Questions about Squirkel

[Chiapet]

I found a baby squirrel on my car shed roof, eyes closed, slight fur, small wound to neck, on Sept. 12th.

Hydrated, gave esiblac/cream until Fox arrived.
It opened it's eyes on Monday (from slight crack to fully open), Sept. 16th.

Question 1: What age would it have been on that day? (start of 4th week, end of 4th week, 6th week, 28 days?)

It has been doing well, was about 80 grams when I found it.
It is now (October 2nd)(16 days after opening eyes) at 260 grams.
It can curl it's tail in S pattern, destroys but does NOT eat Henry's blocks.
It started eating small pieces of avocado this week. Can't get it to eat mushrooms, bananas, or broccoli stems.

It has been eating about 10-12cc of formula every 5 hours (averaging 2cc per hour).
But in the last 12 hours, it has started acting finicky... and doesn't act like it is STARVING when it sees the syringe.
Normally it grabs the syringe and guzzles down the first 6cc.
Now it just looks at the syringe, tastes it, and the rejects it.

I am unsure of it's age, but it doesn't appear old enough to be weaning, and only shows interest in avocado.

Pellets are hard and greenish.
Shoulder skin pops back quickly, stomach is large but not hard. (appears fat but not distended).
It has a water bottle in the cage, but does not appear to use it.

Only thing different lately was I put two large fallen leaves in the cage last night, which it shredded with much joy.
Since then, it's been off its feed, and it seems to spend all of it's time curled in a ball under it's baby blanket.
Is not shivering or clicking or anything.
If I put hand in to stroke it, it bumps up against me, and nibbles my fingertip, then comes out for less than a minute, then goes back into blanket.
Worried about possible bloat, tree leaves in tummy, etc.

What else should I check?

[CrazySquirrelLady]

green poop is bad. could have intestinal infection.

try putting vanilla full fat yogurt in the formula, tastes yummy.

Babies that young should only be give formula and henry's blocks. it is normal that they shred and waste them at this age.

I will private message the squirrel doctors, and they can tell more about the green poop.

poor baby. get well soon.

[farrelli]

Do you have any antibiotics? They may be necessary and we can tell you how to dose them.

[Unikorngrrl]

OK, first, stop all food period except for the blocks. Your baby is approximately 7 weeks old. They open their eyes at approximately 5 weeks old. Feed NOTHING but the FV and blocks until they ARE actually EATING the blocks. Green poop could very well be from the Avocado. Coccidia has a very distinct smell, kind of like Parvo, but it's not always present. I'm going back to read more...

[CrazySquirrelLady]

thanks for helping Uni... :D HUGS

[Unikorngrrl]

What kind of leaves did you put in. Hang on with the antibiotics. Let's dig a little more first. This doesn't sound like an antibiotic necessary issue so far...

[Unikorngrrl]

thanks for helping Uni... :D HUGS

:thumbsup HUGS BACK!! And no problem!!

[Unikorngrrl]

OK, it appears that you're not in your thread right now. We'll need to know what leaves most importantly, and how much Avocado that you've been feeding. I think these are your issue along with a tummy ache. Hardish tummy is probably a bit of constipation. Coccidia can cause green poop but it's normally accompanied by diarrhea, though there are exceptions to every "rule". The sugar water may also help your baby perk up and eat. The diluted formula will also be backing off of feeding. :eek RAMBLING with my thoughts, sorry...

OK regroup. I suggest sugar water every hour or so. 1 cup water, 1-1.5 tablespoon sugar. When you see the belly going down and baby is pooping more freely, then go with diluted FV. 1 part formula powder and 4 parts water for a feeding or 2 before going back to full FV. IF nothing changes or things seem to be AT ALL worse, let us know ASAP. New symptoms or worsening can and will change things. This is what I would do personally. Others here may have more ideas and there is always "more than 1 way to skin a cat"!

