Help!

[hozzlerocket]

Hello,

I am sorry if this has been posted a million times but I did a few searches and couldn't find anything. We found a grey squirrel in our yard tonight and it looks like he has fallen and broken a leg. He is very young, maybe a month old, so we picked him up and brought him in away from predators.

I am extremely sorry if this was the incorrect thing but my wife and I are not very familiar with how to handle these situations.

I called the animal hospital and was told they couldn't help since they do not have a wildlife license.... I am trying to keep him hydrated but have no idea on food for a young one... Possibly suet(sp?) or some squash....

If anyone can help, even with a link to a similar situation it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Shane.

[SammysMom]

Hi Shane! Thank-you for helping this little one! Below is some basic information to follow. Can you post pics by chance?
Baby Squirrel Information


1) Is the baby uninjured? Is mom still around? and if so, warm the baby and place in a safe spot where mom can reunite if possible. Mom will not take a cold baby!
2) Okay, so you couldn’t reunite with mom. Start by warming the baby in a plastic container full of fleece or tee shirt material. (Not towels as the loops catch little claws and can cause injury) Place the container half on a heating pad that is set on low. It needs to be a heating pad that does not have an automatic shut-off. It needs to be half on and half off so that the baby can get off of the heat if it gets too hot.
3) Check to see if the baby is dehydrated. You can do this by gently picking up the skin on the back of the baby’s shoulders. If the skin goes right back down it is not dehydrated. If the skin remains “tented” for a time, you will need to rehydrate with Pedialyte or homemade Pedialyte.

Hydrate them right away (use a 1cc syringe and go slow)........ give some homemade pedialyte every hour for six to eight hours and then you can start start feeding them some formula made from goats milk (if they are thoroughly hydrated).
Pedialyte for no more than 24 hours!!! Too much sodium!!


Homemade Pedialyte
1 cup warm water
1/4 tsp salt (teaspoon)
1 Tbsp sugar (tablespoon)

Feed slowly with a 1cc syringe - head UP tail DOWN
Keep warm at all time – If no heating pad available fill bottle with hot water (cover bottle with sock) or fill a sock with dry rice or beans and microwave. Be sure to squish the rice or beans around to be sure there are no hot spots that might burn the babies.

____________
4) Once rehydrated begin to feed Fox Valley formula which can be ordered from http://foxvalleynutrition.com or while waiting for that to arrive use recipe below. As a general rule you will feed 5 - 7% of their body weight per feeding

Homemade Goats Milk Recipe -

1 cup Goats Milk * (if can - dilute)
1/3 cup Full Fat Vanilla Yogurt
1/3 cup Heavy Cream (frig section)

(lasts 72 hours in frig)
5) This information is really just meant to get you through until you can get the baby or babies to an experienced rehabber. If you are here on The Squirrel Board, you have access to all of the information you could ever need about squirrels. Most importantly there is generally someone here who can help to find you someone who can take the babies and prepare them for life in the trees. The trees are where they are meant to be and people here know how to get them safely there!

[stosh2010]

Hi Shane! Thank-you for helping this little one! Homemade Pedialyte
1 cup warm water
1/4 tsp salt (teaspoon)
1 Tbsp sugar (tablespoon)

Feed slowly with a 1cc syringe - head UP tail DOWNKeep warm at all time – If no heating pad available fill bottle with hot water (cover bottle with sock) or fill a sock with dry rice or beans and microwave. Be sure to squish the rice or beans around to be sure there are no hot spots that might burn the babies.

____________
Here is a link to a VIDEO on the proper feeding position .....Very important--!!!

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36776

[SammysMom]

:thankyou so much Stosh!!!

[island rehabber]

We have a member, SquirrelRefuge, in Vancouver who knows rehabbers all around the state. I will send her a PM and ask her to come to this thread and see if she can get you some help for this little one. If he is an orphan, he's better off being raised with others his age so he can learn to be a squirrel. :) Her email address is:


jackie@squirrelrefuge.org

Thank you for rescuing him!

[hozzlerocket]

Thank you very much for your fast responses. I'm not sure if this squirrel is as young as I originally sounded.. He is probably 4 to 6 weeks. Do the previous instructions still apply to this age?

He obviously has an injured rear right leg. Should I put a makeshift splint on his leg to keep it from moving and causing pain and the possibility for more damage?

Sorry if the picture doesn't show up or is really large.... I will eventually get it to work.

[SammysMom]

The information given still applies at his age. Not sure he will keep a splint on if you put it on him...

[stosh2010]

Thank you very much for your fast responses. I'm not sure if this squirrel is as young as I originally sounded.. He is probably 4 to 6 weeks. Do the previous instructions still apply to this age?

He obviously has an injured rear right leg. Should I put a makeshift splint on his leg to keep it from moving and causing pain and the possibility for more damage?

Sorry if the picture doesn't show up or is really large.... I will eventually get it to work.
E-mail it to me and I will post it here. I'll be up for 20 minutes more....
stosh@jpcfl.com

[hozzlerocket]

Ok, so the pedialyte thing seems to be working. He is more active and it alert. We found the numbers for some rehab/vets that we are going to be contacting in the morning for help. Thank you for all of your help

Shane

[Unikorngrrl]

Ok, so the pedialyte thing seems to be working. He is more active and it alert. We found the numbers for some rehab/vets that we are going to be contacting in the morning for help. Thank you for all of your help

Shane
Hi :wave123 and :Welcome to TSB!!! Oh hozzle, he's precious!!! I was lurking earlier but you had more experienced help than myself and I had school work to do, so I let the other guys help you out! You'll be surprised how quickly they can turn around!! I think you'll also be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you fall in love with him (like those of us here on TSB)!!! Good luck in the morning!!! :thumbsup :thumbsup

[SQUIRRELSAREME]

Hi Shane and :Welcome Please be very careful in the morning . Most rehabber are full right now and they will put him down.also vet will also do the same. If you need help I will try to help you out with supplies, although we are 4 hours apart we can work something out. Please be careful and ask lots of questions befor you take your little one anywhere.