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rottilvr79
08-31-2016, 01:11 PM
First a little background on this group of babies. I got them from a tree climber last Thursday. He'd had them for a few days before that. He lives in a camper trailer with no electricity, and all he had to feed them was a can of condensed milk and no way of heating it. It's 3 babies from 2 different nests, maybe a week apart in age. The youngest group had 3 in the litter, 2 of them died before I got them. I ended up with 3 total, 2 from the older group, and one from the younger. The 2 from the oldest group are doing great, gaining weight and eating 5-7cc's at each feeding (they eat Esbilac). The younger one just seems "off." His eyes are starting to open, so he may be a little older than I thought, but he's still only 44 grams and just looks puny. He wants to nurse, but can't seem to latch onto the nipple. And almost every time he eats milk comes out of his nose, no matter how slowly and gently we go, and it's a struggle to get him to take more than 2ccs. We seem to have better luck feeding him, then letting him rest while we feed the others, then offering him more. He reminds me of a puppy with a cleft pallet. Is that possible? Any other suggestions on how to care for him?
He's not doing any clicking or sneezing, but I'm thinking I should start him on some Doxy just in case? I have some compounded liquid Doxy that's 20mg per ml. How much should I give him?

Sara in NW MS
08-31-2016, 01:48 PM
This baby sounds really tiny for his age. Pictures of him would help a lot.
Someone with some experience will be on here soon and help out with the meds. I'll be praying for this little one.

rottilvr79
08-31-2016, 01:53 PM
he IS tiny for his age, and hasn't really gained much weight. I'll try to get some good pics up soon.

ALittleNutty
08-31-2016, 01:55 PM
I can't advise on meds. Sorry to hear this little on is having so much trouble. I do believe a cleft palate is possible. Can you check the roof of his mouth? Maybe a toothpick (think a dog holding a stick in it's mouth) could be used to gently open the mouth enough to check. That is tiny but I have had severely compromised babies open their eyes early. Pics would really help.

Daisey007
08-31-2016, 02:08 PM
Where are you located? Perhaps someone could help you with the youngest "puny" one...

rottilvr79
08-31-2016, 03:29 PM
He was 48 grams today. The other two are 92 and 98 grams. Eyes are completely open now. One of the older (or at least I thought they were older) one's opened Monday, the other bigger one hasn't started to open yet. Here are a couple of pics, of him alone, and him with the bigger babies.
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Oh, I'm in north Alabama. I work at a vet clinic. One of our Dr's looked in his mouth. She said is looked different, compared to the other ones, but couldn't see well enough to tell if it was a cleft pallet or not.

Sara in NW MS
08-31-2016, 03:42 PM
He's tiny, that's for sure and just as precious as can be! Do you have any pics of his face/nose? Is there anything abnormal about the way it looks or does it look "different" inside his mouth only? You have your very own Tiny Tim, what a beautiful baby. The others are adorable also... I can't leave them out. Beautiful little babies!!

:serene

NickieJune
08-31-2016, 05:14 PM
Yes my baby Alvin is so cute and small. I have some of all of them on my phone. Rotti is my mother btw. He has no abnormalities and nothing wrong with him other than a cleft pallet i named the middle baby Simon and the biggest Theodore. My babies Theo amd Alvin both have their eyes open now.:Love_Icon

rottilvr79
08-31-2016, 08:32 PM
Does anyone know the doxy dose for him? I have liquid, 20mg/ml. He's not clicking, or sneezing. But, I think I should give some preemptively.
He seems to be doing a little better with our feed/rest/feed schedule. But I still worry about him.
Nickie, who posted the other pics, is my 17 year old daughter. She's the one who is mostly responsible for them. these are her first babies. I take them to work during the day while she's at school. But, other than that, she does most of the work. She's doing a great job, I'm proud of her for the work she's putting into them.

Nancy in New York
08-31-2016, 09:15 PM
Does anyone know the doxy dose for him? I have liquid, 20mg/ml. He's not clicking, or sneezing. But, I think I should give some preemptively.
He seems to be doing a little better with our feed/rest/feed schedule. But I still worry about him.
Nickie, who posted the other pics, is my 17 year old daughter. She's the one who is mostly responsible for them. these are her first babies. I take them to work during the day while she's at school. But, other than that, she does most of the work. She's doing a great job, I'm proud of her for the work she's putting into them.

