Dwarf squirrel

[Mommaluvy]

Ugh.. Now I can't get pics to upload !

Please hold while I email them to my computer ...

[Chickenlegs]

Welcome to a very small wonderful world! :grin3

[DarkLies212]

:worthless

[Gardentoes11]

Steph, I'd be happy to upload your pix for you if you wanna text them to me......

[squizzabelle]

:worthless

LOL!!!! :grin2 how true! X

[Mommaluvy]

I know .. I know LOL

Ok texting to Garden toes

[Daisey007]

I'd love to have a dwarf squirrel....

or a solid black or white would be cool too.

[Mommaluvy]

So annoying.. It won't let me post from here either :tap

Gardentoes will post when she gets a chance.. I am dying to know what y'all think. I put her next to a 6-7 week old in a few of the pics .

One is of her top teeth.. She has some after all. Buds.
Her bottoms are crooked.
She has low muscle tone and almost no grip . Small amount of trouble walking. She kinda waddles like a small ground hog.

[Gardentoes11]

Hmm, I'm having trouble uploading too--usually I can do it from my phone, but not today! Trying the laptop.... Nope, it looks like they're uploading, but as soon as they get finished, I get an error message that's in some kind of code. Maybe something's wrong with the website....? Anyone else having trouble? I'll try emailing a screenshot of the error thing to IR to see if she's able to figure anything out.

This baby really does look like Chickenlegs' dwarf babies. The differences show up clearly in the side by side pix. So adorable, though!

I'll email her your pix, too, Stephanie, & maybe she'll be able to post them for ya. Sorry I wasn't able to help. I'm really good at squeezing squirrels, though!

[Chickenlegs]

Aaaaaaaagh! Sounds like a mini miracle to me! Oh lord I can NOT wait to see your darling!

[DarkLies212]

Try resizing the picture. That usually works for me

[Mel1959]

Aaaaaaaagh! Sounds like a mini miracle to me! Oh lord I can NOT wait to see your darling!

ME TOO, ME TOO! :bliss:bliss

[island rehabber]

I've got the pix! **************CUTENESS ALERT CATEGORY 10************

[Nancy in New York]

OMG another dwarf! :klunk:Love_Icon:klunk

[Mommaluvy]

And she LOVES to be held and scritched. I could just do that alllll day long. She is going to break my heart.

[Mommaluvy]

So should I trim the bottom teeth ?

I have 179 days to figure out what will happen to her.
I may apply for an Ed permit . I have conflicting reports of ease verses denial)
She sure would be a good temperment for education programs I plan on doing.

So many things can happen in 179 days. My friends baby Dorthy died just 2-3 weeks after being taken in. She started seizing and could not stop and died.

So this one is going to be spoiled rotten as well as Dorthy was.

So

Is it normal for them to sleep so much? And she is a heavy sleeper!
She waddles and can not walk well . Normal?
How do I age her ?

[Daisey007]

So should I trim the bottom teeth ?

I have 179 days to figure out what will happen to her.
I may apply for an Ed permit . I have conflicting reports of ease verses denial)
She sure would be a good temperment for education programs I plan on doing.

So many things can happen in 179 days. My friends baby Dorthy died just 2-3 weeks after being taken in. She started seizing and could not stop and died.

So this one is going to be spoiled rotten as well as Dorthy was.

So

Is it normal for them to sleep so much? And she is a heavy sleeper!
She waddles and can not walk well . Normal?
How do I age her ?

Oh, so precious! So, by calling her a "dwarf", does that mean she's smaller and dumpier that other squirrels?

[Chickenlegs]

Oh, so precious! So, by calling her a "dwarf", does that mean she's smaller and dumpier that other squirrels?

She's an achondroplastic dwarf--Limbs are forshortened, joints are delicate, body is stocky. They "bumble" because their joints don't support their chunky little bodies well. There are developmental issues too. They can be high functioning or low functioning. Because of developmental issues they can have seizures. They are the absolutely sweetest creatures on the planet and anyone who falls in love with a dwarf is blessed. Thing is they don't have long lives. Be prepared to grieve--but the joy of life witha dwarf is worth the loss in the end. Please let any of us who have been blessed with a little miracle help you with your baby.

