Newbie here, had a baby dropped in my lap. Advice welcome!

[Helvil]

Hello, I found this board while reading up on care at squirrelrefuge.

I quite routinely leave food & water out for the neighborhood squirrels and birds. The other day I'm looking out my apartment door (the sliding glass type out onto my patio) and notice a man with his back to me standing at a tree near by. He's dumping something small and fuzzy out of a cup and watching it. My roommate was the first to realize it was a baby squirrel. She quickly grabbed the water dish we have out there and went over. From the little we learned from the man before he took off was that he found this baby with heat exhaustion and gave it some water.

So now we have this baby squirrel in our care. No idea where it came from as the man ran off to quickly to ask. He looked to be out for a walk with his headphones in so he could have been carrying it quite a while.

After some reading I've come to realize it's a 5-6 week old grey squirrel, eyes open seems to be just between the 5 & 6 mark, healthy aside from the dehydration. My roommate biked to the pharmacy and picked up some Pedialyte so we've been giving it that as of yesterday and today. It's perked up quite a bit since finding it a the tree. I've also got a small heating pad set up on low it just loves snuggling with. (there's plenty of room for it to move off it if it's to warm)

It has peed and pooped once in our care, pooped on its own over night but peed with help this morning. I'm unsure if I need to continue to help it at this age or does it go on its own?

Tonight I'm going to the pet store to buy rodent block and formula. Esbilac Puppy Milk is what I'm looking for, based on what I've read but please let me know if I'm mistaken.

Our plan going forward is to keep it in our care until its fit to release. I've read 12 weeks? Is that correct? And when it's ready release it near our patio. Since we feed the squirrels anyway there should be plenty of food and water for it, and hopefully an accepting squirrel community lol.

Any advice is welcome, we've never done this before but couldn't leave the baby to die in the heat. I wish I knew what tree it came from so I could return it, but without any information from the man it looks like we'll be taking care of it for the next few weeks.

I hope I see that man around somewhere so I can ask for child support LOL!

[HRT4SQRLS]

:Welcome Helvil

Hold tight. Let me get some info together for you. It sounds like you’re doing an awesome job so far.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Here is a link with a lot of information that will help you.

https://www.henryspets.com/1-basic-setup/

When the eyes are open you don’t have to stimulate to poop and pee. They can do it themselves. Some will continue to stimulate after feeding to keep the bedding clean. :)

We release at 16 weeks. They are acclimated to the outside in a release cage. Would you be interested in us trying to find a rehabber for you? We might not have anyone close but we could attempt if you would like.

Thank you for helping this little guy. He would not have survived without your intervention.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Be sure to get the powdered puppy Esbilac with probiotics and prebiotics.
The liquid puppy Esbilac in the can is not the same.

[HRT4SQRLS]

The rodent block that you want is either Mazuri rodent block, Oxbow Essentials or any other rat food that’s available in Canada. Do not buy hamster, Guinea pig, gerbil or other rodent type foods. These will look like a hay or seed mix. You don’t want that. Rat food is a tan extruded pellet. There won’t be any seeds in it.

Make sure he is taking formula well before introducing solid food. You don’t want him to wean early. We encourage them to take formula as long as they will. As tempting as it is, do not give the baby nuts or seeds. They are very unhealthy.

There are 2 better rodent blocks but they would have to be ordered online. Henry’s Healthy Pets blocks made specifically for squirrels or Envigo (Harlan) Teklad 2018. Both are only available online.

[Helvil]

Thank you for all the info HRT4SQRLS!

I'm currently keeping her in an old cat carrier that I keep covered with towels, heating pad under half the carrier. Inside is a fleece blanket and a few old tshirts. She seems very happy and warm. When shes hungry she climbs up and clings to the front and grumbles until I feed her.

I was able to find the correct powdered Esbilac at the pet store, along with the Oxbow rat food! (I'll hold off on introducing those for now, but it's good to have them on hand until then) and a pharmacist was about to give me several 1ml oral syringes.

The only thing I believe I'm missing is the nipple, so I've been very careful feeding her so far. I've looked online but I live in ontario so shipping things to my tends to take weeks. Does anyone know of any alternatives? this is the closest nipple I've found. (https://www.petsmart.ca/dog/dental-care-and-wellness/vitamins-and-supplements/gnc-pets-newborn-nursing-pet-kit-22770.html) do you think they might be usable with a 1ml syring? Or can I go without?

As for feeding itself. I've read four times a day, but the amount I've seen is anywhere from 6 - 12 ccs. Can anyone give me a more specific number?

