alanglois6
08-25-2015, 07:09 PM
Hello!
Last week I had my dog out in the front yard to play for a bit when I noticed her standing in one spot for a while. As I approached I could hear little squeals and I thought for sure that it was a victim of my outdoor cat that my pup had stumbled upon. What I found was my dog licking this tiny (thankfully unabraised) squirrel baby. He was curled up in a ball and cold. The first thing I did was scoop him up with some (non latex) gloves and put him in a box and got to work online. We did everything by the book- warmth, hydration, gradual and increasing Esbilac, help going to the bathroom, etc etc etc. I called my vet (an emergency clinic just down the road) and they gave me the number to a place that wasn't able to take the little guy. I decided after speaking with my fiancé and much research that we would raise the squirrel to a safe age to release. Everything has been going well, its definitely been a learning curve and this forum has been a HUGE help. There have been a few things over the last week that have concerned me and would like some input from professionals such as yourselves. I am attaching a picture of (the squirrel) FlipFlop and the information that my fiancé and I are keeping to help us with a feeding schedule and pinpointing where, what, when, and how.
My first concern is that Flip's first couple of poo's were brown and "normal" looking from pictures of healthy excrement. Since we've had him it has changed to yellow and softer, but not diarrhea...I've read that this is okay due to change in diet to Esbilac...but then today there was a bit of green. Is this okay, normal/not normal, worth worrying over?
Second, As you will see on the paper, in the first couple of days that we had him he aspirated because the only dropper I had at the time was 5 ML and sticking, a bit too much came out and BOOM. it happened. I was so scared at that very moment, but over the last 5 days he has shown absolutely no signs of being affected by it. No clicking, activity level is tremendous and growing every day. I cant believe how strong this little guy is...I just thought I'd mention this since his poop is now awry.
Third... I live in CT. This baby is about 4 weeks old, he is showing signs of trying to open his eyes, so we may be at 5 weeks. Winter is quickly approaching and by the time he is releasable there will be snow on the ground. I understand that "overwintering" is the term for what will need to be done. I need advice on this. I have ample space and am prepared to build an indoor habitat of sorts in one of my rooms but it may take some overhauling. Anyways- he will definitely be a full blown adult by the time spring has arrived and I would like to hear your experiences with this.
Another thing- I've been trying to do feedings in the sun to avoid MBD. Will be ordering Fox Valley Soon. When do I start giving him veggies and this block that everyone talks about?
He will happily take more than 4cc's during a feeding but we are trying to keep it around 3 based on his body weight. Only today has he exploded into the 53 g so we will adjust as needed. There have been a couple of times that we had to give a "snack" if we were not going to be able to keep on track with the feeding of every 3-4 hours based on work schedules.
Basically what I'm looking for is advice, recommendations, what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong...all I want is the health and success of this beautiful little life of his. :thankyou
Last week I had my dog out in the front yard to play for a bit when I noticed her standing in one spot for a while. As I approached I could hear little squeals and I thought for sure that it was a victim of my outdoor cat that my pup had stumbled upon. What I found was my dog licking this tiny (thankfully unabraised) squirrel baby. He was curled up in a ball and cold. The first thing I did was scoop him up with some (non latex) gloves and put him in a box and got to work online. We did everything by the book- warmth, hydration, gradual and increasing Esbilac, help going to the bathroom, etc etc etc. I called my vet (an emergency clinic just down the road) and they gave me the number to a place that wasn't able to take the little guy. I decided after speaking with my fiancé and much research that we would raise the squirrel to a safe age to release. Everything has been going well, its definitely been a learning curve and this forum has been a HUGE help. There have been a few things over the last week that have concerned me and would like some input from professionals such as yourselves. I am attaching a picture of (the squirrel) FlipFlop and the information that my fiancé and I are keeping to help us with a feeding schedule and pinpointing where, what, when, and how.
My first concern is that Flip's first couple of poo's were brown and "normal" looking from pictures of healthy excrement. Since we've had him it has changed to yellow and softer, but not diarrhea...I've read that this is okay due to change in diet to Esbilac...but then today there was a bit of green. Is this okay, normal/not normal, worth worrying over?
Second, As you will see on the paper, in the first couple of days that we had him he aspirated because the only dropper I had at the time was 5 ML and sticking, a bit too much came out and BOOM. it happened. I was so scared at that very moment, but over the last 5 days he has shown absolutely no signs of being affected by it. No clicking, activity level is tremendous and growing every day. I cant believe how strong this little guy is...I just thought I'd mention this since his poop is now awry.
Third... I live in CT. This baby is about 4 weeks old, he is showing signs of trying to open his eyes, so we may be at 5 weeks. Winter is quickly approaching and by the time he is releasable there will be snow on the ground. I understand that "overwintering" is the term for what will need to be done. I need advice on this. I have ample space and am prepared to build an indoor habitat of sorts in one of my rooms but it may take some overhauling. Anyways- he will definitely be a full blown adult by the time spring has arrived and I would like to hear your experiences with this.
Another thing- I've been trying to do feedings in the sun to avoid MBD. Will be ordering Fox Valley Soon. When do I start giving him veggies and this block that everyone talks about?
He will happily take more than 4cc's during a feeding but we are trying to keep it around 3 based on his body weight. Only today has he exploded into the 53 g so we will adjust as needed. There have been a couple of times that we had to give a "snack" if we were not going to be able to keep on track with the feeding of every 3-4 hours based on work schedules.
Basically what I'm looking for is advice, recommendations, what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong...all I want is the health and success of this beautiful little life of his. :thankyou