Hello from South Central Florida

[carrieb]

Hello and good morning!

I was referred to this board by a member of Wildlife Rescue Coalition of Northeast Florida as a place to gain information. I'm currently fostering a male grey squirrel who is approximately 5 to 6 weeks old. Our grandson found him and his brother on the ground mid day on Monday when we were cleaning up after Irma. I saw no mother squirrel hanging around and we have a large population of feral cats in my neighborhood so I chose to take them in. Unfortunately his brother didn't make it through the day.

I attempted making contact from the beginning with a few local rehabbers and received no response from anyone. I know we've all been through a big storm and everyone is busy. It is now a week later and I have yet to receive a call from any of them. It's kind of disheartening.

With all that said ... I moved on. I have been relying upon care information from several online resources. The Wildlife Rescue Coalition of Northeast Florida has an excellent site: orphanedwildlifecare.com and squirrelsandmore.com is another great resource if you need help now.

From those sources I was able to begin to help them out. I was able to get them warmed and begin the rehydration process from information on the orphan care site. I was able to purchase supplies (nipples and syringes) and the correct Ebislac formula from squirrels and more. I had the opportunity to speak with Christina Clark and she is a wealth of information on squirrel care.

I call this little guy Eenie 293303

Eenie weighs 71 grams as of this morning. He is eating well, pooping, peeing and is very active.

The things I am interested in learning about now are
how much should I be feeding him and how often?

I recalculated his formula amount after his weigh in this morning and unless if any one corrects me he will receive 4.97 or 5-1ml syringes of formula.
He has been being fed every 3-4 hours and last night was our first night that he didn't have a night time feeding. He was fed at 9:30pm and fed again at 5am

I have mazuri rat block on order and wonder how much and how often should he get it? Is he old enough to have it now?

He has a new multi level ferret cage on order with a water bottle. I stepped him up to a larger cage yesterday as he's outgrown the tote.
Is he too young to go to the ferret cage and begin using a water bottle?

I am wondering about socialization with him. He is an only squirrel so how much should socialization should he be getting if any? I keep him pretty isolated when he's not being fed.

What kinds of toys/chewing things should he have?

Would anyone like to share pictures of their squirrel's cages so that I can get ideas?

I will appreciate any help, tips and suggestions.

Thanks!
CarrieB

[muggsy'sgm]

I'm no expert, either...and it's sometimes a little difficult to get the experts on here to reply. I'll do my best, based on the same type of research you've done...and on my experience with Muggsy, a now 12 week old grey (who we've had since his eyes were closed).

The Mazuri block or Kaytees: you should begin putting in with him now, or as soon as you get it. He may not do much more than nibble or shred it, but it gets him used to it.
I currently put 2 blocks in with Muggsy, along with vegetables and Henry's Hi Protein Block and a block I made from a mix from squirrelnutrition.com.

Be careful with the Ferret Nation cage...I've heard the bars are 1/2" apart, and that may be too big for a grey's feet. But, that being said, there are people on TSB that use the ferret cages with great success.
I bought the Critter Nation cage from the same manufacturer of the Ferret Nation...and it's bars are much tighter spaced.

Water bottle: just show him how to use it, and he will eventually take to it.

We put Muggsy into the double cage, with the middle floor in place (to minimize distance from falls), when he was about 8 weeks old. I was advised that that may be too much space, but we filled it with fleecies and hammocks and toys...and made sure he couldn't fall onto anything hard or jagged. We have begun to slowly open up the space inside for him to be more acrobatic. We also allow him free range of a squirrel-proofed room where his cage is, two or three times a day. His total out of cage time each day is an hour or so.

Muggsy still takes Fox Valley 20/50 once a day...at bedtime. He takes about 8-10 cc's, and then goes right to sleep. He doesn't want formula any other time of day.

I've got some pics on my profile of Muggsy's set up from a couple of weeks ago. I'll update soon.

Toys: parrot toys (I go for the natural ones...the bright colored dyed stuff scares me), toilet paper tubes cut up into little circles, small dog toys without squeakers or hard eyes or beanie stuffing, oak or pecan branches from the yard, hangable bridges and hammocks, kleenex boxes with or without kleenex. I also just ordered a tall cat tree for the squirrel room.

