Need Advice in FL

[Wilmute]

Hi all!

I just recently found this board and I was hoping that I could get some feedback from anyone who is willing to give it. I'm sorry this is so long I just want to provide all the details I can to get the best feedback possible.

Approximately 6 weeks ago we found a pink baby grey squirrel in our backyard that we feel was about 3 weeks old. My wife immediately started hitting the web looking for the appropriate way to handle this and we read that you should first get them warm and then try to reunite with the mom. We put her in a shallow box and put a heating pad in it and got her warm and put her outside under the tree we think she fell from. It started getting dark and the mom never showed up so we went into survival mode and started researching how to get her fed and healthy.

We read that we needed to hydrate her with Pedialyte so we got syringes from our local vet office and gave it to her and she responded well. We bought some Esbilac formula and we were able to get formula in her. We were able to feed her without aspirating her and she has grown and seems to be just fine health and neuro wise.

The food:
Currently we are feeding her 10 to 14 CC of formula 2 times a day and in between we are giving her Zupreem Monkey Biscuits, lettuce, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, unsalted sunflower seeds, tomatoes as a treat, and walnuts as a treat. She don't seem to like the monkey biscuits so I ordered her some Henry's Health Blocks for babies and flyers and they just came in today. She seems to take to them better than the monkey biscuits and they are the first thing I’ve ever seen her attempt to bury.

The Cage:
This past weekend my son and I built her a pretty large 6' tall 5' wide and 3' deep cage with 1/2" hardware cloth. I did not use any pressure treated lumber and all seams and jagged edges are covered with wood. I used pine for everything and have a large self that has her nest and food and water that is built out of 2x3's and 1/2 plywood. She has a hammock in there that she can sleep in if she chooses but she rarely does.

Concerns:
My concerns right now are that from what I read, at 9 weeks, she should be very active. I'm not really sure what that is supposed to mean. I think she sleeps more than she should. If I wake her up and stand in her cage and play with her she will run around and have fun but as soon as that stops, she burrows into her nest and sleeps a good portion of the day. She does get up around 7:30am and my wife feeds her the formula while I clean any food that is in her cage from the previous day and put in fresh food. She also seems to get up around noon and play some but not always. I wake her up every chance I get and play with her and I also let her run around outside her cage as much as possible but I have 5 cats so that is hard sometimes. Is her activity level normal? Am I under feeding her? She didn't seem to like the monkey biscuits so we bought some Henry's Health Blocks for babies and flyers and she seems to take to them better. I've got a Full Spectrum light on the way (the reptile kind that actually gives out UVB light).

I also have a concern that she may not be getting enough water, we’ve always had a standard water bottle in there and just today I put a very shallow dish with some water in it hoping to get her to drink more. Should I be concerned with this since she is still taking formula?

Is there something else I should be doing that I’m not doing? I’ve become unbelievably attached to her and I’m terrified that I’m failing her. If you have any questions please dont hesitate to ask!

[SammysMom]

Its late so forgive me if i ask dumb questions. Is she still in the house ? She is young and would still be in the nest with mom. When did her eyes open?
No more sunflower seeds. She should eat block before all else.
:Welcometo TSB!

[Wilmute]

Please ask away! No question is a dumb question if we can learn and help her be happy and healthy and I most definitely appreciate you responding this late!

She is still in the house and currently in her cage. She opened her eyes at what we think was 5 weeks old. I will definitely stop with the sunflower seeds but for future reference, why do you suggest this? In the morning she gets only the monkey busicut which I will be replacing with HHB's. Should I cut out everything but that? I come home for lunch from work and that is when I give her veggies only and then I give her the treats after her PM formula feeding.

[stepnstone]

Can you post a picture? There is a lot that a picture can tell.
No mention of weight, do you know her weight?

[HRT4SQRLS]

:wave123 Wilmute
:Welcome to The Squirrel Board

From what I just read it sounds like you're doing a wonderful job with your baby. I can tell that you have done your homework. :thumbsup

I have two baby squirrels around the age of yours. They do sleep a lot. When they're awake they play hard and then they sleep hard. Keep in mind that in the nest their mom wouldn't let them out of the nest until about 12 weeks so most of their time would be sleeping and eating. :tilt

I agree with SammysMom that you should cut out the sunflower seeds. I will post two links for you. The first is a chart for the healthy diet for captive squirrels. It is a wealth of information. The second chart is the calcium to phosphorus ratio of different foods. The best foods are those that have a ratio of 2:1 calcium to phosphorus. Go to post number 1 to view the charts. As you can see sunflower seeds have a Ca:P ratio of 1:8.5. They are very high in phosphorus. The body will attempt to balance out these two minerals by leeching calcium from the bones. This is a very bad thing. If the diet is rich in high phosphate foods like seeds, nuts and corn it can lead to a deadly condition called Metabolic Bone Disease. This is why nuts should be fed as a treat. Sunflower seeds are worse than nuts. Very often we see desperate people come here with a pet squirrel that is seizing and paralyzed. When questioned about the diet the answer is always the same .... nuts and seeds. This is deadly to squirrels. You want to avoid this. We recommend against feeding high phosphorus, low calcium foods like sunflower seeds. Of course a few sunflower seeds won't hurt your baby BUT you don't want to make this a habit. Unfortunately squirrels LOVE nuts, seeds and corn SO if they get accustomed to these they will not eat the healthy foods.
Again, welcome to The the Squirrel Board. We have a lot of Florida members. :grin2 I was communicating with a Florida member recently and found that we are practically neighbors (4-5 miles). :tilt

