In between meals snacks

[mavesame]

Is is appropriate to give extra water or snacks to a nursing age squirrel? At what age do solids start and when to wean them off the puppy replacement milk? And onto what kind and amount of liquids and solids. I really prefer as close as possible to wild foods as we hope to let her live outside with minimal human intervention.

plenty of squirrels here with acorn, berry, plum, and sunflowers which the local squirrels love to eat and play trapeze on.

I'd rather ask y'all than rely on my old ways! It's been a long while since our last squirrel.

[FLBeth]

:Welcome While waiting for some of our resident rehabbers and experts to answer and if you have time.. check out the 'stickys' in the Baby Squirrel Questions forum.. lots of good stuff! :)

[lennysmom]

Welcome to TSB mavesame! :wave123 First off, which puppy formula are you using? We generally either recommend the Esbalic WITH probiotics, or Fox Valley. Also, how old is your little one and what does he or she weigh? It is important to have an accurate weight when formula feeding as 5% to 7% of total body weight is the recommended feeding amount per feeding when still on formula. The length of time between feedings depends on age. It is perfectly fine to give water in between feedings and I usually start introducing solids at around 7-8 weeks of age by placing a Hennrys Helathy block (growth formula) which are specially formulated for baby squirrels or a Zupreem monkey biscuit in their cage with them to let them start nibbling on it when they want.
Once your baby is eating solids well and weening, you can start introducing some wild foods as available. The food chart for squirrels is a wonderful resource for you to know what kinds of foods are healthy and safe for them to eat.
Here is the link to view it if you haven't already seen it
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?44440-Healthy-Diet-for-Pet-Squirrels

Oh, and I forgot to mention - please make sure you are using the proper feeding technique via a 1 or 3cc syringe as these little ones can easily aspirate.

[mavesame]

Thanks. I'm feeding plain puppy replacement PetAg plus with probiotics it is made in USA. She is 60 g now and is doing well. Had some constipation but is fine. Didn't veer from diet. But I'd like to know if she should have plain water or watered apple juice ?

[SammysMom]

Although it appears to be the same as powdered Esbilac, others have had issues with PetAg puppy so that might be contributing to the digestive problems. If you are just wanting to hydrate, you can use plain water or 1 cup water to 1 tablespoon sugar if they need the sweet to encourage drinking it. The sugar draws more fluid to the gut and helps to move things along.

[SammysMom]

I got off topic and forgot to say that from formula you want them to go straight to rodent block. The one that many of us use is Henry's Healthy Blocks from henryspets.com as it is tastier and only requires eating 2 per day rather than a bowlful of them to get the nutrition that they need. Only after they have begun eating the block do we advise adding in healthy veggies from the healthy diet list.
Adding in the block is something that you generally start when they are about 6 - 8 weeks old. Do continue to give formula for as long as he will take it. Good formula is an insurance policy for getting proper calcium.