3 Babies I have adored and I am at a loss

[katieh30]

I have raised a female squirrel who is 1.5 yrs old who mothered 3 babies. Moms name is rocky and she ended up having bot flies in her skin so i took her to the hospital to have them removed so she wouldnt endure any pain in which at this time i raised the babies (from about 4 weeks old). Just recently (2 weeks ago) my husband and I built a much larger cage for my babies (sophia, buttercup and Titan) My babies are about 5 months old and last saturday Buttercup (my traveling partner) and I returned home to find sophia on the ground and she was unable to move her extremities. I rushed her to the hospital and as we pulled in she literally died in my arms, one of the saddest days ever in my life, then six days later i go in to check on my babies as i do throughout the day and play with them but this time buttercup (my favorite baby) was dead.. I died inside and still cry . I moved Rocky to there cage and put titan in the smaller one which is where rocky has lived her whole life so today i fed them, checked on them periodically and seen him eating about 3 hours ago, my husband goes in to check on them and titan is dead in his bed???? I am sooooo lost and dont understand what has happened to my babies. Does anyone have any clue or inkling as to what couldve happened. All just sooo sudden and back to back... Scared I have put Rocky back in her cage and have started doing some research but have come clueless. There diet hasnt changed onlything i can figure is maybe the tree branches i had in the cage, they were either magnolia branches or plumcherry branches as i have cut both trees... Please Help me determine what has happened.. ThanK You

[SammysMom]

Godspeed sweet babies...:Love_Icon:Love_Icon:Love_Icon
I cannot imagine your pain and sorrow. Was the cage built from pressure treated lumber?

[Sweet Simon's Mommy]

what exactly was their diet?

[crazy4squirrels]

Trees that have a milk are deadly...I do not know about these but I would not take the chance of putting another in to die! Take everything out of that cage and nest box. Post what the diet is

[CrazySquirrelLady]

clean the original cage you raised them in completely with vinegar and water one cup vinegar to one quart water. rinse 3 times with fresh water.

something is toxic and killing them that is in their environment.

[sid'smommy]

Where did you get the cage ?? if it was used, did you check to see if raccoons were ever in it ? Was it painted?

[CrazySquirrelLady]

I googled plumcherry toxicity and this is what they say... bad poison. cyanide.

Many species are cyanogenic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanogenic); that is, they contain compounds called cyanogenic glucosides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucoside), notably amygdalin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdalin), which, on hydrolysis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolysis), yield hydrogen cyanide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_cyanide).[22] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus#cite_note-22) Although the fruits of some may be edible by humans and livestock (in addition to the ubiquitous fructivory of birds), seeds, leaves and other parts may be toxic, some highly so.[23] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus#cite_note-23) The plants contain no more than trace amounts of hydrogen cyanide, but on decomposition after crushing and exposure to air or on digestion, poisonous amounts may be generated. The trace amounts may give a characteristic taste ("bitter almond") with increasing bitterness in larger quantities, less tolerable to people than to birds, which habitually feed on specific fruits.