I can dose doxy but if this is for suspected aspiration pneumonia, this is not the
drug you want.
Do you have Clavamox or Baytril?
What size syringes are you using, and are you using a nipple.
With his weight being so small, I do wonder if he could be a dwarf.
If you could get some more photos of him head on, that would help.
Typically with dwarfs squirrels, their tongues are larger/thicker (if I recall correctly)
so he may have a problem swallowing. :dono

rottilvr79
08-31-2016, 09:56 PM
I can dose doxy but if this is for suspected aspiration pneumonia, this is not the
drug you want.
Do you have Clavamox or Baytril?
What size syringes are you using, and are you using a nipple.
With his weight being so small, I do wonder if he could be a dwarf.
If you could get some more photos of him head on, that would help.
Typically with dwarfs squirrels, their tongues are larger/thicker (if I recall correctly)
so he may have a problem swallowing. :dono

I can get either of those antibiotics. We have both at work. I guess I was having a major brain fart. I KNEW Baytril was the drug of choice for squirrels, but for some reason was mixing it up with Doxy. lol We have Baytril in chewable pill form, and injectable, maybe even in a liquid. And we have Clavamox tablets and suspension (62mg/ml, but it's a powder, so I can always add more or less water). If you can give me the dose, I can try do the math. I'm still not 100% sure he even needs them. He isn't acting like he has pneumonia. I was just trying to stop it before it started.
We use 1cc syringes with the nipples I ordered from Henry's. The same thing I've used with babies for the last 3 years. I know I haven't taken care of as many babies as most of you, bust this is the third year in a row that I've gotten a group, and they always seem to come in 3's. lol I lost one baby last year, but everyone else has done great. I've never seen one like this. He confuses me. There's just something "different" with him. He's holding his own with the pattern we've set up, has even gained a gram between lunch and his last feeding. But, he's obviously not "normal." I think dwarf would be a good description for him. I wish I could have seen the other 2 out of his litter. I would like to know if they just died from lack of care, or if it there was maybe something wrong with all of them?
I'll try to get some face pics when he's up for his next feeling. Dr C didn't say anything about his tongue but she said it looked almost like a lump or something on the roof of his mouth?
Thanks for any advice. :Love_Icon This baby just confuses me. lol

Nancy in New York
08-31-2016, 10:30 PM
I can get either of those antibiotics. We have both at work. I guess I was having a major brain fart. I KNEW Baytril was the drug of choice for squirrels, but for some reason was mixing it up with Doxy. lol We have Baytril in chewable pill form, and injectable, maybe even in a liquid. And we have Clavamox tablets and suspension (62mg/ml, but it's a powder, so I can always add more or less water). If you can give me the dose, I can try do the math. I'm still not 100% sure he even needs them. He isn't acting like he has pneumonia. I was just trying to stop it before it started.
We use 1cc syringes with the nipples I ordered from Henry's. The same thing I've used with babies for the last 3 years. I know I haven't taken care of as many babies as most of you, bust this is the third year in a row that I've gotten a group, and they always seem to come in 3's. lol I lost one baby last year, but everyone else has done great. I've never seen one like this. He confuses me. There's just something "different" with him. He's holding his own with the pattern we've set up, has even gained a gram between lunch and his last feeding. But, he's obviously not "normal." I think dwarf would be a good description for him. I wish I could have seen the other 2 out of his litter. I would like to know if they just died from lack of care, or if it there was maybe something wrong with all of them?
I'll try to get some face pics when he's up for his next feeling. Dr C didn't say anything about his tongue but she said it looked almost like a lump or something on the roof of his mouth?
Thanks for any advice. :Love_Icon This baby just confuses me. lol

Baytril used to be the drug of choice for squirrels, but it has built up a resistance, so now Clavamox is the new Baytril. :)
Yes, if you have Clavamox powder that's great! BUT hold off dosing. It's just good information to have.
I will send you pages from the WMB book through a pm for both Clavamox and Baytril.

