My rescued squirrel

[Bethany111]

Hello, About 6 years ago my mother and I rescued a baby squirrel who was abandoned in its nest with 5 other siblings for several days In the cold rain. Bethany was the only one to survive. because Bethany was so malnourished and ear infested with larva, her intestines or something did not develop right or fully. Because of this Bethany is actually allergic or cant digest nuts, seeds, exct. She will have seizures if she eats them. We have substituted her protein needs with other things. But just now I was petting her and all of a sudden she kid of spazzed out started shaking like she had a seizure and made a crying noise. She also lifted her front leg while doing this. It only lasted like one second and then she was fine. I'm also watching her breathing and it seems to be erratic. one second its slow then it speeds up really fast and then slows down again. I have also noticed she has been extra friendly the past few days like she knows she's dying or something. This girl is my baby and I'm very worried about her. Help! p.s she also likes chewing on my finger nails idk if that is relevant.

[stepnstone]

So Bethany is six correct, is she a grey or?
What is her daily diet that you do feed her on a regular basics?

Squirrels require a pretty high level of calcium in their diets, low
calcium levels can lead to seizures among other serious health
issues such as mbd. Is she given any type rodent block?

[Bethany111]

Yes she is Six. because she doesn't eat nuts we supplement the protein for dog food, and she snacks on non sugared cheerios. She also loves grapes like crazy so I give those to her a lot and the occasional lettuce. I did not know they required so much calcium untill I went on this website so I will deffinatly feed her a lot more greens.

[CritterMom]

The dog food really isn't good - it has a lot more protein in it than squirrels should really consume.

It is very likely that you are seeing the beginning of MBD - metabolic bone disease. Someone will post the link to some instructions, but I strongly suggest you do two things right now.

First, go to the drug store and buy a bottle of fruit flavored Tums - the antacid. It really doesn't matter which size - I believe they have 750 and 1000mg - either will do. Your squirrel may be willing to actually nibble the Tums tablets, but ideally you want to start getting 4-500 mg into her per day, divided up into many small doses, not just one big one. You might want to crush the Tums and dissolve it in water and give it to her with a syringe. It is sweet, so they usually don't fuss too much about it. There are more things you will have to do for treatment but this will get you started. The tremors and seizure activity is a sign of MBD, especially when the diet has been deficient.

Second thing: You need to change her food. The very best - and what she should absolutely be eating as part of her treatment can be purchased at Henrys Pets.

They sell a "kit" especially for MBD squirrels to get you going - it has the Picky Bites food, some powdered calcium, vitamins, a syringe for feeding, etc. in it: http://www.henryspets.com/mbd-treatment-kit/. Or you can just buy the Picky Bites or the Adult Blocks separately. One of our members crafts this food specifically to prevent and treat MBD and to keep them healthy. Just about all of us with long term squirrels feed this food.

She needs additional calcium and a better diet right away. This can be a tough problem to tackle, but hopefully your good observations caught it early enough.

[Abbi's Mama]

Does Henry's have a block that doesn't have nuts in it? I've always noticed almonds and stuff in mine...
Considering she's saying her squirrel has a problem digesting nuts, that may need to be considered.

[farrelli]

Good point about the nuts. She can get the vitamins and protein though and we can tell her how to make a block without nuts. She should contact Henry's, in fact, and find out what they recommend.