PDA

View Full Version : Squirkel Part 2



Chiapet
10-09-2013, 02:06 AM
Oh, by the way... Squirkel is a girl.

She is about 8 weeks old.
She discovered 'jumping' 2 days ago, and how to sit up holding food in her paws while she eats.
She has Henry Growth blocks in her cage, a water bottle, dish of water, dish of romaine lettuce and carrot strips, and dish of Henry blocks in slices.

Two days ago she started refusing Fox Valley formula most of the time. She acts like I am trying to poison her.
She acts the same way if I add yogurt, extra water, or yogurt and a drop of vanilla.
Today for example she: 10am - turned it down, 2pm - ate 12ml, 6pm - turned it down, 8pm - ate 4ml, 12am - turned it down, 3am - turned it down.

My main concern is the water bottle is not being used, and I have not seen her drink from the water dish.
It feels like she is less active, and stays under her blanket most of the time.
I would have expected her to be MORE active at this age.

Her poop is dark, brown but mostly black, solid and pea-like.
Haven't seen her pee lately.

She played some with a new stuffed toy last night,
But has been mostly under the covers today.

She has two tree limbs in the cage to climb, and has been chewing on them a lot. Tiny bark pieces all over the cage.
Her stomach feels fullish, but not distended, even though she has not been eating the usual amount.
(She was eating about 60ml of formula per day... and ate only 20ml today)

If I bother her, lifting the blanket, she nips my fingers and tries to wrestle and play.
Once I stop she retreats under the blanket.

If I show her a piece of avocado, or an almond... she comes out and grabs it and eats it.
If I hold out a piece of apple, she nums on it while I hold it, but does not take it or pick it up if I drop it.
Only small interest in blocks, lettuce, or carrot.

She currently weighs 320 grams.

I am considering removing the branches (poplar tree) as she might be filling up on bark.
Also removing all food except the blocks, and not giving any avocado or nuts.
I have also considered removing the blanket at times, so she doesn't have a place to hide and be inactive.
Also considered adding a few cheerios and some papaya.

Can't figure out how to teach her to use the water bottle.
Tried different heights, adding a touch of sugar, and even luring her to it with a bit of peanut butter on the tip.
No go on water bottle.
She also will not take sugar water from a syringe.

Chiapet
10-09-2013, 02:26 AM
PS. I am monitoring her weight, but will be unable to tell if she loses less than 5 grams with my scale.
Thinking of getting a more accurate scale.
She is currently 320 grams. She weighed 260 grams a week ago.
So that is around 8.5 grams growth per day.

Maybe she has leveled out on her growth curve, so is eating less...
I was beginning to worry that she might be a raccoon in a squirrel suit.

Also thinking of trying cucumber or something with some moisture in it.
Skin between shoulder blades appears to pop back quickly.

I have also considered placing her in a box with just a water dish,
and staring at her until she drinks some water.

Maybe she is just self-weaning, and less active because she is eating less?
Or eating less because she is less active?
Note again she will grab and eat any nut or avocado in sight.

Chiapet
10-09-2013, 03:59 AM
5am - she ate 21ml of straight Fox Valley formula like she was starving.
Hunched up for a bit like she was trying to poop/pee.
Then gave up and went under blanket.
I put down fresh paper to track if she goes later.

It might be that she is getting too nervous with the dogs around,
and that I need to move her to the back sunroom.

CritterMom
10-09-2013, 04:03 AM
Pull all food except blocks from her cage and spread the feedings out more - an 8 week old does not need feeding every 4 hours - they eat more volume than smaller babies so it takes longer to go through their system.

Chiapet
10-09-2013, 03:25 PM
All that worry, and it turned out her stomach clock had switched to 8 hours!
She is now eating 21 ml, three times per day, plus some solids.

I always worried if I was a late to a feeding (poor little thing sitting there starving).
Never thought I would run into periods when I was feeding her too often!

You should add that to the squirrel guides:
"As they grow older, they may reject formula because they want longer periods between feedings."

Took her outside for the first time today for some sun,
and she hid under her blanket curled around her teddy bear.
She immediately came back out when I brought her inside, and was very cross with me.
(When she gets mad she shakes her tails and blows raspberries at me).

farrelli
10-09-2013, 03:38 PM
We STRONGLY recommend that a squirrel never be allowed outside until they are of age and have been prepared for release through the soft release process. We've just seen far too many instances where they've gotten spooked, run off, and probably come to a bad end. Totally unsafe.

Chiapet
10-09-2013, 04:56 PM
By "outside" I mean to our screened-in porch, while still inside her 3x2x3' cage.
Even if she had somehow escaped the cage she would have still been inside the porch.