Please help me to expand general knowledge for squirrel rehabilitation

[SquirrelRefuge]

I am a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Washington State and the founder of SquirrelRefuge.org. I am speaking that this year's NWRA symposium in Portland Oregon on the topic of, 'Squirrel Rehabilitation - Beyond the Basics'.

The goal of this talk and paper is to pass on knowledge to rehabilitators who maybe dont have squirrels as the focus of their rehabilitation efforts but have the basic information such as feeding, bathrooming and keeping warm down.

What I am asking of this forum is

1) If you had one hour to provide as much information as you could to save lives, what would be your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of topics.

[SquirrelRefuge]

2) I also am looking for case histories of any interesting cases that you feel are good examples of issues commonly found in squirrels, so if you have any interesting threads, stories, antidotes, pictures, etc. that would be great.

The paper that accompanies the talk can be as long as it needs to be so I want to send people away with all of the information I possibly can to helps save the lives of squirrels.

The type of information I am looking for would be the kinds of things you wish you knew than what you know now.

For example, is there a case where you lost a squirrel because you did something that someone else might do.

For example, I use to use those of those chemical hand warmers when I would have emergency calls to pick up cold babies. I lost several until I made the connection that those can only be used in well ventilated areas and never with animals with immature or compromised lungs. As soon as I stopped using them, the problem went away.

[PennyCash]

There is also the danger's of Esbilac, and the puppy pads both have threads here on the board. I'm sure you already know about keeping the heating pad UNDER only half of the container that the baby squirrel is in on low, continuous heat (most have auto shut off after two hours). I would imagine that if you focused on the sticky's in each subject that you would garner MORE than enough information. Anything of high importance has a sticky under the title. I hope that this helps and Thank you for wanting to be thorough. Best of luck.

[CrazySquirrelLady]

1) Care of infant squirrels
2) Squirrel nutrition
3) Metabolic bone disorder (MBD) signs/symptoms of and treatment.

[SquirrelRefuge]

There is also the danger's of Esbilac, and the puppy pads both have threads here on the board. I'm sure you already know about keeping the heating pad UNDER only half of the container that the baby squirrel is in on low, continuous heat (most have auto shut off after two hours). I would imagine that if you focused on the sticky's in each subject that you would garner MORE than enough information. Anything of high importance has a sticky under the title. I hope that this helps and Thank you for wanting to be thorough. Best of luck.

Yes. I agree. I am looking through all the stickys and delving into threads. There is such a wealth of information on the board and I want to concisely organize the most useful so that those rehabilitators who dont focus on squirrels can benefit from the vast knowledge accumulated here.

Most information on the rehabilitation of squirrels stick with some fairly standard topics and does not really do a deep dive into the sort of information you need when you have a sick baby in hand.

[SquirrelRefuge]

1) Care of infant squirrels
2) Squirrel nutrition
3) Metabolic bone disorder (MBD) signs/symptoms of and treatment.

Yes. I agree that these are all critical topics.

[stepnstone]

1) Care of infant squirrels
2) Squirrel nutrition
3) Metabolic bone disorder (MBD) signs/symptoms of and treatment.

4) Malocclusions :(

[SquirrelRefuge]

Malocclusions are definitely on my list. I plan to cover how to check for the condition and how to trim the teeth.

The only 'treatment' I have ever seen though is cutting the teeth back and hoping they align as they grow back and pulling the teeth. The latter would be expensive and make the squirrel NR. I suspect most will euthanize maloccluded adults as many would not tolerate captivity well. Probably even the young ones as many rehabbers are not squirrel peeps and if their DNR/DFW doesnt allow holding NRs, they wmay not make the effort to place them. Are there any other solutions for maloccluded squirrels I'm missing?

Thanks for your help!

[Crystalis178]

When you get all of this useful data compiled, will you post a link to it for us? I love TSB but find that all of the information I'm looking for is scattered about different threads. A central location for all facts, information, tips, etc. would be wonderful (besides just what is in the stickied threads).

[island rehabber]

SquirrelRefuge, it just happened that you posted your thread right as our Gathering of Nuts started last weekend and I apologize -- I am just seeing it now. If there is anything else I can do to help you navigate the info on this Board or provide anecdotal evidence of things from 8 yrs of rehabbing squirrels, I'd be more than happy to do so. :):thumbsup

[Saverywood]

:thumbsup Great idea - thanks for asking.:)

~Aspiration pnuemonia & feeding intolerance (a couple of topics that I learned the hard way).
~Using Baytril & Reglan (metroclopramide HCl) to solve above issues with positive outcomes. :)

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

Dealing with maggots and other parasites.

Tube feeding head trauma cases. Something about tube feeding that I didn't know that would have possibly saved one squirrel is that if they aren't responsive and swallowing, you must keep them in a more vertical position after tubing them or the formula will come back up and they will drown. I had figured that the cardiac sphincter would keep formula down, but lost a couple that were head trauma babies and totally unresponsive and thought it was because of their injuries (likely could have been) but then one actually brought formula up and it was coming out it's nose and I am sure that I put it into the stomach and I talked to another rehabber about it and they told me to keep them vertical after tubing. Made sense.

[Loopy Squirrel]

I think head traumas in general would be a good one since many come in w/ very bad traumas. There are different meds that work well and many squirrels actually come out of it. I have seen too many situations working in the veterinary field where too many were euthanized because they do not realize they can be saved. Same goes for spinal traumas. Pox would also be a great subject.

[Shewhosweptforest]

Another important thing to know is if your baby does aspirate milk during feeding immediately hold them upside down. Our baby was prone to this and had pneumonia as a consequence (very hairy) This continued to be a problem maybe because she was only a week old ?? when we rescued her and she was always a ravenous feeder:nono also I always gave her outside time once her eyes opened even if it was just in an open window ( screened) She'll be 2 yrs old in March, and she's doing great.... We've never had her teeth filed?

[gs1]

the dangers of esbilac and directions to the squirrel board ... there's too much information on this site from very experienced squirrel people for it to go unmentioned....

:Welcome :D

(we've also got a wealth of information regarding flyers:D )