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?44440-Healthy-Diet-for-Pet-Squirrels

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?15397-Food-Data-Chart-Update-Calcium-to-Phosphorus-Ratios/page3

[Wilmute]

Thanks for the awesome links! We only give 2 unsalted sunflower seeds a day, I should have clarified that earlier but I will definitely cut them out.

I did not know about about the Ca:P ratio and will definitely live by that now. Unfortunately I don't have a scale but I will take care of that today and post her weight. She certainly is not skinny but I would not call her fat either. Her weight, to me, seem like it is pretty good but I understand after some reading last night that we need weight to determine how much she should be eating.

Below is a picture of her I just took, sorry about the lighting.

[island rehabber]

Beautiful girl! She has a nice fluffy coat -- you sure you're not up here in the northeast? Usually the Florida babies I see have very sleek, thin coats. Your girl is prepared for snow :) but that shows she's been eating well. You have gotten excellent advice here so far, and if you follow the Ca:P ratio when feeding her you can't go wrong.

[HRT4SQRLS]

:grin2 Awww ... how adorable!

That's about the size of mine. :tilt

Today, I made a big mistake. :) I cleaned the cage and then offered some YoBaby yogurt. I had offered Sunny yogurt a few days ago and she had no interest at all. I tried again to see if Cheri would try it. When I came back with their formula, Cheri was straddled over the yogurt bowl, up to her armpits in yogurt doing some serious yogurt eating. Wow, she loves yogurt! :rotfl You could try that but I'll warn you, IT'S MESSY. :poke Bottom line ... give it before you clean the cage. I think I would put a plastic placemat on the pretty, clean new shelf before I offer yogurt. I wouldn't leave it because she will chew on it.

I forgot to ask, what formula is she on?

[Wilmute]

HRT4SQRLS thanks for the advice! I might try the YoBaby yogurt as a treat, sounds like she will really like it. We are feeding her Esbilac powdered puppy milk re-placer. The ratio we use is 1 part formula, 2 parts water and 1/2 part heavy whipping cream. I read that some people have problems with loose stool but her stool is nice and firm and she seems to have taken to it well.

I agree with you island rehabber about her coat, the squirrels I see outside don't seem to be quite as thick but I thought it was just because she was a baby.

[HRT4SQRLS]

HRT4SQRLS thanks for the advice! I might try the YoBaby yogurt as a treat, sounds like she will really like it. We are feeding her Esbilac powdered puppy milk re-placer. The ratio we use is 1 part formula, 2 parts water and 1/2 part heavy whipping cream. I read that some people have problems with loose stool but her stool is nice and firm and she seems to have taken to it well.

I agree with you island rehabber about her coat, the squirrels I see outside don't seem to be quite as thick but I thought it was just because she was a baby.
Sounds good! :thumbsup

I bought the vanilla. Some love yogurt :Love_Icon some don't. :yuck I guess you could always eat it yourself. :thumbsup

I just noticed something. I'm sitting next to my baby cage. The two that I have are about 8 weeks old and the other is about 10-12 weeks. The size difference is huge. Your baby looks to be between these in size so I think 9 weeks is about right for yours. The older one of the two has been bouncing around the cage for hours now. The smaller of the two had been sleeping the entire time. This age must be a transitioning point as far as activity level, from sleeping a lot to bouncing off the cage walls non-stop. I wouldn't worry about your babies activity level. Give it a week or two and I think that will change. Keep in mind that even adult squirrels sleep during the day. They feed in the morning, nap during the day and come out again in the afternoon. :tilt

[Wilmute]

Ok, that makes me feel a lot better. It's ridiculous how completely attached to her I've gotten and I want to make sure I'm giving her the best that I can. I really appreciate everyone's responses!

[HRT4SQRLS]

I was wondering what your plans are for your baby. Are you going to release or keep as a pet? If you plan on keeping her I would do some serious reading about that. As sweet as they are at this age they really don't make good pets. At some point in the future, most will 'wild up' to a certain degree. For some it is selecting out a member of the family as the 'chosen one'. That person (mom) can do anything with the squirrel but everyone else is the enemy and is not tolerated. That's the low end of the spectrum. The other scenario is where they fully wild up and become aggressive and vicious. The horror stories I have read!!! :eek :shakehead

If you plan to release her, you might consider getting her a friend to be released with. I just got Cheri so that Sunny wouldn't be alone. I was nervous about introducing them but they LOVE each other. It is the cutest thing watching them play. At a certain point they won't accept a friend but mine did at this age. Any older and it will be uncertain.

