3 week old baby

[Frankie]

Me and my wife live in Wichita Kansas. We have rescued a couple of birds and had great success with them. Therefore people are always calling asking us to take in animals. We took in an approximately 3 week old baby squirrel who is very dehydrated. We have given him Pedialyte for the last 24 hours to get him hydrated. I bought the puppy milk replacer from Walmart, which I know is not what I should be giving him but it's all I could afford at the time. We had been giving him about three cc's every 2 to 3 hours. he was still seeming like he was dehydrated so we went back to Pedialyte for the last 24 hours and now I'm trying to give him the puppy formula again, and he does not take more than about one cc at a time. What should I do? and is it okay to keep giving him the Walmart brand puppy formula until I get paid on Friday?

[Frankie]

Since posting this I went and got the correct type of formula. Any other helper tips to be greatly appreciate

[Spanky]

Pedialyte (electrolyte solution) should not be given for more than about 24 hours. If the baby is still dehydrated switch to plain water otherwise complications could occur.

The Walmart puppy formula will likely not be suitable... the vast majority of these babies will not tolerate most puppy formulas. Typically they give the baby diarrhea and what is referred to as a failure to thrive. It is not a risk worth taking...

Here is a temporary Goat's Milk formula that can be used... hopefully this would be an option:
TEMPORARY GOAT'S MILK FORMULA:


3 parts goat’s milk
1 part heavy whipping cream*
1 part vanilla yogurt

Formula will last 48 hours in refrigerator.

More info here:
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?29904-TEMPORARY-Goat-s-Milk-Formula***&highlight=goats+milk

And here is a link to the basics of baby squirrel care.. it is 6 pages long ("next" in upper right corner to get to the nest page).

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

[Spanky]

Since posting this I went and got the correct type of formula. Any other helper tips to be greatly appreciate

:bliss:bliss:bliss
This is wonderful.. thank you for helping this little one and :Welcome to TSB!

After reviewing the link above covering the basics of baby squirrel care, if you have any questions at all please ask them.

If he is fussy about eating, try different temperatures... they like the formula very warm. Mix the Esbilac formula ahead of time when possible and let site a few hours, mixing occasionally. Keep the mixed formula in the fridge and the powdered Esbilac in the freezer. Do not reheat and reuse formula once it has been warmed for feeding... of they do not eat it, pitch it. We usually use a cup of very hot water to place syringes of formula into for warming, so it is only that warmed syringe worth of formula that is necessary to throw out if they do not take it.

[Frankie]

Thank you for your advise. We ha e been heating the milk in a bottte warmer. He is still not taking more than about 1 1/2 cc at a time and does not seem to be getting enough to me. He's really skinny and I'm getting worried. I feel like we are doing the everything right but it's not working. He has made it 5 days though

[redwuff]

Hi Frankie,

Do you have a weight on your baby? We need to have a weight to know how much to feed or to know if the amount you are feeding is close to correct.

If your baby is still dehydrated (it can take up to 3 days to get a baby fully hydrated) you can use pedialyte for that time. You do not want to use it for an extended period of time as the excess sodium will whack a body out, but the sodium in pedialyte is the electrolyte source which is what a dehydrated mammal needs.

The baby will not eat well if she is still dehydrated. Try spacing your feedings out to 3.5 - 4 hours and see if she eats any better.

Check to see if you hear any clicking in each breath. AP is another reason she might not be eating well.

If you can post a picture that would be golden.