[pappy1264]

Do you know what kind of leaves and is it possible pesticides could have been sprayed on them? Is the green poop new since giving the leaves? The staying curled up sleeping and not wanting to eat sounds like his belly may be hurting. Do you have infant gas drops? Can you get him to take fluids (sugar water, or even just plain water)?

[Chiapet]

Squirkel decided to eat 15ml of formula a while ago.
His stomach does not appear distended to the front, it is just very wide, which may be that he is fattening up faster than an October Turkey.
(80 grams to 260 grams in two weeks)

Poop earlier was greenish but hard, so probably the avocado. (He ate a LOT)
Leaves were dried leaves from popular, no insecticides.

I will remove everything except blocks for a week.
I will give him some plain yogurt mixed into formula with next feeding.
And will give him some sugar water before I go to bed at 1am.

His favorite toy right now is Mister Stick. (also popular wood)
He has been gnawing the bark off and whittling it down to a spear, possibly for an escape attempt.
He has been gnawing on that for about a week... with no changes to (always HUNGRY) diet.

I gave him avocado based on the idea that he opened his eyes 16 days ago, which I thought happened at 28-30 days.
That would make him now 6 weeks and 2 days old, and the diet plan I have says to introduce some avocado in 6th week.

I think he may be retreating under blanket from one of my dogs getting near his cage.
Which may be interfearing with movement, and therefore he is not being stimulated to poop.

Back to original question... I am a bit confused, as you say he opens eyes at end of 5th week, but my docs say at 28 days?
That's a difference of a week...
I guess the best bet is to ignore the week-by-week diet, and only introduce other foods after he starts eating the blocks.

I call him (the) Squirkel because my wife says if I name him I will get too attached.
Please don't tell her I forgot the word 'the'.

[CritterMom]

Squirkel decided to eat 15ml of formula a while ago.
His stomach does not appear distended to the front, it is just very wide, which may be that he is fattening up faster than an October Turkey.
(80 grams to 260 grams in two weeks)

Poop earlier was greenish but hard, so probably the avocado. (He ate a LOT)
Leaves were dried leaves from popular, no insecticides.

I will remove everything except blocks for a week.
I will give him some plain yogurt mixed into formula with next feeding.
And will give him some sugar water before I go to bed at 1am.

His favorite toy right now is Mister Stick. (also popular wood)
He has been gnawing the bark off and whittling it down to a spear, possibly for an escape attempt.
He has been gnawing on that for about a week... with no changes to (always HUNGRY) diet.

I gave him avocado based on the idea that he opened his eyes 16 days ago, which I thought happened at 28-30 days.
That would make him now 6 weeks and 2 days old, and the diet plan I have says to introduce some avocado in 6th week.

I think he may be retreating under blanket from one of my dogs getting near his cage.
Which may be interfearing with movement, and therefore he is not being stimulated to poop.

Back to original question... I am a bit confused, as you say he opens eyes at end of 5th week, but my docs say at 28 days?
That's a difference of a week...
I guess the best bet is to ignore the week-by-week diet, and only introduce other foods after he starts eating the blocks.

I call him (the) Squirkel because my wife says if I name him I will get too attached.
Please don't tell her I forgot the word 'the'.

Yeah, because the NAME is what makes you love them above all else. LOL!

Eyes open at some point during the 5th week. You want them to have blocks and formula ONLY until they are eating the blocks well - they need those to prevent MBD until you release. They adore avocado. If you give them a choice between avocado and blocks it is like being given a choice between an ice cream sundae and brussels sprouts! There is plenty of time for the avocado once they are reliably eating their blocks.

[farrelli]

Also, avocado skins and pits are toxic, so never give him those.

His belly should feel like a partially filled water balloon, so if it's hard and round, that would be bloat.

[Chiapet]

Thanks for the tip on the skins.. I left it on, and he ate down to it... but maybe he tasted a bit and got an upset stomach.
And I know that the swap from liquid to solids is always rough on any baby's tummy.

Yes, his belly is a water balloon, not tight like a drum.

