Baby Sid

[Nora.Mike&Sid]

Hey there everyone! My boyfriend and I rescued a baby squirrel (now known as Sid) from under the Oak tree at my sister's house April 29th, 2013. He was doing absolutely great with us! He has our small bathroom as his playground, plus another man-made "squirrel funhouse" my boyfriend built for him (will include pics as soon as I can). I'm not certain of his age. When we got him it looked like his teeth had just pierced the skin. He's been eating solids and drinking water out of a bowl since about a week after we rescued him. A week or two ago, I noticed his gait had changed. It looked like he was kind of hopping on his hind legs, awkwardly. His balance was iffy at best. He was still playful, but not running up and down my legs everytime I went in the bathroom. We weren't sure what happened, but think he may have fallen while we weren't home one day (then made it back to his bed where we usually find him upon arriving home).

Anyway, I'm VERY VERY concerned/scared/in need of help tonight... Earlier today my boyfriend went outside with Sid, and let Sid hop around on our deck. In hindsight, this was not the best idea as our front door/deck are on the 2nd level and as I mentioned Sid's balance is not where it should be. Long story short, Sid fell off the deck onto the concrete below :( :( :( My bf called me sobbing, Sid was bleeding (from the nose), after Mike picked him up Sid was growling. I really don't know all the details (haven't gone over it all with Mike yet), but Sid is clearly in bad shape. My main concern at the moment is the constant sneezing noise he's making. I don't know if he has internal bleeding or what... he may have nibbled on a few items today but not much. Since I got home he hasn't come out of his bed, and I haven't tried to force it as I don't know if he has injuries to the legs/hips/back/etc.
He HAS accepted and gladly slurped up a ton of water out of his bowl when I held it up to him. I'm not sure about the sneezing... it really has me worried and is hard to listen to. He's lethargic/weak... his eyes look sad. It sounds like many of your squirrels have started out in similar/worse conditions, but I'm not sure what to do. Could use ANY guidance, advice, and/or prayers. :) Thanks in advance.
~Nora, Mike & Sid
PS Attached a pic of Sid from May 6th.

[Jackie in Tampa]

hello and welcome, sounds like you little one may be in pain? what OTC and RX meds do you have on hand for people or pets?
have you given him anything?
is he drinking? have you checked his teeth?
what is his diet daily?
sorry so mny questions, they will expedite rehabbers help..

[CritterMom]

Oh boy.

Sid was weaned from formula WAY, EAY too early and should in fact still be taking it. What "solids" does he eat?

He has metabolic bone disease for the first part. One of our other people will give links to reading for you, but I am gonna tell you what happened and what you need to do NOW.

They have very specific requirements nutritionally, especially concerning the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in their diet. Most "squirrel food" is skewed really badly and once the body works through the scant calcium ib the diet, it begins to re-absorb calcium from the bones. His body is eating his bones due to low calcium.

Step 1 - do this YESTERDAY: Get calcium into him. We need his weight but I will take a wild swing and say that you need to get 4-500mg of calcium into him OVER A 24 HOUR PERIOD. You will be doing this for a while. A quick, easy way to do this are the fruit flavored Tums - they are pretty much pure calcium and they taste good too. Look at the size on the label to determine how much of the tablet he needs a day, then dissolve that in some water and give it to him by syringe. NOT ALL AT ONCE - over 24 hours.

Step 2 - Get him on formula. Go here: www.henryspets.com and order Fox Valley 20/50, some syringes, then also buy the MBD kit. That food in the kit will be his food from now on, along with formula for a while.

Since it will take some time to get the stuff from Henrys, buy some goats milk, vanilla yogurt and heavy whipping cream:
1 part heavy whipping cream
1 part vanilla yogurt
3 parts goats milk

Start offering him that, warm, either by syringe or in a bowl if he will.

There is more - I don't have time to type it all out now and like I said as people wake up they will come here with lots of info for you - these are the things you need to get done this morning.

[island rehabber]

Critter Mom is correct: he was weaned much too early and the lack of calcium and other nutrients is why he's hopping instead of walking and lacks coordination. It is highly unusual for a baby squirrel this young to have MBD but in his case, with that diet it is possible. You MUST begin the emergency treatment for MBD immediately:

http://www.thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34495

In addition, he should be in a low cage with no room to fall from very high up. He should NOT BE OUTSIDE, at any time, until weeks from now when he is ready for release. Mamma squirrels do not allow their babies to stray from the nest until they are older than Sid is now......if he were with his squirrel mom he would never have been allowed to climb around or venture to the ground.

I have three babies older than Sid here and they still take 18-24cc of Fox Valley formula once or twice a day. They aren't even close to weaning yet -- their bodies know they need it.

I encourage you to get Henry's Healthy Blocks for him (www.henryspets.com) - growth formula -- and to stop feeding him ANY of the high-phosphorous foods. These include everything sold in a supermarket with the word Squirrel on it: NO corn, sunflower seeds, or peanuts. :nono

[island rehabber]

About his poor little nose: if it scabs up you can soak off the scab with warm water and a paper towel. He will make those sneezy noises for a day or two; don't be too concerned. Baby squirrels almost always fall head first; it's the heaviest part of their body by far, and so they land on their poor little nosies.

[CritterMom]

And the weakened bones account for the dragging limbs - which is undoubtedly why he fell - it is one of the classic symptoms.

[Nora.Mike&Sid]

THANK YOU CritterMom and everyone else who has replied so far!!! Oh man... Metabolic Bone Disease :-(
~ How much water should I use to dissolve the tums? Do I want it diluted a lot, or very strong?
~ I ordered the items mentioned... Fox Valley 20/50, Syringes, MBD Treatment Kit. I held off on the other items for now.
~ I didn't know which type of syringe to buy so I bought Sklar O-Ring Syringes 1cc, Sklar O-Ring 3cc, AND the Oral Syringe with Catheter Tip 35 cc... which do you recommend I use once they arrive?
~ I had bought a syringe from Petco, but haven't had much luck using it. It's very difficult to get the first squeeze starting on it without it spraying out w quite a lot of pressure... hopefully I will not encounter this problem with the new ones I ordered?
~ We have stopped giving him the heating pad option, as he has been self-regulating his temperature just fine (it has seemed). Do I still need to be offering him the heating pad?
~ To answer your question re: solids he's been eating... he LOVES grapes, occasionally likes strawberries, loves peanuts, ate some of the gerbil/hamster/ferret (? I don't remember) sticks I bought for him at Petco (mixed pellets, variety of seeds, grains, nuts), and really liked granola bars although I cut those out of his diet a few weeks ago. I've also offered him a variety of other fruits-apricot, blackberries, honeydew, banana chips, unflavored unshelled sunflower seeds, other nuts suitable for humans, etc. I didn't know about the calcium/phosphorus ratios, and that calcium was such a major thing for him. So I look back with regret regarding the food, but will definitely follow the advice given here from this point forward. I already removed all the food from the bathroom and pending a response regarding the tums/water mixture, will put that in there immediately or feed him from syringe.
~ I will send more questions I'm sure but wanted to get these off so I could get started especially first with the tums.:-)

THANKS AGAIN!

[CritterMom]

The Tums dilution doesn't matter - many of them will sit and eat pieces of the tablet like it is a nut! You want it thin enough so you can administer it and not so diluted that you need to get a gallon of liquid in him to get your 400-500mg of calcium a day! If he likes the formula, you can even put the dissolved Tums stuff in that - we have another MBD squirre on here that is drinking strawberry Tums flavored formula and loves it!

Use the 1cc and 3cc syringes - they operate smooth as silk and will not shoot out all over the place like the petco syringe.