7-8 Week Old Passed

[bananamber]

3 days ago I rescued a young squirrel from my dog. By my best estimates, he's 7-8 weeks old but very light for his age at 115 grams.

He appeared completely fine after rescuing him. He was eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, running around, climbing and everything. Then this morning when I woke up he was laying on his belly in the middle of his cage, barely breathing, not moving much and barely able to keep his eyes open. I looked for injuries and listened to his breathing for signs of pneumonia, but he checked out fine.

Then at some point within the last hour or so he died silently in his sleep. I don't understand. What happened? He was perfectly healthy last night.

[Shewhosweptforest]

So sorry :shakehead the poor baby could have had internal injuries that weren't obvious :dono squirrels are masters at hiding their weaknesses.....and maybe didn't even know until something broke...dogs can do a lot of damage, sometimes not evident at the time :sadness I'm glad you were there to offer comfort :hug rest easy lil one :please

[stepnstone]

3 days ago I rescued a young squirrel from my dog. By my best estimates, he's 7-8 weeks old but very light for his age at 115 grams.
He appeared completely fine after rescuing him. He was eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, running around, climbing and everything. Then this morning when I woke up he was laying on his belly in the middle of his cage, barely breathing, not moving much and barely able to keep his eyes open. I looked for injuries and listened to his breathing for signs of pneumonia, but he checked out fine.
Then at some point within the last hour or so he died silently in his sleep. I don't understand. What happened?
He was perfectly healthy last night.
Obviously he wasn't, healthy squirrels just don't die like that without some sort of accident.
Dogs are shakers he could have had an internal injury/ internal bleeding, add that to the fact
that squirrels are hard wired not to show injury and without experienced eyes or a vet it can
be a crap shoot to try and figure out what happened.
You say he was eating drinking, I assume he was on formula? What kind and just what all was
he being fed?

[bananamber]

Obviously he wasn't, healthy squirrels just don't die like that without some sort of accident.
Dogs are shakers he could have had an internal injury/ internal bleeding, add that to the fact
that squirrels are hard wired not to show injury and without experienced eyes or a vet it can
be a crap shoot to try and figure out what happened.
You say he was eating drinking, I assume he was on formula? What kind and just what all was
he being fed?

His upper and lower teeth were developed and he was capable of eating solid food, so I've been feeding him carrots along with some lightly crushed up Harrison's (Adult Lifetime) bird food (http://store.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/ADULT-LIFETIME-COARSE/productinfo/ALC/) until the rodent block I ordered would arrive.

Is it possible the food I was feeding him did him in?

[UDoWhat]

We just took in 3 little ones a few weeks ago. They were very cold on intake. One died a few days after intake. The other two are doing fine. The clue to the one we lost was more than likely hypothermia. If a baby gets extremely cold the organs begin to shut down to preserve blood flow to the heart and brain or the vital organs. What we figured is that the one that died probably climbed out of the nest first looking for his mom and got caught out in a storm and a cold snap we had here in MD the night before they were found. I suspect the others, a little more timid, didn't come out of the nest until the next morning. The baby that died began to show signs of failure 2 days later and died the next day. My point is that he seemed fine when he first came in too. In my case based on the information from the finder we are sure he died after suffering extreme hypothermia. I am wondering if your precious one was very cold when you found him? Even before the dog got him he could have been down a while and just couldn't recover. His weight was pretty low for a baby that age. Which leads me to believe he was without his mom for a few days. This is just a theory.
I am am so sorry you lost this baby.:Love_Icon It is hard to see thus happen especially if you thought he was ok and doing normal squirrely things. Thank you for helping this baby. He needed you. Rest peacefully little one. :sad

[bananamber]

It was a cool day (Lower 50°Fs and overcast), but he felt warm to the touch. And due to his low weight, I too believe he was orphaned for 2 or 3 days prior. That combined with there being a dead adult eastern grey squirrel on the side of the road next to my house 1 or 2 days prior to finding him.

But hypothermia is possible considering where I found him and that my dog tried to attack him twice. The first time was when the squirrel wandered inside my house through my back door, my dog saw him way before me, he managed to escape the attack unharmed (or so I believe, but I could be wrong), the second time was 4-5 hours later, it was huddled up against the back of my house not very far away from the door it came in through. I took my dog out and she noticed the squirrel a split second before me. Fortunately I was quick enough to grapple her and wrestle her inside before she could get ahold of the squirrel again. I don't know the normal behaviors of wild baby squirrels, but I thought it was a little strange that in that entire time of me getting my dog inside and getting a box that he did not move, and when I went to put him in the box, it simply sat there and batted my hand away while making growling-like noises. But within minutes of giving it some food, it instantly became lively.

If this gives any hints, a couple of time while he was still alive, once or twice a day when he was at the top of his cage, he would let out 4 or 5 loud screech-like calls (Sounds exactly like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxr53i2lI8s). I'm also 99% sure I heard the same call the night before rescuing him coming from the same area I found him.

Also, one other thing. Sometimes he would sit up, but have his head down, with the top of his head touching the floor. I'm fairly sure he was sleeping every time he did that. I found that a strange sleeping position.

[UDoWhat]

Sitting tucked under with their head down is a sure sign a squirrel is sick. Poor little baby. :Love_Icon Also baby squirrels have a curious way of seeking human help when they are in desperate need of help. They are unique in this way because most other mammal babies will hide or run from humans. I can't tell you how many finders have called me and said a baby squirrels has climbed on them. I tell them that the baby is desperately trying to ask for help. They will follow humans trying to get help too.

All of the signs and behaviors you described are typical hungry, sick and / or injuried baby squirrel behaviors. The sound he made was a call for his mother or for help. Please look around the next day or two because there may just be another desparate little one. It seems quite possible that the dead adult squirrel by your house was his mother.

This baby would have died a lonely, scared, cold death if not for you. You allowed him to pass warm and comforted and to feel the love and caring that he sought from your when he came in your door. Thank you for caring. :Love_Icon

I hope you will will stick around TSB and read and learn about these wonderful babies. Once you find a baby squirrel others will find you in the future. I don't know how .... they just do. :grouphug

[bananamber]

Thank you for all the help. I will definitely stick around and learn. I can't say no to helping orphaned baby wildlife.

[stepnstone]

His upper and lower teeth were developed and he was capable of eating solid food, so I've been feeding him carrots along with some lightly crushed up Harrison's (Adult Lifetime) bird food (http://store.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/ADULT-LIFETIME-COARSE/productinfo/ALC/) until the rodent block I ordered would arrive.
Is it possible the food I was feeding him did him in?
Baby teeth, not fully developed.
At 7-8 weeks he still would have been nursing momma and should have been on formula.

[bananamber]

I just want to note there is a good chance my age estimation is off by more than a negligible amount.

This is one of the only picture I Have of him, taken about 1 hour after rescue. His total body length (From top of his head to his butt) was 4 1/2 inches. He was upgraded to a larger cage later on, and I was planning on moving him into an even larger cage when grew a little bigger.