I mixed his 11:30pm meal as... 4 scoops Fox, 8 scoops water, 3 scoops yogurt.
He ate 15ml of it, and was so eager for each syringe that he got yogurt on his paws and face.
I put fresh paper under his 3'x2'x3' cage, to monitor what he passes.

We have figured out that he was snatched from a nest two houses away by a local owl,
but the owl lost it's grip as landed on a branch to kill him.... dropping him onto our car shed roof.
Luckily, the shed had a thick covering of soft pine straw to break his fall (in spite of my wife's demands I clean that off), :grin
and I and 4 dogs were sitting on the front porch.
The Chihuahua spotted it crying, and barked at it, preventing the owl from retrieving it.
I spotted it 10 minutes later while trying to figure out why the Chihuahua would not shut up,
and retrieved it just before it would have wiggled over the edge and fell 10 feet to our concrete driveway.
THE LUCKIEST SQUIRREL IN THE WORLD!
(My wife also points out it fell right in front of the only person on our street who would have attempted save and nurse it).

It had a small wound to it's throat, without much bleeding, (which was totally healed in about 5 days).
I spotted the owl in the tree 25 feet above the shed, watching me on the porch with the squirrel.
But I did not spot the nest until a week later... by which time I felt the mother would definitely not accept it back.

I am planning to gradually introduce him to the outdoors (moving his cage to the screen porch at week 8),
and then move his release box (with deluxe squirrel sun-balcony) to a tree halfway down our woods path the Lake Lanier at week 13.
I am also going to move a food box and water cup from his cage to nearby trees, and maintain them through the winter.

All of these plans I got by reading these forums.... Bless Google and the Internet!

Here is my Facebook video of him being fed (Fox Valley for the first time) by my wife, with eyes still closed, at 80g:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=671321109554291&set=vb.100000292234574&type=3&theater

[Chiapet]

Update: 3:30am

(the) Squirkel is unusually active tonight.
He took an hour nap after eating, and has spent the last 3 hours playing continuously in his cage.

He is tossing rat blocks around, and wrestling/ gnawing/ and attacking an empty 50ml syringe.
Any cautions about letting him chew on the 50ml plastic syringe? It has never been used, and he appears to be teething on it.
It is his new favorite toy, as he hid his spear under the blanket for later escape attempts.

He is peeing a LOT, and droppings are mostly black, solid firm and beanlike, with a slight green tint to one side.
(It looks like they are black/green, and turn black as they dry out)(underside of droppings towards paper are greenish)
He is pooping quite a lot as well.

He is funny... I put a grapefruit sized flat bottomed granite rock near the back of the cage, and hides behind it to pee/poop,
so all of the droppings wind up in the same area under the cage.
Makes it a lot easier to clean up and inspect.

[Unikorngrrl]

OK Hun! PLEASE don't take this as mean, but you have GOT TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT WE SAY ABOUT DIET!! Doctors don't know much about squirrels, and we have a TERRIBLE time finding knowledgeable Vets and still those Vets depend on OUR EXPERIENCED rehabbers for most of their information.

* Squirrels open their eyes at about 5 weeks old
* You DO NOT wean squirrels
* You SHOULD ONLY be feeding Fox Valley formula (20/50 at this age) and Blocks (by blocks we mean Henry's Healthy Blocks Growth
Formula -- commerial rodent block is not good enough)
* You need to look at our nutrition information and follow it VERY CLOSELY unless you DO NOT want a healthy squirrel!!! Here are links to
the Nutrition pyramid and the Calcium:Phosporus ratios. They are your new squirrel bible!!!
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?39275-Healthy-Diet-for-Pet-Squirrels-(Revised-2-13)
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?15397-Food-Data-Chart-Update-Calcium-to-Phosphorus-Ratios
* AND to the nutrition forum itself because at some point you will NEED to READ IT ALL!!
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?191-Squirrel-Nutrition
* You need to be very careful and be sure that dogs are locked away from the squirrel when you are not home. YES WE KNOW YOUR DOG
WOULDN'T HURT ANYTHING, BUT THEY DO. There are horror stories on this board by people who thought the same thing but without
parents home, pups can and will behave with a pack mentality and "normal" behavior is out of the window or through your squirrel's
cage in this case with body parts scattered.