Right now in FL there are more babies than rehabbers. Most people are full and can't accept more. It's something to think about.

[stepnstone]

FYI...
Looks like she has a wet face/snout in picture, If she (or you) are not cleaning the formula
off her face after eating it eventually can cause milk burn and she will lose fur in those wet areas.

[pjjere]

What a cute baby! The only advice I would add is not to be in a hurry to wean her from the formula. We have raised 3 babies (one released singleton and the 2 we have now) and they all hungrily ate their formula until about 8 weeks. At that time we introduced HHB's and continued offering formula. By 9 or 10 weeks old they just stopped wanting the formula. They weaned themselves. Really important to get them used to HHB's as their first solid food. Nutrition is job one! Great job so far but we need more pictures! :)

[Wilmute]

HRT4SQURLS I'm so torn on that I really like her and would love to keep her as a pet but at the same time I struggle with it because she is a wild animal and deserves to be free. As far as I can tell there is nothing wrong with her even though she had a really nasty fall when she was a pinky.

stepnstone, I didn't even know about that, thank you for telling me! As soon as I read that I got a cotton ball and soaked it in water and cleaned her off really well. Ill do it again in a little wile to make sure I've got it all off.

pjjere I don't plan on being in any kind of hurry with her, I love picking her up and interacting with her and I figure I may not be the one she really bonds with since its my wife that feeds her so I'm getting it all in while I can before she wilds up. We have just started with HHB's as of yesterday. Before that we were trying Zupreeme Primate Blocks and she never really took to them.


Do you guys give anything else before HHB's are gone? She ate about half of hers that I gave her this morning and I gave her a carrot a little while ago. Should I not give her anything else till the HHB is gone?

[Wilmute]

Hi all! I finally got a scale and if it's correct she weighs 6.5oz. Yesterday she was really active all day and today she finally ate a whole HHB. I'm feeling really good about things right now but if anyone has any other questions/concerns/feedback I'd love to hear it. I've given her a sugar snap pea and a little piece of avocado and a carrot and I bought her some YoBaby yogurt as a treat tonight.

[HRT4SQRLS]

6.5 ounces is 184 grams! I bet if you look on the back of your scales there is a switch where you can change the scale to grams. At that size I really don't limit the formula but I have noticed that she has started to cut back on formula. That doesn't surprise me because she is eating like a pig.

That's the same size as my older baby Sunny. Your baby will love the avocado and the sugar snap peas. :thumbsup Mine really like butternut and acorn squash as well.

[Wilmute]

Is 184 Grams ok? It seems like she's in good shape but I just want to be sure.

[HRT4SQRLS]

184g is perfect! :grin2 Stop worrying mom. You're doing great. :thumbsup

[Wilmute]

Haha Dad actually but ok!:laugh2

[Annabelle's papa]

Haha Dad actually but ok!:laugh2

:) It's OK I'm a Squirrel papa myself, and the Lil' One's can't really tell the difference until their much Older.:serene

[stepnstone]

I'm so torn on that I really like her and would love to keep her as a pet but at the same time I struggle with it because she is a wild animal and deserves to be free. As far as I can tell there is nothing wrong with her even though she had a really nasty fall when she was a pinky.


Yes, she does! These babies are not meant to be "pets" and keeping an otherwise healthy squirrel for a pet is a finder thing, it's certinally not for the benefit of the squirrel. It deprives them of the the lives and freedom in nature that was intended for them.
A vast majority of the squirrel babies found have been because they have fallen great distances from nest to ground.
Some do get injured with the fall but for the most part they are fine. They can be and are very resilient, thank Creator for that!

[RobinTN]

Haha Dad actually but ok!:laugh2

The CORRECT TERM would be "SQUADDY"

Squaddy: (SKWA-dee) n. term of endearment relating a human male in a completely obsessed, protective, worry-wart caretaker role to a squirrel. The "Squaddy" will typically check on the "squiddo" on an hourly basis, when imagined illnesses & ailments are often noted. Much time will be spent in online research of these symptoms, only to determine that the "squiddo" does actually require the expenditure of even more money, usually through expensive foodstuffs and toys which the squirrel will then ignore, causing even more worry on the part of the squaddy. See also: squammy, squarent

:poke Welcome to the club!:wave

[Annabelle's papa]

:serene

[Wilmute]

The CORRECT TERM would be "SQUADDY"

Squaddy: (SKWA-dee) n. term of endearment relating a human male in a completely obsessed, protective, worry-wart caretaker role to a squirrel. The "Squaddy" will typically check on the "squiddo" on an hourly basis, when imagined illnesses & ailments are often noted. Much time will be spent in online research of these symptoms, only to determine that the "squiddo" does actually require the expenditure of even more money, usually through expensive foodstuffs and toys which the squirrel will then ignore, causing even more worry on the part of the squaddy. See also: squammy, squarent

:poke Welcome to the club!:wave

Well I can say with 100% confidence that all criteria for a Squaddy have been met. I'm completely obsessed with making sure she is healthy and as happy as I can make her.