[island rehabber]

Mommaluvy, we have an entire special Forum here for Special Needs Squirrels, with a section just for those of you who are blessed with little Dwarf squirrels. Here is the link:

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?212-Downs-or-Achondroplastic-Dwarfism

I would be happy to move your thread in there; you will be in great company with Chickenlegs and others who have had at least one, and sometimes several, dwarf babies. There is so much that is different about these sweetest creatures, diet and otherwise, and you don't want to miss a thing! :grouphug

[ALittleNutty]

:klunk:klunk:klunk Oh what a cutie!!!

[pappy1264]

She is precious...but dear lord, WHY ARE YOU WEARING LEATHER GLOVES HOLDING HER?

[TubeDriver]

Very cute! Her top teeth look good, perhaps a bit short. Her bottom teeth look a tiny bit long but I would wait a little longer before trimming. See if she can regulate her own teeth by chewing.

[Mommaluvy]

She is precious...but dear lord, WHY ARE YOU WEARING LEATHER GLOVES HOLDING HER?

Long and crazy story about public photos, gloves, legalities and witch hunts and nonesense .

If I could get them to post I would post scritchy videos you would drool over.

[Mel1959]

Welcome to the wonderful world of dwarfs! My dwarf, Joey, is about a year old. We have had a rock-n-roll first year, but he is doing great now! Joey is high functioning and climbs fairly well. He is fed predominantly baby food via syringe. He still gets FV with Ultraboost and I add ground HHBs occasionally. My little man has megacolon so he is on two medications to help his upper and lower intestines move food and stool through. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have. Having a dwarf is a continual learning experience and we love to share what we've learned. :grouphug

[Mommaluvy]

Mel... I wonder if Tilly has mega colon also . She did not poop for 5 days.. Well she did.. It was just one little turd at a time. Then she " exploded" and there were like 100 turds in her container . Now we are back to one turdy.

I also think she is blind. There is something wrong with her vision.

She goes to the vet today for confirmation of her syndrome and a vet exam.

Still working on being able to upload pics .

[Mel1959]

Any news about Tilly? I was wondering how the visit to the vet went? What you described about the way Tilly potties sounds a lot like Joey. The way Dr. E described it to me was that because they are dwarf their neuro transmitters do not work as well as a normal squirrel. Then when you throw in the megacolon (which is just as it sounds, an oversized colon) it becomes difficult for them to propel their waste out of their bodies. The meds have helped tremendously. Around Easter time he was really sick. He lost a lot of weight and had blood in his stool.

Joey had an X-ray done and after seeing it I'm amazed that these little guys are mobile at all! Their joints are barely connected, which is why they bumble around. They also don't seem to be very coordinated. Joey loses his balance all the time.

Because Joey still takes formula and a wide variety of baby food, I don't worry too much about his nutrition. He eats some stuff on his own, like sugar snap peas, pollo tropicale chicken and cheddar bay biscuits. He also likes to play with his stuffies or my hand.

Can't wait to hear the latest on Tilly.

[Tai]

If you ever need a babysitter....:)

[Chickenlegs]

Can't wait to hear the latest on Tilly.

:yeahthat:yeahthat

[Mommaluvy]

Bahh I am sorry I thought I had updated.

But I see I have not! :tap bad me

Anyhow.. Tilly is blind. The doc refused to say she was dwarf . Her father, my regular vet is dying of cancer and he was not able to see us :sad

Yes .. She thinks her growth was stunted from falling out of the tree and going blind and was not able to find food on her own so the blindness has stunted her growth from poor nutrition. :grin3:klunk ooookay.

So she is neurological, blind, and has a misshapen cranium.

The good news is she thinks she would make an excellent program animal and encourage me to get her in a program . She says she would declare her non release able.

Now.. Before we all have a good laugh at the idea of likelihood of a blind 7 week old squirrel with no top teeth being able to wander the forest floor, evade predators, and find enough food to make her chunky ... The vet may be focusing on the blindness because my state has an Anotomically normal rule. So she may just be looking silly to protect Tilly .. If that made sense.

