New 8-9wk Grey Baby and Sibling Coming

[treeman]

Hello everyone! I know it's been awhile but I have acquired a new baby and am waiting for her sister/brother. An acquaintance that removes "nuisance wildlife" (such an oxymoron :shakehead ) showed up at my doorstep with a baby he got out of an attic...apparently I'm turning into the squirrel-lady as far as my friends are concerned :rofl4 ! The momma's locked out. My friend is trying to get the other baby but s/he gave him the slip as of today. Yes, I know it would be ideal that he just let them out to find Momma, but he brought her all the way to me and I'm not asking questions and more than likely the property owner wants them gone...whatever their notion of 'gone' might mean :eek: .

Baby looks to be about 8 weeks? She is fully furred, eyes open, can sit-up and scurry, and can hold solid food in her hands. She is small though. My friend had fed her some pecans before she came to me and said she ate well. She has been away from Momma about 32hrs. I set her up in a baby-cage with my small nest box. She found the nest box as soon as she was transferred from the trap cage (Weds @ 7pm) and has yet to come out on her own. I took her out of the box about an hour ago to check her age. Surprisingly, she is the sweetest little thing :Love_Icon ...not at all like my Spicy when she was adopted! Spice was mean as fire and would charge the cage if you were close! This one is just scared and tries to hide her face.

She hasn't taken any food or water since I got her and I won't have any formula until tomorrow. Do y'all think I need to hydrate with Pedialyte? I do have some blueberry human-baby yogurt on hand. I thought about offering that cut with water or cream. Or just leave her be until tomorrow when I have proper formula :dono ? There is a water bottle in the cage. I hope to have the sibling tomorrow as well.

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

Hi again..glad to see you back here
Can you do a pinch test to see if her skin snaps back or tents?
If it tents she needs the hydration , if not she is drinking when you aren't looking.

[treeman]

She seems so skinny! I can hardly find skin to pinch! Momma must not have had good milk? I should probably hydrate? She snuggled up in the crook of my arm right now. Such a sweetling! :Love_Icon

[treeman]

:bump

[treeman]

I never did get her the Pedialyte last night because she decided not to be so sweet and made a break for it. Jumped from my arms to clear about 4 feet and landed on the window sill. Then played peek & seek for an hour under the furniture. Spicey is the one that ended up calling her out when she went up under her cage. Thanks to Spicey's barking we were lucky to get the baby back in her box!

[treeman]

k...she took 1cc Pedialyte heartily. How much should I give her? How long to wait until formula?

[astra]

pinch test is not always an accurate indication of dehydration.
If dehydration is not severe, the pinch test may not show much.
But even mild dehydration is bad b/c dehydrated babies don't eat well and those babies that don't eat well end up more dehydrated etc.

So, it is always advisable to give at least 2-3 pedi feedings when you get a new baby. Thus, you could give her pedi for a couple of feedings and then proceed to Fox Valley. Depending on her condition, maybe, diluted FV for a couple of feedings before going full strength.:)

[treeman]

Is 1cc enough for 1 sitting?

[Kristal]

Is 1cc enough for 1 sitting?
Not at that age, no. You might have some problems with this guy because he is older. It's too bad that they can't be reunited with mom. What's happening with the other one? Can you contact the homeowners? I doubt that they really like the idea of a baby squirrel starving to death alone and scared in their attic. Maybe they will even let you do a family reunion on their property.

I have limited experience with older ones, but Emile (god, I still think of him all the time) hated pedialyte even though he was completely weak with dehydration when I first got him. I switched up to half strength formula pretty quickly when that was failing, and he ate up so much of that. They are accustomed to milk and old enough to say no to something that seems as foreign as pedialyte.

[treeman]

How much Pedialyte per sitting? With baby coonies we have to be careful because it will mess up their tum-tums.

It would be ideal to reunite with Momma but the man that brought them to was hired to remove them. In these parts, I've never come across a homeowner that wouldn't sooner have their necks broken than to let them be released back onto their property.

The sibling has been caught and is en-route!

[Kristal]

Try moving up to half strength formula. He needs to stay hydrated.

[treeman]

She took 5cc Pedialyte last sitting, was grabbing for more (until she saw my scary human-face LoL!), and she gave me some poop and pees! :poop Yes, cut-formula next time. :D

Now the sibling will have been away from Momma about 48hrs so s/he will definitely need hydrating. Start with less Pedialyte for first dose?

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

Sounds like they are a handful. just remember dont mix the formula with the pedialyte, only mix formula with water

[treeman]

Sounds like they are a handful. just remember dont mix the formula with the pedialyte, only mix formula with water

No worries of that...Pedialyte smells AWFUL! Like cough syrup! I can't believe human-babies drink the stuff :yuck

[treeman]

It's a Baby-Boy! And there might be a THIRD on the way! :crazy I also think they are more like 6 weeks. so little...

[CritterMom]

No worries of that...Pedialyte smells AWFUL! Like cough syrup! I can't believe human-babies drink the stuff :yuck

You may want to try the home made version - they will probably like it more:

1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 quart water

always serve warmed to formula temp.:thumbsup

[Nancy in New York]

Wait how many hydration feedings have you given so far?
You said they are skinny. They need to be fully hydrated before feeding. Can you get a picture.
I am going to guess at the lowest weight of 100 grams so at athe very least get in 5 cc's each feeding you can go up to 7 cc's. I would do this every 3 hours until stabilized.

[treeman]

Wait how many hydration feedings have you given so far?
You said they are skinny. They need to be fully hydrated before feeding. Can you get a picture.
I am going to guess at the lowest weight of 100 grams so at athe very least get in 5 cc's each feeding you can go up to 7 cc's. I would do this every 3 hours until stabilized.

The girl has had 7cc and the boy has had 4cc. They both drank with gusto. I may not like the Pedialyte but THEY sure seem to. They are resting in their nest box with a warm water bottle. Little girl has pooped and peed. You think I should still wait with formula, Nancy? How will I know when they are stabilized?

They are both active (when they are trying to get away from me) and have bright eyes but they aren't real pudgy as I like them. Seem skinny. Feel a bit bony. I will send pics when I rouse them in a few hours. The boy just got out of the trap cage about an 45min ago. In addition, I asked the trapper about Momma. Well, nobody has actually SEEN Momma, so she might be MIA. If so, these babies might have been orphans longer than the 48hrs since my friend trapped them.