I do realize we sound like crazy squirrel people, and we are, but we are also NOT overboard. Not paying close attention to and following the diet can and will lead to MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease) which is excruciatingly painful and deadly for the squirrel. I had to deal with it myself before I found the board (embarrassing but true). MBD is only 1 of many problems that improper nutrition causes. It can also cause neurological disorders, blindness, improper growth and so on... DITCH whatever that Doctor has told you b/c it is already WRONG, and start over here with people who actually deal with TONS of squirrels on a daily basis, have taken the time to learn and research, have taken the time, for the love of squirrels, to compile information to help you and squirrels, and will be here for you emotionally and medically WHENEVER you need us!!! I hope I have made my point without sounding harsh, I don't mean to be harsh at all, but I do mean to be FIRM! If you type into the search engine "didn't listen", you will find threads of those that didn't listen and you'll see why it's so very necessary!! It's heart breaking, especially when you were told, it makes you feel guilt ridden. And NAME THE SQUIRREL. We all do. It will be your baby until next Spring!! Love it, pet it, kiss it, scratch it, hold it...it's still going to be wild when the time comes (99% of the time anyway)!! :thumbsup

And I don't think I've welcomed you to TSB yet, so :wave123 and :Welcome to TSB!!! <3 Uni

[island rehabber]

:goodpost:goodpost

[farrelli]

Indeed, pay attention to the diet. You mention wrestling the syringe? Does he have toys? He should have at least one "stuffie", a stuffed animal of similar size that he can snuggle/wrestle with. No hard eyes or bean stuffing to choke on though.

[CrazySquirrelLady]

:rofl4 "future escape attempts and sharp stick"... :rofl4

i imagine he ate some avocado peel and had upset tummy


mine love the fox valley formula u are using with some Vanilla Yoplait red label yogurt, it is full fat. I make about 150 ml of formula at a time and stir in 2 TABLEspoons of yogurt ... store in fridge put syringes full of milk in plastic bag and put bag in cup of hot water.

baby needs a heating pad on low setting under half of the cage so if he gets hot he can move off it.

Fleece fabric from walmart makes great bedding and can be washed over and over and over again. It is great stuff.

they usually pick a potty corner and use it.

www.henryspets.com for good squirrel supplies. i love henry's they have great blocks and try the miracle nipples. when baby gets 6 weeks old.

They will just stop drinking milkies when they get 12 weeks or so, try and keep the milkie going as long as possible. it is good for them

[Chiapet]

I think I found the culprit.
The bag of Henry's Healthy Blocks has mold in it!

I kept it in the fridge, which is at the right temp, but apparently it was moldy when it arrived.
I have requested a refund from Henry's Pets, and ordered another bag.

I threw it out, cleaned the cage and found two partially chewed blocks with dried mold (slight white powder residue) on them, hidden under the blanket.
This explains why he has been off/on his feed lately... he got hungry enough to nibble them, and got sick each time.

I gave him some lettuce, and he consumed it with vigor.
Will keep adding yogurt to his formula for a while.

[Rhapsody]

I keep my hhb in the vegetable drawer with the humidity level on med-high..... never had a mold issue. :thumbsup

[Unikorngrrl]

I had a mold issue with my first bag so I've kept them in the freezer since!

[Chiapet]

Squirkel is much more active, and back to demanding food every 4 hours.
I am giving him as much Fox as he will eat, along with romaine lettuce and broccoli tops.
(following phosphor charts).

[Chiapet]

I had a mold issue with my first bag so I've kept them in the freezer since!I think I will place them in freezer for 2 days upon arrival, and then move to fridge.
Mold was not that visible, as it was on sides of the blocks that were away from any light.