Hi it's chickenmom (Winter)...:)

[squizzel]

I haven't been on here for ages and tried and tried and TRIED to log in with my old username, but apparently I HAZ THE DUMB.

I actually need some advice from you all, as far as desert squirrels? We just bought a weekend cabin in Wonder Valley and we have several species of ground squirrel out there. The Antelope squirrel and the Round Tail squirrel. We have burrows all over the property and of course because we have feeders and waterers out for all the critters. We have one feeder of bird food for the doves that is on the ground on the front porch and I witnessed a baby Antelope Squirrel and a baby Round Tail get in a fight over it this morning! Oh jeez.

The desert is terribly hot right now (like 118 yesterday) and we are in an area with no bush, we don't have a well or city water. So the critters we get, are very thirsty and hungry. I need to stock up on emergency supplies, is there a formula that I can buy for these squirrels? I'm sure its different from the FV I get here for my fox squirrels in Los Angeles. I read that the Antelopes will actually eat meat on occasion?

Anyone have experience with these guys?

Thank you so much and I hope everyone had a good 4th!!

[island rehabber]

Hi Winter!! So great to see you here again!

I am not familiar with the diets of these western ground squirrel guys, but I'm sure someone else is, or we can do some research on them. In the meantime, I would keep FV 20/50 on hand because it's a great milk replacer for squirrels of all kinds. Get a bag and keep it in the freezer. :thumbsup

[squizzel]

Hi IR!! Nice to see you :grin I just checked the freezer and I only have FV day one, need to place an order. These guys are super shy, I'm still trying to get a good picture! They are so funny!!!

Hi Winter!! So great to see you here again!

I am not familiar with the diets of these western ground squirrel guys, but I'm sure someone else is, or we can do some research on them. In the meantime, I would keep FV 20/50 on hand because it's a great milk replacer for squirrels of all kinds. Get a bag and keep it in the freezer. :thumbsup

[lovesmice]

Hello from Ohio where anything above mid 80s is considered hot! My main visitors are the Greys and I do not have experience with the particular squirrels near you, but I looked up your Antelope in one of my squirrel books (Squirrels of North America by Tamara Eder) and it listed a general diet for the them of berries, green vegetation, insects, nuts, roots, seeds and stems. The Nelson Antelope, however, which is found only in California (desert) eats a diet consisting mainly of cactus, insects and seeds. According to this book, the California Ground squirrel will eat animal protein besides insects in addition to green vegetation, grains and seeds although I do not know what kind of animal protein. The Round-Tailed Ground squirrel will eat grasshoppers in addition to cactus pulp, green vegetation and seeds.

Not sure if this helps and not sure how accurate the book is, but I thought I would post the information listed anyway. There are folks from everywhere on here so no doubt someone who feeds the squirrels you mentioned will be able to tell you for sure what they eat. As for the formula, sorry I cannot recommend one for the squirrel babies in your area. I never rehab the squirrels here; just feed the locals.

I sympathize with you for having to witness a scuffle between your squirrels. I know how upsetting this can be. I feed my squirrels with individual bowls to minimize any fighting, but sometimes there are more squirrels than bowls-sigh.

[squizzel]

Thanks for the info lovesmice! Very helpful :) I was just talking to my friend who rescues in Staton Island and mostly Raccoons, but she is also a keeper at the zoo and deals with all kinds of babies. She swears by Espilac for most emergencies, but I know I have read a lot of threads on here that disagreed with that concept, which is why I'm hoping there is something specific for these breeds.


Hello from Ohio where anything above mid 80s is considered hot! My main visitors are the Greys and I do not have experience with the particular squirrels near you, but I looked up your Antelope in one of my squirrel books (Squirrels of North America by Tamara Eder) and it listed a general diet for the them of berries, green vegetation, insects, nuts, roots, seeds and stems. The Nelson Antelope, however, which is found only in California (desert) eats a diet consisting mainly of cactus, insects and seeds. According to this book, the California Ground squirrel will eat animal protein besides insects in addition to green vegetation, grains and seeds although I do not know what kind of animal protein. The Round-Tailed Ground squirrel will eat grasshoppers in addition to cactus pulp, green vegetation and seeds.

Not sure if this helps and not sure how accurate the book is, but I thought I would post the information listed anyway. There are folks from everywhere on here so no doubt someone who feeds the squirrels you mentioned will be able to tell you for sure what they eat. As for the formula, sorry I cannot recommend one for the squirrel babies in your area. I never rehab the squirrels here; just feed the locals.

I sympathize with you for having to witness a scuffle between your squirrels. I know how upsetting this can be. I feed my squirrels with individual bowls to minimize any fighting, but sometimes there are more squirrels than bowls-sigh.

[SammysMom]

Esbilac had issues, but they have since modified it to be wonderful for babies. Many of us use a 50/50 mix of Esbilac and FV 20/50. I think that most use Esbilac alone for teenie tinies.

[squizzel]

Very interesting and good news! Thank you :)


Esbilac had issues, but they have since modified it to be wonderful for babies. Many of us use a 50/50 mix of Esbilac and FV 20/50. I think that most use Esbilac alone for teenie tinies.