Socialization: Muggsy has a bit of a neuro issue, from what we've observed. He loves all humans, but cannot stand the sound of dogs. I've not allowed our dogs or cats into the room he's in, but he's smelled them as we've carried him through the house in his pet carrier. No reaction there.
At the vet (he had an abscess on his belly that we had to have taken care of), he didn't mind being handled...even by strangers.

I guess it depends on your goal, as far as socialization goes. If you want to release him one day, then I've read on here that minimal contact is the goal after immediate infancy.
We have decided to have Muggsy become a member of our family. Therefore, we socialize with him multiple times a day. (It is legal in Florida, by the way, to have as a pet a grey squirrel...for better or worse.)

Sorry for the lengthy reply. I saw your questions, and they reminded me so of me. I'm in Northwest FL, in the Panhandle. Hope some of these answers are decent.

Some good sources for supplies I've found: amazon, 1800petsupplies, squirrelnutrition, and petco.

Regards,
Billie (Muggsy's GM)

[cava]

Hello and good morning!

I was referred to this board by a member of Wildlife Rescue Coalition of Northeast Florida as a place to gain information. I'm currently fostering a male grey squirrel who is approximately 5 to 6 weeks old. Our grandson found him and his brother on the ground mid day on Monday when we were cleaning up after Irma. I saw no mother squirrel hanging around and we have a large population of feral cats in my neighborhood so I chose to take them in. Unfortunately his brother didn't make it through the day.

I attempted making contact from the beginning with a few local rehabbers and received no response from anyone. I know we've all been through a big storm and everyone is busy. It is now a week later and I have yet to receive a call from any of them. It's kind of disheartening.

With all that said ... I moved on. I have been relying upon care information from several online resources. The Wildlife Rescue Coalition of Northeast Florida has an excellent site: orphanedwildlifecare.com and squirrelsandmore.com is another great resource if you need help now.

From those sources I was able to begin to help them out. I was able to get them warmed and begin the rehydration process from information on the orphan care site. I was able to purchase supplies (nipples and syringes) and the correct Ebislac formula from squirrels and more. I had the opportunity to speak with Christina Clark and she is a wealth of information on squirrel care.

I call this little guy Eenie 293303

Eenie weighs 71 grams as of this morning. He is eating well, pooping, peeing and is very active.

The things I am interested in learning about now are
how much should I be feeding him and how often?

I recalculated his formula amount after his weigh in this morning and unless if any one corrects me he will receive 4.97 or 5-1ml syringes of formula.
He has been being fed every 3-4 hours and last night was our first night that he didn't have a night time feeding. He was fed at 9:30pm and fed again at 5am

I have mazuri rat block on order and wonder how much and how often should he get it? Is he old enough to have it now?

He has a new multi level ferret cage on order with a water bottle. I stepped him up to a larger cage yesterday as he's outgrown the tote.
Is he too young to go to the ferret cage and begin using a water bottle?

I am wondering about socialization with him. He is an only squirrel so how much should socialization should he be getting if any? I keep him pretty isolated when he's not being fed.

What kinds of toys/chewing things should he have?

Would anyone like to share pictures of their squirrel's cages so that I can get ideas?

I will appreciate any help, tips and suggestions.

Thanks!
CarrieB

First of all, welcome and thank you for helping this adorable guy. Sometimes emergencies with critical squirrels stack up on the board and posts like yours are overlooked. Sorry about that. Thanks for the photo.

Yes, you are feeding the correct amount based on his weight. He should be fed four to five times a day and have no more than a seven hour break overnight. It looks like you have the correct habitat. Remember to keep a heating pad on low under half of the bin.

I understand you don't want to tame him, but babies do need a fair amount of touch and stimulation in order to thrive so I think it would be good for you to interact with him more. He will gain weight faster, be brighter and happier. He will wild up once he is out in his release cage and will be better for having received lots of love from his mommy beforehand.

