17 Week red squirrel seems sleepier than usual

[coco]

Hello,

I have a 17 week old red squirrel. She is eating 2 HHB a day (for sure I check her stashes often) plenty of veggies some fruit and a couple nuts a day (though I think my bf sneaks her 1-2 more than that a day and because of the last two days I begged him to stop). I am only giving her hazelnuts and almonds.

There are no other symptoms and I checked her teeth and roof of mouth and she seems fine. Yesterday she just wasn't herself. When I let her out she wanted to go to her napping spot. She would come out every so often and climb eat and drink but then want to sleep again which is very out of character. This morning she seemed a little more herself but wanted to go back to bed on her own (usually I have to coax her back to bed with food). This morning she had some darker hard poop followed by normal poop (I was helping her so I could see). She is still eating and drinking and "doing her business" regularly.

This morning I crushed a calcium pill and put it in apple sauce as a precaution but I don't think its MBD she eats well. Her coat is shiny and her eyes are nice and glossy. She recently had a some hair shed to almost a bald spot but some very shiny hair has grown into that area.

I do admit not giving her enough open window time, but we have several large windows and she is always in them. Should I be getting a UV lamp maybe? I can't leave the windows open in my house :(.

The weather has recently gotten colder (average -6) but we are now in a chinook (+6 today) so its nice out again but supposed to get colder again tomorrow (-12 for the weekend).

Can squirrels go through seasonal changes or just have a tired day(s)?
Am I being paranoid?

[Fireweed]

It doesn't really sound like MBD if the diet is as you describe. I'd definitely cut down the nuts, though. I only give my NR reds 1 nut a day and sometimes only half of a nut depending on what they've eaten. They are just tiny things and most of the diet info is for Greys and Foxers. The more nuts they eat the less they eat of the other healthier food. Also, your little one probably only needs 1 - 1.5 HHBs a day. Too many vitamins might cause a problem, as well. If these are small HHBs probably not an issue. But if you're buying them, they tend to be large-sized and too big, imo, for reds to eat 2 a day. So I personally don't feed more than 1 - 1.5 a day for an indoor Red, usually only 1. :dono

She will get vitamin d from the HHBs if she is eating them. :thumbsup

Could your squirrel have taken a fall? Could they have eaten something moldy that was stashed in a secret spot?

It depends where you are in Canada, but I find with my squirrels they definitely go through periods of being more sleepy when the days are shorter. My NR is way less active and pancakes more often now that it's so dark so soon (I'm in the far north of Canada). She also goes to bed really early and wakes up late now. Maybe it's just that?

Could you post some pics of your squirrel? And what his/her name? :poke :)

EDIT: Oh, just out of curiosity, could you tell us which veggies she eats? And one more thing: It's been documented that Reds will lose hair for unexplained reasons and if you have struck out all other possible reasons, then there shouldn't be a worry. However, hair loss can be due to mites, lack of proper nutrients, molting, dry skin, an injury they are scratching...

[coco]

Thank you for replying!

I will cut down on her blocks and maybe just give her half a nut twice a day (and tell my bf to stop sneaking her treats).

I am in central canada, sun come up at about 8 and goes down at 5... she used to go to bed at 7 (three days ago) but the last two nights she went to bed at 5:30ish... and yes was flattened out much of the day...

She is still playing and semi hyper when out but much less energy.

Hoping its just because the weather/ time of year...

Also :thankyou for posting so soon and for the advice on reds...:crazy

Her name is coco I will post pictures later today when I get home :)

[coco]

I think her hair loss was molting because new hair grew in very nicely and I had her since 1.5-2weeks (dogs attacked nest).

She eats a little kale, some carrots, loves peas and avocado but I try to push the others more, broccoli, radicchio, somtimes peppers but shes not too into them. everything else I tried she won't it and I usually only feed her food from the local market and I fill her dish with these. If you have a red as well I would love advice on possible other veggies for her.

For fruit i give her a grape and a piece of apple a day sometimes a raspberry. In the morning I eat cheerios and she sometimes steals one or two here and there. On Tuesday though my mom is visiting and she said she left her OJ unattended and the squirrel drank a few slurps but nothing significant.

and she also chews up a pine cone a day, I sometimes cut a branch from a white spruce and put it in her cage and she eats the needles but I havent done this in a couple weeks now.

[farrelli]

I don't think that you were advised to reduce the blocks, were you? Two a day is advisable for a gray, so a red might get a little less than that.

You remove the pit and skin from the avocado, right? They're toxic.

[Fireweed]

Hi, coco and parent! :wave123

Just to be clear, it was the owner of Henry's Healthy Pets who told me to feed 1 - 1.5 HHBs a day for Reds. :tilt I usually only feed one a day. Do you make them yourself or buy them?

I would personally make sure coco is eating more of the veggies from the list under "Group 1" of the Healthy Diet for Pet Squirrels. Here's the link to the diet. Study and Memorize! :grin2
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?39275-Healthy-Diet-for-Pet-Squirrels-(Revised-2-13)

Here's the thing, Reds are so small so it's important you feed the good food first so they don't fill up on fruit and nuts. I personally give the HHB first thing in the morning. Then some small pieces of veggies from Group 1 after my NR has eaten her HHB. Then after she's eaten some/all of those veggies, I give some small pieces of veggies from Group 2-3. After the day is almost over, I give a small piece of fruit. Only one piece, the variety changes daily. Before bedtime, I give her a nut treat - usually in shell. About once a week, I give other things like a couple cheerios or some seeds or what-have-you. Not every day.

I also give wild food (Spruce branches with buds, spruce cones, pine cones). I know that if I give too many of these she won't eat her other foods, so I limit them to a few a day--or a whole slew for one day a week! Good times!

I realize I'm a bit of a freak about diet but you're paranoid, so we're even. :highfive

Sometimes getting them to eat the good veggies just means you're going to have to leave them in there and give coco nothing else for the entire day (or two or three days). Coco won't starve! :tilt
It took my NR a long time to learn to love broccoli and radicchio and caulifower and even HHBs. She'd rather eat cucumber, tomato, oranges, pecans, and pomegranate!

[coco]

Yes I am very careful with the avocado as I know the pit and skin are toxic.

[coco]

Thanks! I will change her diet stat! She loves her blocks thankfully so she always eats those... i buy the blocks... there is a way to make them?

I will try your way now... I guess I dont really like veggies either!

I just worry, as much as I enjoy her not jumping at me all the time, I would rather her be herself.


I left her this am, she was up but resting and grabbing snacks. I called my mom she said she heard her chirping earlier and is now asleep again :(. I really hope its just seasonal. :dono I will ensure she is eating even more properly now. She likes to eat but she ate very little yesterday out of her dish but ate all her blocks of course and a grape and some peas that I hand fed her (I was worried she didnt eat much but she ate everything I hand fed her).

[Anne]

:goodpost As always, Fireweed! :grouphug