twitchy baby...?

[thundersquirrel]

hello all

our most recent addition (the pinkie grey squirrel) is coming along well enough. he's eating his formula, even though he doesn't like it and tries to push it away a lot. he'll get used to it.

something strange though; he twitches in his sleep. at first i thought he was just dreaming, but he does it so much and so violently that it's beginning to worry me.:shakehead in addition to that, he breathes very heavily when he sleeps.

do you all think this is just baby behavior, or is it a cause for concern? i suppose it doesn't sound like much, but seeing him jerk around almost to the point of turning himself over is unsettling. i don't think it's too hot or too cold in his nest, he's eating enough food, he's peeing and pooping regularly.....

i figured i should ask cause this is our first grey squirrel and probably the youngest squirrel we've ever gotten, except for Gloria's dead babies. any insight would be helpful.
stay nutty :crazy
thundersquirrel
P.S. i'm thinking of naming him Malcolm, Prince, or Twitchy. which do you think is best?

[thundersquirrel]

p.s. he only twitches in his sleep. when he's awake he just wiggles. :D

[MissDolittle]

Hmmm, I had a twitchy dreamer last year...she did this until the day she was
released, and only in her sleep. Her brother and sister weren't too happy about
it lol. I got them with the eyes still closed but furry. I'd call your baby Dreamer :).

But of course I can't say if this is normal for your baby or not, but wanted to
share :).

[island rehabber]

Hi Thunder...I think your little twitchy dude is normal. He is a newborn (neonate) and two of my rehabber manuals (I always hit the books before I post, LOL!) say that neonates twitching is normal. Also, one of my pinkies from last year used to twitch and chirp in his sleep. He sure is cute :)

[thundersquirrel]

Nevermind.

He died today around noon. :sad

We only had him for two days.....I feel like blaming myself, but I really don't think I did anything wrong. Maybe I'm just not meant to raise grey squirrels. :dono

He didn't even have a name. :(
stay nutty
thundersquirrel

[MissDolittle]

Sorry to hear that... I felt the same way when I lost 4 out of 5, where number 5
was already over 3 months old. Tomorrow morning when I release Jerry, the
cages will be empty...now that is something I can't stand.

I just can't turn that squirrrel detector in my head off..I get up every couple of
hours to check on babies that aren't there. Takes me weeks to return to
normal...

Please don't blame yourself, hun. You know when they are this little and there
probably was some damage done before he came to you. Besides that,
blaming yourself is totally unnesseary, because it doesn't change a thing, so
you can just as well smile and look forward to the next critters that come
your way. That's at least what I do and it works better each time :).

[Squerly]

Really, you can't blame yourself thundersquirrel, he was terribly young. I was hoping for the best but I really had my doubts when I saw the pictures of him. I've had several that were weeks old and suddenly just up and died. No reason that I could think of, but non the less, they were gone. This was a very young squirrel and the odds of his survival were slim. You made his life better, even if it was short. :grouphug

[Squirrelly]

I'm so sorry Thundersquirrel. At least your little one was loved and cared for. :bowdown Thank you for making his short life better than it would have been without you! Janet

[MommaMelly]

i am very sorry to hear about your loss. I know it must be hard.:grouphug

I just wanted to add to this thread in case anyone else has twitchy babbies. Little Butter Bean was twitchy while he was sleeping also. I was concerned so I called my rehabber and she said it is very normal for a baby to twitch a bit during sleep. Aparrenlty when their eyes are still closed they are unable to get out all of the energy that they have, therefor twitching in their sleep.
I hope this is helpful to anyone that has the same delima.

Once again, sorry for your loss and I am sure that baby is squirreling around in heaven:sad