But because she is convinced of head trauma, which very well could be true, the vet blamed all the lethargy and the "holding of the poop" on the head trauma.as both are symptoms of neurological damage.
But Tilly enjoys her formula and her scritches so all is right in the world for now.

[Mel1959]

I'm sorry to hear that Tilly is blind. :sadness. I have no experience with blindness in squirrels, but I would think they can maneuver in a confined environment much the way a dog or cat would.

According to Dr. E the decisive way to determine dwarfism is with an X-ray. On an X-ray their weakened joints are clearly visible. It's really quite amazing that they can move around when you see the spaces between the joints. My Joeys knee joint, which is suppose to be perpindicular between the upper and lower leg bones, is actually in alignment with the two bones. This is why he bumbles when he crawls around. He actually can move quite fast if he wants to.

Please keep us updated on Tillys progress .... with pictures. :grin3. Most vets have no clue about dwarfism. She looks like a dwarf to me. You will know for sure when she's given proper nutrition and never gets any bigger than a 7 wk old squirrel!

[Scooterzmom]

Hi Mommaluvvy ::wave123

I, too, have a li ttle dwarf girl. She is now between 13 and 14 weeks old now but about the size of a 7 to 8 week old. She too has mega colon - it scared me to death when for some nearly 10 days all she would give me was a pin prick of a poopie a day... and then, suddenly she produced these huge ones. I mean, even my 1 kg 6 yr old boy never pooped that big. Not only were they huge but I got a truckload.

The solution I found to keep her regular is to give her oats & prune powdered baby cereal in her FV twice a day - i.e. morning and night. She doesn't always gulp it but I make sure she gets at least 7 to 10cc of it at each of those 2 feedings. She has now begun to nibble on some veggies - like kale - and I sometimes give her some root veggies & spinach organic baby food in the middle of her day. Knock on wood she's been very regular since. She'll usually give me a whole bunch of poopies at each feeding; actually, when it gets to the point when she starts fussing and squirming during the feeding that is usually her way of telling me that she's full and is starting to poop :grin2

They do sleep a lot, and they need to be kept warm, since they have trouble regulating their own body temp. She, too, is clumsy - still has trouble sitting up without falling over - but she does know how to climb and has short bursts of energy when all she wants to do is play and hand-wrestle with me.

Her teeth also are very short, barely showing on the top.

For all of this, they are such sweet souls... and I have never regretted taking her in among my NRs. She is currently sharing a rabbit cage with a little blind boy I have (he, too is quite small and seems to grow very slowly). We'll see what the future brings for the sweethearts. I'm just happy to have them around, they're both a joy and put a smile in my heart each and every time I pick one up.
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=277852&stc=1

[CritterMom]

Hi Mommaluvvy ::wave123

I, too, have a li ttle dwarf girl. She is now between 13 and 14 weeks old now but about the size of a 7 to 8 week old. She too has mega colon - it scared me to death when for some nearly 10 days all she would give me was a pin prick of a poopie a day... and then, suddenly she produced these huge ones. I mean, even my 1 kg 6 yr old boy never pooped that big. Not only were they huge but I got a truckload.

The solution I found to keep her regular is to give her oats & prune powdered baby cereal in her FV twice a day - i.e. morning and night. She doesn't always gulp it but I make sure she gets at least 7 to 10cc of it at each of those 2 feedings. She has now begun to nibble on some veggies - like kale - and I sometimes give her some root veggies & spinach organic baby food in the middle of her day. Knock on wood she's been very regular since. She'll usually give me a whole bunch of poopies at each feeding; actually, when it gets to the point when she starts fussing and squirming during the feeding that is usually her way of telling me that she's full and is starting to poop :grin2

They do sleep a lot, and they need to be kept warm, since they have trouble regulating their own body temp. She, too, is clumsy - still has trouble sitting up without falling over - but she does know how to climb and has short bursts of energy when all she wants to do is play and hand-wrestle with me.

Her teeth also are very short, barely showing on the top.

For all of this, they are such sweet souls... and I have never regretted taking her in among my NRs. She is currently sharing a rabbit cage with a little blind boy I have (he, too is quite small and seems to grow very slowly). We'll see what the future brings for the sweethearts. I'm just happy to have them around, they're both a joy and put a smile in my heart each and every time I pick one up.
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=277852&stc=1

You have a little BLACK dwarf? And you just whip her out like that with no warning to the rest of us?

