Help, I am new

[elkette]

I need some help. I found this small squirrel ( I think) 3 days ago. I have no idea how old he is. I think he was only a few days old, as he still had dried umbilicle cord on his belly. I did a lot of research and have been feeding him pedialyte and puppy milk w/ water. I have gotten him to potty everytime after i feed him and he is pooping ok. Does anyone have any ideas as to how old he may be, and is there anything else i should be doing. I feed him about every 2 hours, and he is in a box with an old t-shirt and the box is on top of a heating pad set on low. He is soooo cute! Any help and advice is greatly welcomed. ps. He is moving around a lot more than he did at first. It looks like he is trying to walk. When do they open their eyes?:thankyou

[Apple Corps]

elkette :Welcome :Welcome :Welcome

I'm running fast but lots of experts will be here to help you. Be sure to keep him warm - most people use a heating pad set on low with a towel on it AND covering only half of the cage bottom - that way your lil fuzzer can crawl on or off depending on what they want. Others wrap a water bottle in cotton and keep warm water in it - a snuggle bottle as it were.

Much more help to come for you :alright.gif :alright.gif :alright.gif

[island rehabber]

Hi elkette and :Welcome to the Squirrel Board. Looks like you're doing pretty well with this little pinky squirrel. The best thing I can tell you is to read the Baby Squirrel ABC's and Baby Squirrel Question forums on this board, as it has all been collected and laid out for the first-time squirrel mom/dad! Your baby looks good but a little underweight....what are you feeding him with, and how much at each feeding? As you'll note from the info here, we recommend using a .5ml/cc syringe (no needle) or a 1ml/cc syringe (no needle) for feeding pinkies. The most important thing is to feed VERY SLOWLY.....to avoid having the baby aspirate formula into his lungs. We're here to help you, so read up on all our good stuff and then ask those questions anytime!

[elkette]

I have been feeding him with an eye dropper marked every .25 ml. I am feeding him esbilac puppy milk w/ water and alternating with pedialyte. On average he eats .25 - .50 ml. Is that enough? Do you have any idea how old he may be?:Love_Icon

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

:Welcome Your little tyke is sooooooooooooooooooooo cute! He should be drinking between 1.5 and 2 cc per feeding at that age. The amound is based on weight. If you have a gram scale, you want to feed him 5% of his weight in grams, so if he weighs 30 grams he gets 1.5 cc if he weighs 40 grams then he gets 2 cc. and so on.

[elkette]

Great, thank you. I am thinking he is a little over 1 week old. I have had him for 5 days now (?) He has soft reddish-brown hair around his mouth. He has long black whiskers (he had those when i got him). His skin has turned from pink to greyish black. He is about the lenght of my finger from hand knuckle to finger tip. And Oh So CUTE!!!:jump

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I would say you are right, he looks to be about a week to 9 days old. I would just increase his amount per feed gradually and he should be good to go. You can get him up to 1.5 cc per feeding within a day or two and he should start growing like crazy. Good luck with the little tyke. You are right, he is sooooooooooooooooooo cute! :jump

[Momma Squirrel]

:Welcome Elkette and good luck with your pinkie. You will get alot of help and support from all the members. :thankyou for taking the time and effort to care for this little lost squirrel. They will certainly steal your heart in a minute :)