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View Full Version : 8 Day old baby squirrel chirping when eating -- pneumonia?



kaitykatjane
10-18-2013, 01:32 AM
Hi,

I work at a local humane society and we received two guessdimated 4 day old baby squirrels a few days ago. I took them in and within a day the boy had passed away, which was heartbreaking. Since then I have researched pretty much everything there is to know about taking care of baby squirrels and have been paranoid-ly watching/taking care of the little girl, Delilah. She was always more active and alert than her brother, Loki, so I've been hoping she'll be okay. She is eating and going to the bathroom excellently and start squeaking as soon as she smells her formula warming up(I put it in a small dip bowl in a hot mug of water). She has been making more noises lately, and one think she has started doing is chirping. They sound like quiet chirps you might hear a cowboy do to make his horse move before saying "heeyaw" (don't know any other way to explain it, haha).
She ONLY does this WHILE she is eating. After I put her down, she stops and makes no more noise until it's feeding time again, and then she squeaks and chirps. She is eating normally, hydrated, and staying warm. I feed her in the correct position, on her tummy and with the syringe upward. I know asperation is fairly common and can cause pneumonia and one of the symptoms of pneumonia is clicking or chirping sounds. Since she only does this when she is eating and at no other time, I assume it's just a normal excitement sound?

I don't want to take a chance with her and have her end up with the same fate of her brother! Please let me know if this is normal behavior or if I need to take her to the vet!

THANKS!

217008

sid'smommy
10-18-2013, 01:37 AM
She may just be doing it out of excitement. Wait till she is asleep and lay your ear right down on her and listen.... "clicking" would be a pnuemo sound... there is a thread here somewhere that has a video of it for comparison... Might be quicker to just youtube it tho... She is very cute! I cant believe there are still babies that young! :grin3

jbtartell
10-18-2013, 05:03 PM
awwww she is sooo cute.. sid is right.. but also check her nose. she may have some dried stuff making the click while she is eating.. if it is in her chest u will hear it coming from the chest.. but just watch and listen..

kaitykatjane
10-20-2013, 10:49 PM
Thank you both, she is doing fine and growing like a week. She just gets excited. :)

sqrlmum
10-21-2013, 09:19 AM
I've had a few squees do this, especially during/after eating. Scares the crap out of me EVERY SINGLE TIME. Glad to hear she is a silly little girl - she is a beauty!