Baby Squirrel, nothing urgent, just a few questions.

[Balmy]

So i recently got a baby fox squirrel after a friend found it emaciated and dehydrated in a football field, I used to have another pet squirrel about 3 years ago, and i released him, where he still lives, about a block from home. This baby squirrel that i have, I just built it a cage of pine and metal, its a 6 foot tall, 3 ft wide and 4 ft long, in a circular shape. Okay, after the statements, I have some questions.

1. My squirrel, Brian, REFUSES to drink water. Right now I am feeding him esbilac with probiotics, and he loves the stuff, I feed it to him with a syringe, and he is about 7 weeks old from what I can tell, the age that they should start weening from formula, but he refuses to drink water, I have tried giving him water through the syringe but he just spits it out and wants no part of it. He eats solid food with no problems, so he gets a lot of walnuts, corn, and fruits.

2. his thumbs? okay, so the last squirrel i had was a different breed and ended up being massive for a squirrel by the time i released him, but he had very distinguishable thumbs and he didnt care when you touched them. Brian, has odd little knubby thumbs that he chews on? and when I touch them he acts like it hurts, i will include a picture of that. EDIT: I couldnt get him to let me take a picture of his thumbs

3. other than those things, he seems perfectly healthy, very energetic and playful, he just discovered cheek rubbing a couple days ago, so thats still fun to watch!

[Sucker4SavingBabies]

Welcome & thank you for saving this little guy! You've come to the right place! I am NOT an expert but until someone else chimes in here is what I know based on my little bit of squirrelly experience:
Was he hydrated properly before you gave him formula? At 7 weeks he will still need formula, probably for a few more weeks even a month. He is getting the water he needs in the formula for now unless he is dehydrated. You can put a water bottle with a small bowl underneath for dripping, some like the bottle, some like to drink out of the bowl - he will drink when he is ready. Continue to give him formula as long as he will take it...let him wean himself.
Nuts should be used as TREATS ONLY, they are not a healthy diet for squirrels and should not be introduced until he is eating the proper foods. They are like candy to them and it's difficult to get them to eat anything else once they are used to them. The first solid he should be introduced to is a rodent block, I use Henry's Healthy Blocks from www.henryspets.com as do many others on TSB. They taste much better than the dry rodent block from pet stores (according to my boy). Once he is eating the blocks regularly you can introduce healthy veggies from the list in the nutrition section.
As for his thumbs, I only know about Grey's...mine have "nubby" little thumbs - really not much of a thumb at all. They don't look like the other "digits". Cutest thing ever to see them holding something with their lil "nubs". I don't not know if Foxies are the same - Do the look red, irritated, or injured? Or just nubby?

[Balmy]

I do give him walnuts as a treat, I have a big walnut tree right outside of my house, which the neighborhood squirrels seem to enjoy, I give him a walnut or a piece of fruit when he runs to me after i call his name. His thumbs dont look irritated, and as you can see from the picture of the cage, the main food in there is a squirrel block. I will have to try to get a drippy water bottle in there as well, my last squirrel used just a hamster bottle to drink from, so ill have to try putting that over a dish. Thank you very much. Im still curious to why he refuses water though, I just think that its a bit odd for his age. He also has trouble finding food unless i hand it to him, but my guess is that thats just cause he is so little.



Welcome & thank you for saving this little guy! You've come to the right place! I am NOT an expert but until someone else chimes in here is what I know based on my little bit of squirrelly experience:
Was he hydrated properly before you gave him formula? At 7 weeks he will still need formula, probably for a few more weeks even a month. He is getting the water he needs in the formula for now unless he is dehydrated. You can put a water bottle with a small bowl underneath for dripping, some like the bottle, some like to drink out of the bowl - he will drink when he is ready. Continue to give him formula as long as he will take it...let him wean himself.
Nuts should be used as TREATS ONLY, they are not a healthy diet for squirrels and should not be introduced until he is eating the proper foods. They are like candy to them and it's difficult to get them to eat anything else once they are used to them. The first solid he should be introduced to is a rodent block, I use Henry's Healthy Blocks from www.henryspets.com as do many others on TSB. They taste much better than the dry rodent block from pet stores (according to my boy). Once he is eating the blocks regularly you can introduce healthy veggies from the list in the nutrition section.
As for his thumbs, I only know about Grey's...mine have "nubby" little thumbs - really not much of a thumb at all. They don't look like the other "digits". Cutest thing ever to see them holding something with their lil "nubs". I don't not know if Foxies are the same - Do the look red, irritated, or injured? Or just nubby?

[Sucker4SavingBabies]

I'm jealous of your walnut tree! We don't have them here in FL. Sounds like the water issue is probably just his young age, my baby girl is about 9 weeks and she wants nothing to do with water. The hamster bottle should work fine...that's what my boy uses. Thanks again for helping the little dude, he's cute!

[Balmy]

haha he sure is! I now have a setup with an old hamster bottle that drips a little over a tray that collects the water, but yea, the last squirrel I had didnt need formula when I got him, so i just didnt know what was normal for a little guy like this!



I'm jealous of your walnut tree! We don't have them here in FL. Sounds like the water issue is probably just his young age, my baby girl is about 9 weeks and she wants nothing to do with water. The hamster bottle should work fine...that's what my boy uses. Thanks again for helping the little dude, he's cute!