Newbie in need of HELP!!

[brittanicrystin]

hi, i have a five week old baby squirrel, i have been feeding him powdered puppy formula. my fiance found him while clearing some brush about a 4 days ago and he has been fine since today, earlier he became extremely lethargic, hes not moving and when he does its like he.forgot how to walk! he is breathing slowly and not eating, ive been with him all day trying.to get him to take some food but he refuses, i have no idea what to do, ive been half panicking all day long trying to figure out what i can do to help him, itll break my heart if he doesnt make it! can someone please give me some insight on what i can do/buy for him thatll help him

[Shonnuf]

I don't really like to give advice since I'm new here myself but I recently had a baby like that and I was told to mix up some syrup and water and feed 1cc SLOWLY to the baby over the course of 30 minutes. My squirrel perked right up, it was amazing. Worth a try unless someone more experienced on here has better advice. Always take my advice last. :-)

Something else, you will need to get rid of the puppy formula. It's not good for your little one. There's a goat's milk recipe on here that will work for now until you order Fox Valley formula for squirrels. All of this information can be found if you read under Squirrel Nutrition. GOOD LUCK!!!

[Shonnuf]

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29904

This is the recipe for goat's milk formula. GOOD STUFF!!

[Shonnuf]

Better yet, use this link!!!

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20629

[patjones]

Is the baby making a clicking sound with every breath The heavy breathing with a clicking sound would be pneumonia it happens a lot with feeding baby squirrels we sometimes let them breath in a drop of milk.

[rosewitch]

I'm still an enthusiastic newbie myself, but this a list of quick checks you can do. People here seem to like pictures.

Is he making any clicking noises? Babies can aspirate formula into their lungs and get a bacterial infection, called aspiration pneumonia. This is serious and requires antibiotics.

How often are you feeding him? Some squirrels cant be left too long between feedings. At 5 weeks they should be fed about very 4 hours.

Puppy formula isnt ideal. Esbilac puppy formula used to be the food of choice, but apparently they changed recipes a few years back, and people have lost baby squirrels due to problems with it.

Has he had diarrhea? ideal poops are well-formed, and sort of golden yellow.

Is he dehydrated? Pinch up the skin at the back of his neck and observe how quickly it returns to flat. If it goes flat quickly, he isnt dehydrated; if it stays tented, he is in need of fluids.

[brittanicrystin]

he was being fed every two hours as much as he would eat. he does no have 'the runs' his poop is fine. also he is not clicking but now he is taking deep breaths like he can hardly breath and isn't moving at all! it is getting worse by the minute! he is dehydrated and i am giving him pedialyte for it. i am taking tomorrow off work if he makes it through the night to get him the needed things for the goat milk diet, puppy formula was on hand at the time.

[brittanicrystin]

i take the clicking thing back..now that i have him laying on my chest i can hear him clicking when i rub his back, i'm trying to keep him awake, i'm afraid if he goes to sleep he wont wake back up )):

[sassysquirrel]

Keep checking here during the night - maybe some the experts will be able to help you

Did you try the syrup/water?

[brittanicrystin]

he didn't make it...he just stopped breathing ): thanks everyone for your help..i should have asked earlier..poor baby ):

[patjones]

Sorry he is gone they can crash so quickly when they are young it breaks my heart when they dont make it thanks for trying

[sassysquirrel]

So sorry your little one did not make it - you just never know what may of happened - I just recently had to put one of mine to sleep - she was perfect and then started having seizures - you just never know how if they have injuries and sometimes it just shows up days or weeks later

[stepnstone]

Sorry to read this, thank you for trying. :grouphug

[quagmire]

AWWWW! Sorry for the loss of the little fuzzer :-(

[Mochi&Mocha]

:grouphug At least he passed away in loving hands. We can't save them all :Love_Icon