Shes doing really well so far, Loves her formula lol. Enjoys her supervised wandering around time. I'll see about getting a picture up soon.

[HRT4SQRLS]

The nipples in that pack are risky but you might get away with using the smallest one until you can find something else. Please don’t use the bottle. Those are extremely dangerous. The problem is that formula will go into the lungs and cause aspiration pneumonia. If not treated rapidly, it is fatal. The syringe without a nipple is also risky. As they get older they get very anxious and aggressively nurse. You have to able to control the flow and that’s difficult without a nipple. Just as a precaution, do you have any antibiotics? All you need is a single pill. Ciprofloxacin is the best but others can be used. We can dose antibiotics for you if needed. The symptoms are clicking when they breath, lethargy and lack of appetite. If you see the appetite drop off it’s usually a bad sign. The reason I’m telling you this is because you don’t have a good nipple right now.

I’m including a pic of the best nipple. It is called the Miracle Nipple. On the photo I plugging in CAD so you can see what it costs in your Canadian dollars. This company is in Connecticut. I don’t know what shipping would cost or how long it takes. I found the same nipples on Amazon Canada but the price was RIDICULOUS! Seriously, $39.80 CAD for 2 nipples. :eek

You need to buy a small kitchen scale that weighs in grams. You weigh the baby (grams). The weight will tell you the amount to feed. At first we feed between 5-7% of the body weight. Example: a 100g baby would receive between 5-7 ml per feeding. As they get older they will take 10% of their weight easily. As they get older, the amount isn’t as important (within reason, of course). For the young ones the amount is critical because they will over eat and this can cause bloat which can be deadly. The scale will tell you how much to feed. Keep in mind the 5-7% is a guideline. They will take much more as they age.



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[Helvil]

It really is the shipping that's the killer here lol. But my roommate and I talked it over and we're both more comfortable with the nipple, so we've gone and ordered the miracle one from henryspets with the 1-2 day shipping, so hopefully it'll be here soon! I believe I can get a scale too fairly simply too in a short amount of time. I want to know we're feeding her the correct amount.

We call her Peanut.

[Marzzi]

Thank you for all the info HRT4SQRLS!

I'm currently keeping her in an old cat carrier that I keep covered with towels, heating pad under half the carrier. Inside is a fleece blanket and a few old tshirts. She seems very happy and warm. When shes hungry she climbs up and clings to the front and grumbles until I feed her.

I was able to find the correct powdered Esbilac at the pet store, along with the Oxbow rat food! (I'll hold off on introducing those for now, but it's good to have them on hand until then) and a pharmacist was about to give me several 1ml oral syringes.

The only thing I believe I'm missing is the nipple, so I've been very careful feeding her so far. I've looked online but I live in ontario so shipping things to my tends to take weeks. Does anyone know of any alternatives? this is the closest nipple I've found. (https://www.petsmart.ca/dog/dental-care-and-wellness/vitamins-and-supplements/gnc-pets-newborn-nursing-pet-kit-22770.html) do you think they might be usable with a 1ml syring? Or can I go without?

As for feeding itself. I've read four times a day, but the amount I've seen is anywhere from 6 - 12 ccs. Can anyone give me a more specific number?

Shes doing really well so far, Loves her formula lol. Enjoys her supervised wandering around time. I'll see about getting a picture up soon.

Figure out 5% of their body weight in grams. That is how many cc of formula they should have. Feeding before 150 grams every 3-4 hours. After 4 weeks this does not have to be done around the clock. After 150 grams reduce feeding to every 6 hours. Miracle nipples are the best. You want the long ones. Use small 3cc o-ring feeding syringes. Never use a syringe larger than 3cc because squirrels aspirate extremely easily. Feed slow & steady literally one line at a time. Wipe mouth & any other place the formula gets after feeding. Milk burn is painful & completely avoidable. Stimulate after feeding with soft warm cloth until they pee & poop.

Hope you find this helpful.

[Nancy in New York]

As for feeding itself. I've read four times a day, but the amount I've seen is anywhere from 6 - 12 ccs. Can anyone give me a more specific number?


This should help you.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Xhkv352/1/0afadef5/XL/i-Xhkv352-XL.jpg

[Leslie Ann]

Hi there,
I just joined this forum and in a similar situation. I just ordered the Miracle Nipples from Henry's as well and am looking forward to them arriving Tuesday. It has been a learning experience, that's for sure. Thanks for posting. I have gleaned a lot of helpful tips as well. Leslie