You can put blocks in his enclosure, but he probably won't eat them for a while. It's ok to expose him to them and let him nibble and play with them. He will be on formula for many more weeks so they aren't meant to be a major source of food yet.

Lots of rehabbers continue to stimulate baby to pee and poop even after they can do it on their own to make sure they are fully eliminating, to document how much and what's coming out and to keep the bin cleaner.

I'm sure you know but keep him in a quiet environment, up off of the floor and away from loud children, barking dogs, etc. And never let him around house pets. It only takes one moment for a tragedy to happen.

You can use stuffed animals for toys, or even a balled up sock. Also toilet paper rolls, crumpled up paper towel are fun. You may want to give him a few more weeks before you introduce outside things like sticks. The best toy he will have will be you!

Hope I've answered everything, ask if you have more questions!

[carrieb]

I'm no expert, either...and it's sometimes a little difficult to get the experts on here to reply. I'll do my best, based on the same type of research you've done...and on my experience with Muggsy, a now 12 week old grey (who we've had since his eyes were closed).

The Mazuri block or Kaytees: you should begin putting in with him now, or as soon as you get it. He may not do much more than nibble or shred it, but it gets him used to it.
I currently put 2 blocks in with Muggsy, along with vegetables and Henry's Hi Protein Block and a block I made from a mix from squirrelnutrition.com.

Be careful with the Ferret Nation cage...I've heard the bars are 1/2" apart, and that may be too big for a grey's feet. But, that being said, there are people on TSB that use the ferret cages with great success.
I bought the Critter Nation cage from the same manufacturer of the Ferret Nation...and it's bars are much tighter spaced.

Water bottle: just show him how to use it, and he will eventually take to it.

We put Muggsy into the double cage, with the middle floor in place (to minimize distance from falls), when he was about 8 weeks old. I was advised that that may be too much space, but we filled it with fleecies and hammocks and toys...and made sure he couldn't fall onto anything hard or jagged. We have begun to slowly open up the space inside for him to be more acrobatic. We also allow him free range of a squirrel-proofed room where his cage is, two or three times a day. His total out of cage time each day is an hour or so.

Muggsy still takes Fox Valley 20/50 once a day...at bedtime. He takes about 8-10 cc's, and then goes right to sleep. He doesn't want formula any other time of day.

I've got some pics on my profile of Muggsy's set up from a couple of weeks ago. I'll update soon.

Toys: parrot toys (I go for the natural ones...the bright colored dyed stuff scares me), toilet paper tubes cut up into little circles, small dog toys without squeakers or hard eyes or beanie stuffing, oak or pecan branches from the yard, hangable bridges and hammocks, kleenex boxes with or without kleenex. I also just ordered a tall cat tree for the squirrel room.

Socialization: Muggsy has a bit of a neuro issue, from what we've observed. He loves all humans, but cannot stand the sound of dogs. I've not allowed our dogs or cats into the room he's in, but he's smelled them as we've carried him through the house in his pet carrier. No reaction there.
At the vet (he had an abscess on his belly that we had to have taken care of), he didn't mind being handled...even by strangers.

I guess it depends on your goal, as far as socialization goes. If you want to release him one day, then I've read on here that minimal contact is the goal after immediate infancy.
We have decided to have Muggsy become a member of our family. Therefore, we socialize with him multiple times a day. (It is legal in Florida, by the way, to have as a pet a grey squirrel...for better or worse.)

Sorry for the lengthy reply. I saw your questions, and they reminded me so of me. I'm in Northwest FL, in the Panhandle. Hope some of these answers are decent.

Some good sources for supplies I've found: amazon, 1800petsupplies, squirrelnutrition, and petco.

Regards,
Billie (Muggsy's GM)

Hi Billie,

Thank you for your reply and sorry I'm just getting back to you it has been pretty busy around here. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. Your information has been very helpful.

I am still kind of stuck on the food. He's taking his formula well and is up to 8cc's at each feeding. He weighs 114grams as of this morning. I have introduced the Mazuri block to him. I put two in his cage and he doesn't eat the whole things. Mainly it looks like he shreds them and plays with them.