DaSquirrelMom
08-31-2016, 10:38 PM
First a little background on this group of babies. I got them from a tree climber last Thursday. He'd had them for a few days before that. He lives in a camper trailer with no electricity, and all he had to feed them was a can of condensed milk and no way of heating it. It's 3 babies from 2 different nests, maybe a week apart in age. The youngest group had 3 in the litter, 2 of them died before I got them. I ended up with 3 total, 2 from the older group, and one from the younger. The 2 from the oldest group are doing great, gaining weight and eating 5-7cc's at each feeding (they eat Esbilac). The younger one just seems "off." His eyes are starting to open, so he may be a little older than I thought, but he's still only 44 grams and just looks puny. He wants to nurse, but can't seem to latch onto the nipple. And almost every time he eats milk comes out of his nose, no matter how slowly and gently we go, and it's a struggle to get him to take more than 2ccs. We seem to have better luck feeding him, then letting him rest while we feed the others, then offering him more. He reminds me of a puppy with a cleft pallet. Is that possible? Any other suggestions on how to care for him?
He's not doing any clicking or sneezing, but I'm thinking I should start him on some Doxy just in case? I have some compounded liquid Doxy that's 20mg per ml. How much should I give him?
I cared for a squirrel with a cleft palate. Her upper palate also had a hole in it which led to one of her nasal sinuses. She sneezed or had aspiration symptoms every time I fed her because milk was going up into her nose. Because of her deformity, she never grew any upper incisors.

rottilvr79
08-31-2016, 10:41 PM
Baytril used to be the drug of choice for squirrels, but it has built up a resistance, so now Clavamox is the new Baytril. :)
Yes, if you have Clavamox powder that's great! BUT hold off dosing. It's just good information to have.
I will send you pages from the WMB book through a pm for both Clavamox and Baytril.

Thank you very much.
One of the advantages of working at a clinic is that I can usually get meds, and bring babies to work with me. :grin3 But, it's still hard to find a Dr with a lot of wildlife experience. My Dr's are great, but (other than what I drag in) don't see a lot of wildlife. lol And our wildlife laws make it difficult to find other local people who know about them. Most of my knowledge comes from what I've read on here, gut instinct, and blind luck. lol So, thank you to anyone I've picked up tips from. :serene

NickieJune
08-31-2016, 11:39 PM
Heres some close ups of baby Alvin. My bigger babies are scratching to get out and eat even when its not feeding time lol. They are starvin wittle fatties. Cx Sorry if they are bad, Alvin was being a wiggle worm:serene

NickieJune
08-31-2016, 11:46 PM
Few more cx may have gone overboard:serene He's reaching for the sky in some of them

cava
09-01-2016, 12:41 AM
I cared for a squirrel with a cleft palate. Her upper palate also had a hole in it which led to one of her nasal sinuses. She sneezed or had aspiration symptoms every time I fed her because milk was going up into her nose. Because of her deformity, she never grew any upper incisors.

What happened to her? Did she grow out of it? Was she released?

Nancy in New York
09-01-2016, 07:57 AM
Few more cx may have gone overboard:serene He's reaching for the sky in some of them

Alvin is just as precious as can be.
I was looking for signs to see if he was a little dwarf squirrel.
It's difficult to tell by the photos.
Their little ears seem to set lower on the side, their limbs are
stubbier/shorter.
There is something about the eyes as well, because regardless of
the age, they appear like they have "sleepy eyes".

Go to this link and look at some of the photos.
Chickenlegs is now on her 3rd little dwarf baby.
Regardless of what Alvin is or isn't......one thing for sure..........he's PRECIOUS beyond words! :klunk
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?52797-So-you-think-your-baby-is-different!

rottilvr79
09-01-2016, 10:21 AM
I'm not sure if that's what Alvin is or not. But, Punkin may be the cutest thing I've ever seen.
I have noticed that he does feel cold a lot, and tends to lay right on top of his rice bag. I'll try to notice his limbs and ears compared to the others/
Thanks again for all the information.

Mel1959
09-01-2016, 10:58 AM
I'm not sure if that's what Alvin is or not. But, Punkin may be the cutest thing I've ever seen.
I have noticed that he does feel cold a lot, and tends to lay right on top of his rice bag. I'll try to notice his limbs and ears compared to the others/
Thanks again for all the information.

Yes, dwarfs don't regulate their body temperature well. I have a dwarf named Joey and he almost always sleeps on his heating pad.

NickieJune
09-01-2016, 01:28 PM
He sorta looks like a dwarf in the face. Maybe he is and little dwarf. His legs are a little long and not short and stubby. His are long and skinny.