:Welcome to the squirrel board. what is your little girls name and can you post a picture or 2. :wave123

[stepnstone]

At around 3 months old my little girl dropped from MBD due to the diet I was feeding her, I didn't know any better either. :dono
Her MBD was severe and she was seriously crippled from it for some time. I found TSB, followed their regime and today one would never know there had ever been anything wrong with her. She's beautiful and coming up on a year and a half now.
I still follow a strict regime with her diet, a good block along with nutritional vegetables. I seldom give her any nuts at all. When I do, it's a special treat, certainly not any part of her diet. :nono
She also loves to hand wrestle too and play tree with me as her subject. She also loves her "stuffies" (small stuffed animals) and will entertain herself (and me) with them for hours. She also sleeps with one in her nest box. And scratches, couldn't get any cuter then when they throw that arm back and raise their chin to get scratchins. :Love_Icon
I'm glad you found TSB, there is so much knowledge and experience among it's members and their research always continues to grow. Read all you can, ask any and all questions that come to mind. And... :Welcome to TSB!

[IrishHarps]

They need to be fed a variety of vegetables daily, along with the calcium supplements (as noted above). I also feed mine some low-sugar greek yogurt daily. Most squirrels seem to take to yogurt naturally, and it is very good for them.

If you have a grocery store nearby that has a salad bar, that is a great place to get an assortment of fresh veggies every week.

Protein is very important also. Make sure your flyer gets some protein (ie mealworms, cooked egg, chicken) every day.

Please thoroughly read the nutrition segments on the boards. There is a lot of information out there, and it is necessary to be informed to keep your baby healthy.

Good luck and I can't wait to see pictures of your flyer! They are the cutest little things in the world.:D

[IrishHarps]

PS- I was just re-reading your original post and I wanted to add that corn is a "bad food." It has almost no nutritional value for squirrels. It's ok for a treat now and then, but it is not nutritious. You'll need to find different veggies for your flyer.

Also, my baby flyer self-weaned at around that same age - she never took to the bottle/syringe either. You just need to make sure you feed your flyer a good diet and the early weaning shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck!

[jacey]

Where in Louisiana are you? I am in Louisiana and have rodent blocks if you are close while you wait on your Henry's Blocks.

[CritterMom]

OK... I am seeing people referencing a flyer. Is this a regular tree squirrel like a gray or fox squirrel or is it a flying squirrel?

Flyers are MUCH smaller than grays and need correspondingly less calcium. Even for MBD treatment you don't want to give anywhere near what has been recommended on here - 250mg per day for MBD treatment for a flyer is plenty.

What kind of squirrel is this?

[IrishHarps]

Whoops sorry I thought that a flyer had been referenced at some point on here, that could be my bad.

All squirrels need the veggies/fruits/yogurt/protein mix for nutrition though, so I hope it helps :)

[shellyb1018]

At around 3 months old my little girl dropped from MBD due to the diet I was feeding her, I didn't know any better either. :dono
Her MBD was severe and she was seriously crippled from it for some time. I found TSB, followed their regime and today one would never know there had ever been anything wrong with her. She's beautiful and coming up on a year and a half now.
I still follow a strict regime with her diet, a good block along with nutritional vegetables. I seldom give her any nuts at all. When I do, it's a special treat, certainly not any part of her diet. :nono
She also loves to hand wrestle too and play tree with me as her subject. She also loves her "stuffies" (small stuffed animals) and will entertain herself (and me) with them for hours. She also sleeps with one in her nest box. And scratches, couldn't get any cuter then when they throw that arm back and raise their chin to get scratchins. :Love_Icon
I'm glad you found TSB, there is so much knowledge and experience among it's members and their research always continues to grow. Read all you can, ask any and all questions that come to mind. And... :Welcome to TSB!

its nice to see someone else doesnt give so many nuts either, I thought I was depriving her, but I stick to my guns, if she dont eat what I think is enough veggies, then she dont get any nuts at all. And sometimes she goes a couple days without even 1.

[shellyb1018]

:Welcome Amethis. You will be the best squirrel "mommy" ever with all of the helpful people here.
:)

[Amathis84]

Thanks for your replys! She is doing better, she has her spurts when she runs around and flips in her cage and trys to naw on my hands. She is still a little lethargic.

Irish- My squirrel is a Grey. I definately should have stated that in the original post! I was freaking out at the time and it slipped my mind lol... Do greys eat mealworms and chicken too?


