Possible neurological issue??

[sdreamcatcher]

I took videos of Chipper a few minutes ago. He does this weird thing where his head raises up slowly then back down a bit. It's hard to describe and I hope the videos caught it enough for you all to see it. In between he explores, snuggles, and grooms himself. He also shivers a lot, but his nest is warm and he doesn't seem to seek out heat. I think some of that may be him being a bit scared, because Joey was like that too....:thinking

History on him isn't completely known. A friend's neighbors found him in their yard, actually their little dog found him (she didn't attack him). He probably fell out of his nest, but no idea how long he was on the ground. Efforts to get Mommy to come back for him were unsuccessful, and there are predators, so they brought him inside to care for him. I took him in last night.

There are five videos; I am thinking it would be easier to give the link for his album:

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i30/sdreamcatcher/squirrels/Squirrel%20videos/CHIPPER/

It's subtle in some videos, not so much in others. Closest I ever saw to this was a blind albino rat we had years ago; her head would sway from side to side.... I know the lighting is bad, best I could do. In between he seems ok. Also, any ideas on age would be great. We were guesstimating 6 weeks?

[jbtartell]

Hi, in my opinion I think chipper is to young to tell how long has the eyes been open? I think in a week after and so on you will be able to see better what is going on, right now he look pretty young.. so give him another week to see.. Analiese acted normal up till a week after the eyes opened then I noticed she wasnt doing what she should be doing for her age and the other babies were passing her by.. and still are.. just watch him to see how he is learning and his mannerisms..

[sdreamcatcher]

Hi, in my opinion I think chipper is to young to tell how long has the eyes been open? I think in a week after and so on you will be able to see better what is going on, right now he look pretty young.. so give him another week to see.. Analiese acted normal up till a week after the eyes opened then I noticed she wasnt doing what she should be doing for her age and the other babies were passing her by.. and still are.. just watch him to see how he is learning and his mannerisms..

Thank you; I will look up the posts for your little girl. I have been gone so long and missed so much. I think you're right; just wait a bit and see. I was so worried about Butchie too cause Joey was older and it was hard to compare them. He was playing and exploring and nibbling on his own, so he is probably ok. I just worry with the fall it sounds like he took. He did hurt his leg but you can't tell now; his back right leg looks fine now.

[pappy1264]

Do you have any full on face shots of him (pic)? He has a very short snout, so would like to see a full shot of his face, from the front, to see his head shape. Watch him, his movements due seem off to me. Watch his eyes closely, too, see if you see any twitching or unusual movement in the eyeball itself (side to side, up and down, etc). Sweet little one.

[Jackie in Tampa]

Chipper is cute as a button..
he has head drift..
probably nuerological..
however, it would not hurt to dose him with a wide range dewormer like fenbendazole and a ten day treatment of broadspectrum SMZ=TMP just incase it's bacterial and is an ear/balance issue.
In some sqs this is a symptom of vision issues also.

Many peeps will use Vetri DMG with sqs presenting nuerological head drift,
it can't hurt..boosting his immune system is ideal.

Are his ears clean? mite free?
:grouphug I agree, one day at a time...
love him lots:Love_Icon

[sdreamcatcher]

I'm wondering if his vision is off but again he is pretty young. I can get more shots. He "loses" the nipple while feeding quite often; something I don't remember seeing with my other two. When he drinks he takes drop by drop and I do go very slow with him. He roots around a lot, but Butchie did that too, always burrowing under blankies. He does have a very short face; I remember thinking he has Butchie's short face and Joey's coloring. But his face may be shorter. It almost seems like he blinks to "right" his head movements, if that makes sense?


I will look up the things you listed, Jackie. His ears are clean, but I will check them again. He doesn't show any signs of head tilt, like an ear infection; I have had many critters rodents included with head tilt from ear infections.

Chipper is an absolute love! Stretched out and slept on my arm after eating :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon . He only took 5ccs this time, but that's the most he took since this morning. I had to switch back to the full goat's milk recipe with the cream; it is diluted with water to 50% strength. He wouldn't take without the cream, and I am hoping the diarrhea was leftover from the esbilac he was eating before.