[Scooterzmom]

You have a little BLACK dwarf? And you just whip her out like that with no warning to the rest of us?


Oh, sorry... I'm so used to black ones around here, it never occurred to me how different she may be. :thinking We have a fair amount of blacks in my neck of the woods. I raised more than a half dozen of them, but Ayanna is my first dwarf... black or grey.

[DarkLies212]

You have a little BLACK dwarf? And you just whip her out like that with no warning to the rest of us?

:yeahthat
And why doesn't she have her own thread?!?!

[Scooterzmom]

:yeahthat
And why doesn't she have her own thread?!?! I guess it's because with 6 NRs at home plus my fan club of releases out there my hands are full and I don't have much time to upkeep a thread hehe :grin3

[Shewhosweptforest]

Wow...you all are truly blessed :klunk I had the pleasure of babysitting Kenzi (Chickenlegs first dwarf) I loved him dearly...he was the sweetest little fellow:Love_Icon I still miss him and get tears in my eyes...and a hitch in my heart when I think of him:sadness but it's a blessing to be touched by these precious babies "touched by an Angel" :grin3

And yes, yes....Scooterzmom is exactly right....they do need heat...that's very important.....I remember Kenzi feeling cold like he had passed...he was slow and sluggish....I put him on a heating pad and he was a different lil guy...scared me to death:eek I was always sad when Pat picked him up (missing him) but relieved he made it home ok....he just seemed very fragile....but as Pat can explain he was a lower functioning dwarf....her girls now are much higher functioning :great

And yes Scooterzmom....we need more pics of Aryanna in her own thread as Darklies suggested :tap :grin3 you shouldn't be holding out on us :hug

And more pics of precious Tilly :klunk she looks just like a dwarf :Love_Icon I think you're going to have an amazing time with her Mommaluvy.....and she was so lucky to make her way to you :bowdown

[Shewhosweptforest]

I guess it's because with 6 NRs at home plus my fan club of releases out there my hands are full and I don't have much time to upkeep a thread hehe :grin3

Well that does make sense :grin3 your cup runneth over :eek but have mercy on us :please

[Scooterzmom]

Tilly is just adorable! A real sweetheart, Mommyluvvy. And because they need such special care she's lucky to have found you. We need more pics!!!! :Love_Icon

[Mel1959]

You have a little BLACK dwarf? And you just whip her out like that with no warning to the rest of us?

Oh my, Ayanna is striking! I can't get over how beautiful black squirrels are. In Florida we only have greys.

My dwarf, Joey, is on two different Rx's for megacolon. When he was first diagnosed with it he had loose stools for about 4 mths. The stool was so backed up in him that he was passing it all the time. And it smelled horrible from the bacteria. Since he's been on the medicine he goes almost every day. It is the way you describe, though, 1 pellet and then about 10 all at once. It has been a welcome change from the loose stools.

I am going to try to find some of the oats and prune baby cereal. It's a great idea. If not I will just get the prune babyfood and add it to his other babyfood.

I would love to hear more about your experiences with Ayanna and also see more pictures! She's a beauty. :Love_Icon

[Mommaluvy]

I'm sorry to hear that Tilly is blind. :sadness. I have no experience with blindness in squirrels, but I would think they can maneuver in a confined environment much the way a dog or cat would.

According to Dr. E the decisive way to determine dwarfism is with an X-ray. On an X-ray their weakened joints are clearly visible. It's really quite amazing that they can move around when you see the spaces between the joints. My Joeys knee joint, which is suppose to be perpindicular between the upper and lower leg bones, is actually in alignment with the two bones. This is why he bumbles when he crawls around. He actually can move quite fast if he wants to.

Please keep us updated on Tillys progress .... with pictures. :grin3. Most vets have no clue about dwarfism. She looks like a dwarf to me. You will know for sure when she's given proper nutrition and never gets any bigger than a 7 wk old squirrel!

Funny you mention that about the joints. She seems like she has " lax" joints to me. My daughter actually has Down Syndrome.. and while the squirrel version is more dwarf like.. I can easily see why this was also called down syndrome squirrels.

