Choked on HHB

[daniellenc]

I fed the terrors at 6 and put a half of piece of block in with them. I just went in to check on them and my male was sitting up kinda weird jerking back and forth like he was gagging, tongue out, mouth open. I snatched him up and started tapping his back but nothing happened, I tried to jam my fingers in to get a look but couldn't really see much past his tongue. Finally I held him downward and squirted a small amount of water in his mouth trying to get him to swallow or throw up- whichever. After several swallows he was still choking so I started in with another cc of water and sure enough he gagged up a large chunk of block.

I am flipping out how do I know I got it all and how could he possibly have choked on this:(

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

I fed the terrors at 6 and put a half of piece of block in with them. I just went in to check on them and my male was sitting up kinda weird jerking back and forth like he was gagging, tongue out, mouth open. I snatched him up and started tapping his back but nothing happened, I tried to jam my fingers in to get a look but couldn't really see much past his tongue. Finally I held him downward and squirted a small amount of water in his mouth trying to get him to swallow or throw up- whichever. After several swallows he was still choking so I started in with another cc of water and sure enough he gagged up a large chunk of block.

I am flipping out how do I know I got it all and how could he possibly have choked on this:(
my little one chocked on a grape..very scary..how old are they???
I crushed mine up and put it in formula and let them lap it up if they arent chewing well just yet

[daniellenc]

Their 7 weeks and have been gnawing well on these blocks all week. I didn't see him actually eat it but after minutes of head down tapping and water flushing it's what came up. His mouth is closed now, tongue in, and he is sleeping on my lap wrapped up in a fleece blankie. He is breathing normal, but how do I know I cleared it?? Does this mean no more block? I mean how do you tear off a huge chunk and choke? I am so freaked out right now I can barely type:(

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

For the future, putting water into a choking animals mouth is not a good idea. What I do if they choke (usually it's grapes, banana, or something else soft) is grab the flashlight and the tweezers and fish it back out.

[daniellenc]

I tried but he is so small I couldn't see a thing. It was a last resort to produce gagging so I could work it up or flush it down we're talking one drop, wait for him to swallow, then another. He finally gagged it out after the 6th drop- he was literally mouth gaping open tongue out, and silent. No way to see even using a Popsicle stick to try and move his tongue he just kept thrusting it back and forth trying to get this thing out.

[CritterMom]

Wow. I am convinced that all baby animals are suicidal because if there is a way they will find it and if there isn't a way they will MAKE a way...

I would soak the whole block in Fox Valley and give it to them in a little bit of formula. That way it is saturated with moisture and will slide down if he bites off more than he can chew again. This may just be a baby mistake.

How do his teeth look?

[daniellenc]

His teeth look good I guess, lol I am not versed on proper squirrel teeth per say but they are even and bite me quite well. He's been chipping away at block just fine and we have purposely not introduced any other solids until he was getting these down on a regular basis. Now I'm afraid to feed him any solids- can I just syringe feed him forever?? I feel like he's secretly special ed:(......and my son is special ed encase I offended anyone- I am being half serious he worries me.

[CritterMom]

His teeth look good I guess, lol I am not versed on proper squirrel teeth per say but they are even and bite me quite well. He's been chipping away at block just fine and we have purposely not introduced any other solids until he was getting these down on a regular basis. Now I'm afraid to feed him any solids- can I just syringe feed him forever?? I feel like he's secretly special ed:(......and my son is special ed encase I offended anyone- I am being half serious he worries me.

Are there other reasons you say this?

[daniellenc]

He finally just started holding up his tail which his sister did a week before, he is growing slower, and weighs much less. He runs and jumps and plays like her, and eats well but always just seems a step behind compared to her. She's not as skittish as him, she can find the syringe in less than a second where I usually have to put it up to his mouth before he realizes it's food, she grunts and comes running out when I come in- he hides or doesn't even notice I don't know how to explain it they are just very different and not in the way that two animals can differ, but something has always been off with him to me compared to her and his 3 other siblings.

I have a mildly autistic son and knew something was wrong the day I gave birth to him- call it motherly instinct but he is just different like my son was. It may be important to note one of the 5 fell from the nest and he developed pneumonia days after us rescuing him. He was waaay slower to learn to feed which is why I think he is behind weight wise, but now he takes 12cc's like his sister and wrestles and plays seemingly normal- I thought he was finally growing up a bit the last two days and now this:(

[Milo's Mom]

Is he consistently gaining weight, but just not as much as his siblings?

One of my crew was like this last spring...her name was Zoey...she was my special little one. She just did not gain and grow like the others. I expressed my concerns in their thread and IR suggested that I get her some Ultra Boost by Fox Valley. I did and she grew up to be one of the most beautiful long sleek squirrels I've ever seen. I call her my supermodel squirrel. :D

Maybe with being sick he just got behind and is having a little trouble catching up all the way. Maybe get a bag of the Ultra Boost for him and see how it goes. It certainly cannot hurt him.

[daniellenc]

MM ultra boost is already on the way stepnstone had recommended it to me a few days ago and I am expecting it any day so I hope that helps. If you look at their thread in the nursery I am tracking their weight gain daily and he gains between 4-10 grams a day which I think is normal. I'm new at this so I have no clue what expected weight gain per day is at his age, but his appetite is healthy just not up to par with her's though she is a bit of a pig:D

I wish I could describe him better but for lack of words I will say slower to develop all around. I mean he just nearly killed himself with block I still don't get how that's possible. I have a feeling his sister may have helped with that as she loves to pounce him for his block even though she has her own, but I wasn't in the room when it happened so I can't be sure. I am sure they won't be fed together anymore for awhile at least until I figure him out. His tail is fluffing out and he has doubled in size, but I swear he's tardly as heck sometimes and not like what I have seen in rats with neuro issues- just slow. I hope this was a fluke and he'll catch up once the ultra boost is here.

[Milo's Mom]

I had great success with Ultra Boost with my little Zoey. She stopped gaining weight for a few days, then she was still gaining, but maybe only a gram or two a day while her siblings were gaining many many grams each day. She was always the smallest and she was also in the worst shape when I got them. After I started her on the Ultra Boost, she started gaining a few extra grams each day and by the time I stopped weighing them daily she was not the heaviest and not the lightest, she was exactly in the middle...perfect!

Hopefully you will have just as much success.