I've introduced him to peeled grapes, cantaloupe and he likes them but not as much as avocado. I give him a variety of other veggies like kale, broccoli, carrot matchsticks and different types of lettuces. He doesn't touch them and he doesn't eat so much of the fruit either since he got a taste for avocado. I'm going look at the other blocks that you had mentioned and research what veggies other people are having luck with.

I think he's about 7 weeks old and was wondering if he's still kinda young for some of the solid foods. I cut them up into small pieces so that he could hold them but he's not so interested in that. He seems to like being syringe fed.

His cage came and we blocked off the lower level and gave him a small box to hide in. The bars are a bit wide but he's doing ok with it. So far so good but it really has been only a few hours and we really needed to get him out of that temporary cage. It was a modified cardboard box and he had taken to hanging on the screen and peeing. I sure hope he doesn't do that in this cage. I thought it was funny but now I'm thinking if he gets any pressure behind that pee to make a stream it could get messy.

Thanks so much for your help!
CarrieB

[carrieb]

First of all, welcome and thank you for helping this adorable guy. Sometimes emergencies with critical squirrels stack up on the board and posts like yours are overlooked. Sorry about that. Thanks for the photo.

Yes, you are feeding the correct amount based on his weight. He should be fed four to five times a day and have no more than a seven hour break overnight. It looks like you have the correct habitat. Remember to keep a heating pad on low under half of the bin.

I understand you don't want to tame him, but babies do need a fair amount of touch and stimulation in order to thrive so I think it would be good for you to interact with him more. He will gain weight faster, be brighter and happier. He will wild up once he is out in his release cage and will be better for having received lots of love from his mommy beforehand.

You can put blocks in his enclosure, but he probably won't eat them for a while. It's ok to expose him to them and let him nibble and play with them. He will be on formula for many more weeks so they aren't meant to be a major source of food yet.

Lots of rehabbers continue to stimulate baby to pee and poop even after they can do it on their own to make sure they are fully eliminating, to document how much and what's coming out and to keep the bin cleaner.

I'm sure you know but keep him in a quiet environment, up off of the floor and away from loud children, barking dogs, etc. And never let him around house pets. It only takes one moment for a tragedy to happen.

You can use stuffed animals for toys, or even a balled up sock. Also toilet paper rolls, crumpled up paper towel are fun. You may want to give him a few more weeks before you introduce outside things like sticks. The best toy he will have will be you!

Hope I've answered everything, ask if you have more questions!

Hi Cava,

Just a quick thank you for responding to my post and I apologize for my delay. I appreciate your help and your information has been helpful to me.

Eenie is doing well right now and growing like a weed. I am so glad you said it was ok to interact with him. I had started spending more time and cuddling him because he's just a baby and alone. He's much more perky now and very cute.

Not the greatest picture sorry about that but I was trying to get one that was a side view of his body. He weighs 114 grams as of this morning. We''re coming along.

Thanks so much!
CarrieB

293845

[Mel1959]

First, you're doing a great job with Eenie. I have an Eenie too, from hurricane Irma. :grin2.

You want to remove all veggies and fruits from his cage. You don't want to introduce them until you see him eating his block REALLY well. If you find he doesn't take to the Mazuri block, I have had good luck with Harlan Teklad 2018 being accepted. It must be purchased online, though.

I'm not exactly sure where you are located but if you are close to Melbourne, I have 5 hurricane Irma babies if you would like a buddy for Eenie? They do like to have a buddy to play with and learn from. :hug

[carrieb]

First, you're doing a great job with Eenie. I have an Eenie too, from hurricane Irma. :grin2.

You want to remove all veggies and fruits from his cage. You don't want to introduce them until you see him eating his block REALLY well. If you find he doesn't take to the Mazuri block, I have had good luck with Harlan Teklad 2018 being accepted. It must be purchased online, though.

I'm not exactly sure where you are located but if you are close to Melbourne, I have 5 hurricane Irma babies if you would like a buddy for Eenie? They do like to have a buddy to play with and learn from. :hug

I seem to be having technical difficulties today. I just attempted twice to send you a PM. Please let me know if you got it. I wanted to talk about squirrel buddies. Thanks!