Anyhow.. Tilly is still just hanging in there loving it up. She does still appear blind and does not respond much to the pupil light test and responds less to the " coming at you " hand test. That said.. I have other squirrels who call my bluff when I pretend I am going to poke em in the eye with something Sudden movement.. or act like I am going to slap them. So.. Dunno how accurate that test is. ( the Vet showed me that one ) .

So far.. she is just hanging in there. I " think" she may have had a seizure. But now I am thinking she jst got her toenail stuck in a wildlife rescue nest cause I never saw it again. I have a monitor with her when I am not with her and one day she just began screaming and holding her paw funny. So it could have been a seizure. But we have seen no more. She is gaining weight, but not growing.

[Mommaluvy]

And I have not figured out how to upload pics ! It used to work but now it does not. I'll see about getting more to someone who can upoadthem for me.

[Scooterzmom]

And I have not figured out how to upload pics ! It used to work but now it does not. I'll see about getting more to someone who can upoadthem for me.You can look up my e-mails and send me the pics you want to upload and I'll see what I can do for you.

[Mommaluvy]

Finally the pics work again !

Tilly has been doing fine. Still no top teeth . BUT
. Her poop tuned black this evening . I smooshed the solid poo between gauze And it's blood. And this evening she started bleeding rectally. Of course it happens on Friday after five and my vet retired and is actually dying of cancer. His daughter is managing the practice. She's good but over worked . Sigh.

I remember that they can have digestive issues and short lives...

She is maybe 12 weeks. Her main food is still formula. FV20/50. Blind. Cause unknown. Dwarfism. Over 130 grams. It she is chubby though for her small stature. 279807 The poo was solid.. like a thick clot. But coming out of her solid . So "poop" - like solid blood nuggets.
Is this part of "the digestive issues ??"


I fear I am going to loose her. I have no idea how to stop internal bleeding like that.
So she is on Fluffer fleece and lovin's

279808

[SammysMom]

She is precious...I will see if anyone who is more knowledgeable is around.

[Mommaluvy]

I texted my vet - who said coccidia.
Now - like in the last hour she is pooping what looks like her formula - from 7 :30 - just looks like bloody formula.
No stenchy smell.
I think it's a GI thing. My mom had a cat who the vet said had had a stroke-" threw a clot " and Goldy puked blood everywhere rather suddenly. This reminds me of that. Only the other end.

So fluids - and baycox have been given but I think it's more than that.

[SammysMom]

Do you have any Metro/Flagyl?

[Mommaluvy]

Do you have any Metro/Flagyl?

No. only SMZ Tmp but can get it in the morning.( well and I have Amox and clavamox and baytril by the boatload.. clindamicin too. .. but no metro :( )

[Chickenlegs]

Talk to mel. She can help you contact Dr E. Her Joey had major digestive issues and Dr. E got him through it. Coccidia stinks. Haven't heard of a case of Coccidia that wasn't reeky. Prayers for your sweetheart.

[stepnstone]

I fear I am going to loose her. I have no idea how to stop internal bleeding like that.

Vitamin K-1 could help, don't remember the issue now but it is what my vet prescribed for internal bleeding in one of mine
and also for a suspected consumption of rat poisoning in another. Not just vitamin K, it had to be K-1


Vitamin K is a group of structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamins the human body requires for complete synthesis of certain proteins that are prerequisites for blood coagulation that the body needs for controlling binding of calcium in bones and other tissues. The vitamin K-related modification of the proteins allows them to bind calcium ions, which they cannot do otherwise. Without vitamin K, blood coagulation is seriously impaired, and uncontrolled bleeding occurs. Low levels of vitamin K also weaken bones and promote calcification of arteries and other soft tissues.

[Mommaluvy]

She made it through the night and her bottom is blood free and her poo is a golden brown nugget. It's like nothing ever happened.

But there is something going on. This is not behaving like coccidia. She did have solid white poo 4 days ago. I know in humans that's like a liver thing ??

How do I contact Dr E

[stepnstone]

Sending you pm...

[Mel1959]

How are things going with this little one? Did you talk with Dr. E?