"Do you give her any yogurt in a dish? Most love yogurt (good for calcium) and you can mix formula into it as well. Glad to hear she is responding. It will be a long, uphill battle, but as long as you are commited, give tough love (NO NUTS, at least for quite a while) and get her on a good food regime, she will get there. But remember, once an animal has had MBD they can very easily have a recurrence, so even when she is 'better' you have to stay strong and keep her on a good, balanced diet. Most consider squirrels who have suffered MBD to be NR (non-releaseable) just due to the fact they can regress so easily. Good luck and keep up the good work! Glad you found this place!!"

I gave her a little yogurt yesterday and she ate it up! I'm giving her a little more veggies but she usually leaves them where they lay lol... I'm pretty sure she has found her permanent place of residence! I'm pretty convinced she will not be released!

"Amathis84,
to the squirrel board. what is your little girls name and can you post a picture or 2."

Thanks! I will post a few this weekend!

Stepnstone- I knew when she was stumbling that something was not right! I was feeding her food from the pet store which consisted of Corn, Peanuts, and sunflower seeds. After feeding her the above for two weeks, this is where we are at. I'm working on her diet as we speak! Trying to find veggies that she does like lol. She is acting like a child with the veggies. When I put them in her cage she smells them and looks at me like...What is this?!
I wasn't aware that wild squirrels would be as playful and nice as she is. When we wrestle she bats my fingers and bites them but never too hard. She jumps and hops and rolls around with my hand. She plays tree with me also but I need to find a way to keep her claws down! I'm getting tore up with certain shirts! I clipped them once and she did very well. The next time she would not let me clip the first one!

Jacey-I'm around the Lake Charles (SW) area. WBU?

ShellyB- I will try even harder to be the best squirrel "daddy" with all of your help lol.

[pappy1264]

Two words....TOUGH LOVE. She will not allow herself to starve. If you only give her good things to eat, she will eat good. It can take a bit and you will be tempted to give in because you feel bad, but this is her life and you have to keep that in mind. Glad she ate the yogurt (btw, make sure it is full fat, not fat free. My guys love Stoneyfield Whole Milk Cream on top French Vanilla. and as I said, you can mix some formula right in it.)

[IrishHarps]

Ah yes sorry I have flyers on the brain! :shakehead

Either way, can't wait to see pictures of your squirrel. It's always fun to get a new person on board!

The people on TSB are very experienced and friendly, so feel free to ask any questions and they will give you good advice.

As far as the protein thing for squirrels goes, I think flyers need more than other breeds. But I'm pretty sure other breeds still eat things like mealworms. I'd double check with the other more experienced rehabbers on here, though, for better advice.

[CritterMom]

I buy waxworms for my little deer mouse Nate, and my gray squirrel Mister P LOVES them - he would eat his way through a container if given half a chance! I thrown them at him and run because listening to him smack his lips while he sucks the worm guts out makes me PUKE!!!

[Amathis84]

Haha this is awesome! The crunching of mealworms and slurrrrping of waxworms can definately be gross! I have a dragon that eats waxworms and mealworms so I will see if she likes them. I did not know they ate them but will definately give it a try! Should I just give her a few a day or eod or is this more of a treat?

What about the eggs? Do greys eat scrambled eggs? I now know peanuts are a no no but how about peanut butter? Is it ok to give sparingly as a treat?

[pappy1264]

No to the pb, at least for quite a while. If you give her waxies (which I find they all LOVE) you should dust them in calcium powder (I put them in a baggie with a little calcium carbonate and shake).

[BigNibbler]

Amathis, i have been handling wild squirrels for years. Perhaps others feel differently, but it hurts me to hear that you are clipping their nails. Their nails are part of them, its what makes them squirrels. They use their nails to cling and balance and yes, defend themselves. When they care and respect you, they can really control their nails. Sometime when they get rambunctious or panic, or you are doing something they do not want or that concerns them, they can dig in and also push off you and possibly scratch you, but that is part of what you accept for getting their love. I may have forgotten this small detail, but do the nails keep growing like their teeth ? Do others always clip the nails.. I hope your squirrel continues to grow stronger and is always happy in your home.

[Scooterzmom]

I'm so glad you are taking your little girl's health in at heart and setting on a path for good nutrition.

My guys love mealworms and bits of freeze dried chicken for protein. As for the veggies, if you find they don't like them raw you might want to try steaming them. My fuzzers will not even touch brussel sprouts or broccoli raw but just LOVE them steamed. Same for kale... none of it raw, I have to boil it in a little water then puree it and place in an ice cube trayand freezze it; then I give them a cube each and they love it. In other words, you have to be purty inventive at times for the fussy eaters.

