New Baby Squirrel

[kittehluff]

Hello, everyone. I go by the name Kitty and I found a baby squirrel yesterday. All day yesterday, I kept hearing what sounded like a bird crying in my backyard. I finally went out there to find a little baby squirrel on the ground and he had a bit of a bloody nose. I got him cleaned up and it turned out to be a teeny scratch on his nose. We have cats in our neighborhood that like to hunt and some very tall trees so I am unable to figure out if he had fallen out of the tree or had gotten attacked by one of these cats. No other injuries were apparent when I looked him over after cleaning up his nose. I looked around everywhere to see if there was a mother and today, while adventuring the backyard, I found a dead squirrel in my alleyway. I assume she might be the mother. Something tells me there might be another baby in the backyard somewhere because I heard more crying sounds again today, but I found nothing in my search.

Anyways, I got in touch immediately with a friend who lives a few blocks away and she got in touch with someone who works with squirrels professionally out of state and helped me gather some emergency supplies to house and warm up this little baby. He was very cold when I brought him inside and dehydrated. Thanks to this wonderful website, I was able to help him pull out of dehydration for the most part and got him drinking that special milk. Today, he's a lot more active and is playing and I am really glad I could save his life because it is cold here at night now, and I was sure he was going to freeze to death had I not taken him in. He is responding in every aspect that would be considered good and he is estimated to be about 4 weeks old, eyes-open red squirrel.

However, I am having a problem getting him to do his bathroom business. I have tried using a warm, moist cloth, Q-tips and cotton balls after every feeding and he has yet to pee or poop. I have heard that because he was/still kind of is dehydrated, it may take him some time for him to do his business. I am unable to determine if he can use the bathroom on his own yet or not, but I have been trying to stimulate him after every feeding. Any tips on how I can get him to go? He's relaxing up to me and really likes it when I give him attention.

My goal for this little guy is to re-release him in the backyard after I ween him and when he's of age to be on his own. I have plenty of ideas on how to re-release him, but I will be looking to this forum for some guidance when the time comes. Thank you in advance for bathroom tips!

~ Kitty

[SammysMom]

:Welcometo TSB! Thank-you for going to look and picking up that poor little orphan! You might want to be on the lookout for more babies as rarely is there just one and something may have happened to a mama so others may well appear. What kind of milk did you get for him? That is the most important thing for the moment. I find that if I use a tissue and sort of flick their privates they will pee and/or poop pretty quickly, but some take longer than others.

[farrelli]

Welcome. I'm sure you'll come to love him over the winter.

Yes, dehydration can cause bathroom problems. Keep the hydration coming.

The following is what we recommend for formula. Esbilac puppy powder with probiotics. It's available in many pet stores:

244704

Here is proper feeding technique - head pointed down, 1cc syringe pointed up:

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?36777-PROPER-FEEDING-TECHNIQUE!!

Feed 5-7% of body weight. You will need a scale. They're invaluable to tell how much to feed, how progress is going, and to dose drugs if need be.

They really like fleece, flannel, and t-shirt bedding.

Pics of him and his cage would be great.