SquirtsMom
04-05-2013, 11:04 PM
First let me begin by thanking so so many of you for being there for me over the last 7 weeks, even though you didn't know you were :). My story starts 7 weeks ago when my husband was out with my Mom's dog, Ginger, and found her excessively licking something. When she wouldn't come from it he walked over to her and saw it was a itty bitty squirrel, which we later determined was about 1-3 days old as he still had his umbilical cord. He was so tiny and only weighed a few ounces and he was freezing cold. He thought he was dead, but moments later he began wiggling. Knowing I have a massive heart for hurt or abandoned animals he brought him straight to me. I didn't know what to do but I knew he shouldn't be cold so I placed him on my chest and kept warming dry dish clothes in the microwave over and over again until he was nice and toasty. Then it was on to find something to feed him. Unfortunately the first site told me to feed him Esbilac, water and whipping cream. The first few days he did great, but then he quickly developed loose stools and then it got really stinky so I searched for a new site and found the squirrel board, which said NO COWS MILK. So I went to 1 part Esbilac and 2 parts water fed from a syringe. Making sure after each feeding I made him go potty with qtips dipped in warm water. I always made sure his hands and face were clean as well. Well, as weird as this is going to sound, I carried him in my sports bra for 6 straight weeks. Day and night. I slept on the couch for 5 of those weeks so I wouldn't squish him in the night. The only time we were apart was when I had to shower and even then he hung out in my clothes on the floor until his nest was clean :) or one of my children would "babysit" for me. I will tell you he has been everywhere. Doctors appointments, track meets, a college football practice, he was even at the hospital visiting my sick Dad. :) I literally had to carry my "squirrel diaper bag" wherever I would go. And my entire family and all of my friends fell in love with him too. I still get calls constantly and they ask me "how the baby is" :). Well now my baby is 7 weeks old and getting to be such a big boy that he outgrew my nest and needed one of his own. So I went and bought him such a huge cage that I could almost stand in it. He has all of his toys, a hammock, a nesting house, my tshirt to snuggle in, wood chews, and I put several nice sticks in there for him to climb and and explore without falling. I have also been offering him squirrel blocks from Henry's (everyone on here says they are the best), as well as fresh veggies. He snacks a bit on a block from time to time but acts like the veggies are poison or something (I think the kids told him about veggies :). He also has a VERY nice glass water bottle I had specially made for him. I am not sure if he is just not ready yet but he still wants his bobbies (syringe filled of puppy milk) as his primary food source. What I have noticed the last few days is that he is chewing on the sticks I have put in the cage for him. I can tell you that they are either pine or oak as that is mostly what we have out here and he is gnawing off the bark on the sticks. Do you think he would consume any of it and if so, is that ok? I surely do not want to allow this if it is going to make his belly sick, although it sure hasn't stopped him from going potty (I still stimulate him, I'm telling you the kid is so spoiled), nor has he refused any milk, he acts the same but I am not sure what to do so I thought I had better ask the experts :). Should I be worried?
p.s. - I included one of the billion pictures I have taken of him so you cute meet the handsome fellow personally.
p.s. - I included one of the billion pictures I have taken of him so you cute meet the handsome fellow personally.