For the claws I have been using one of those stone parrot sticks that you attach to the side of the cage. I placed it near the door - so it's a spot where he constantly hops on and off - and it keeps them at a decent length. As for getting scratched, it's part of being owned by a sqquee :rofl4 From what I've read everywhere it seems that most of us wear a thick denim shirt or sweatshirt over our regular clothes... heck! I even wear leggings under my jeans when summer approoaches, otherwise I step out in my bathing suit and look like I suffer from some unmentionable disease :jump Now, in the summertime when people ask about the scratches on my hands, I tell them it's from my rose bushes. ;)

[IrishHarps]

I remember reading once on NFSA that they looked like they were "attacked by a small bear" after their squirrel got down their shirt to play. That has always seemed pretty accurate to me :-D

If you can find them, I use Lava Ledges (probably pretty similar to what Scooterzmom is describing) - they are made out of natural lava rock - in my squirrel's cage. They work pretty well at keeping her nails naturally trimmed.

Ditto what the others are saying - I wouldn't trim her nails because it inhibits their ability to climb and move about normally.

[Amathis84]

The first time I clipped her nails it was a very sad sight afterwards. She couldn't climb my pants, the couch, or our indoor tree. It made me sad seeing that she was disabled in a since and could not do the normal things that a squirrel does. I read somewhere that clipping hind left and front right and then rotating is the trick. I understand that I will get scratched up but her nails are really long and sharp. I have a natural stone (very course) at the bottom of her cage but it doesn't really keep them down all that much. She likes to stay on her branches and go from perch to perch so she really doesn't spend too much time on the rock.

I don't know if I will ever be able to clip them since she doesn't allow you to get both hands on her. I can hold and pet her but once my hand goes around her body she squeals and starts MOVING!!! I'm getting in the habit of wearing a long sleeve when letting her out but there are definately times where I let her out just to run around. After a few minutes of exploring she wants to get back on my shoulders and play the tree game. She never claws me to be mean or defend her self... Well I have made the mistake of adding food to her bowl while eating and she was definately being mean and defending her food! That is a one time mistake that will not be made again!!!!!

I have to find some more branches since she has chewed all of the bark off of hers! I read that some branches are toxic and some are not. However I did not see a link or a list of what is or isn't. Does anyone have a link that they can provide? I'm using pine which I know can't be too toxic since I see them all the time chewing them up. But if there is something out there better that would be... even better :)

[Nancy in New York]

The first time I clipped her nails it was a very sad sight afterwards. She couldn't climb my pants, the couch, or our indoor tree. It made me sad seeing that she was disabled in a since and could not do the normal things that a squirrel does. I read somewhere that clipping hind left and front right and then rotating is the trick. I understand that I will get scratched up but her nails are really long and sharp. I have a natural stone (very course) at the bottom of her cage but it doesn't really keep them down all that much. She likes to stay on her branches and go from perch to perch so she really doesn't spend too much time on the rock.

I don't know if I will ever be able to clip them since she doesn't allow you to get both hands on her. I can hold and pet her but once my hand goes around her body she squeals and starts MOVING!!! I'm getting in the habit of wearing a long sleeve when letting her out but there are definately times where I let her out just to run around. After a few minutes of exploring she wants to get back on my shoulders and play the tree game. She never claws me to be mean or defend her self... Well I have made the mistake of adding food to her bowl while eating and she was definately being mean and defending her food! That is a one time mistake that will not be made again!!!!!

I have to find some more branches since she has chewed all of the bark off of hers! I read that some branches are toxic and some are not. However I did not see a link or a list of what is or isn't. Does anyone have a link that they can provide? I'm using pine which I know can't be too toxic since I see them all the time chewing them up. But if there is something out there better that would be... even better :)


Here's a link to safe and unsafe plants, trees and flowers...for sugar gliders, I am going to assume the same is true for grey squirrels.

http://www.moondance-sugargliders.com/sugar_glider_plant-tree_information.htm

[Amathis84]

Update:

It has been a little over a week now and she seems to be 100% back to normal. She has received approximately 100mg (600mg daily) every 4 hrs the entire first week.

Starting with the second week I will drop her dosage from 500-600mg to 400mg. I have the HHB's and I have been feeding her the blocks, mealworms and waxworms. I noticed a few post stating that they put the calcium powder onto the worms when feeding. I have calcium powder for my dragon but noticed that it has D3. Is this the same thing as Vitamin D and should I avoid adding it to her worms?

I am so glad that I came to the board when I did and her life was without a doubt saved due to that. We thank all that responded so quickly in saving her life! This board is amazing and is hands down the one stop squirrel info destination! I know I am only one of so many, but we are extremely greatful for the knowledge provided on this forum!

[island rehabber]

:bowdown Amathis84 -- good job saving your squirrel's life! Remember that diet and nutrition are THE most important thing when it comes to squirrels and that never ends -- it's for every day of that baby's life. Good for you, that you are sticking with the program! :thumbsup