Aspiration pneumonia help

[GGE]

Someone gave us some abandoned baby red squirrels about 8 weeks old. One of them has aspiration pneumonia-clicking, lethargic, fluid coming out of nose, mouth breathing. We live remotely and don’t have a vet that is accessible. I only have some expired penicillin on hand. Should we try that and if so what dose? Or just let nature take its course?

Thanks for any help.

[Fenwick9696]

not sure if it’s the same as procaine penicillin. If it is no they can’t :(

Hopefully this is helpful. http://www.irishwildlifematters.ie/animals/squirrel-drugs.html

[GGE]

not sure if it’s the same as procaine penicillin. If it is no they can’t :(

Hopefully this is helpful. http://www.irishwildlifematters.ie/animals/squirrel-drugs.html

Thanks! Any info is helpful at this point. Looks like prayer is her only hope now😢

[Spanky]

Squirrels cannot take penicillin. You should ask all your family, friends and neighbors for any leftover antibiotics they may have in their cabinets. You will need only a single pill.

Some feed stores sell a Baytril (enrofloxacin 10%) solution that is put in chicken's drinking water. This is not letting nature take it's course: Baby squirrels do not get aspiration pneumonia in nature when nursing, they get it when fed by humans and they aspirate fluid into their lungs.

[GGE]

She did not make it😭

Just wondering about feeding the others. Can they drink formula from a shallow bowl? I am afraid we will aspirate another one with the syringe. They are eating other foods but were not given a balanced diet and the one that died showed signs of MBD when we got her. Please help us save these two babies!

[Spanky]

She did not make it😭

Just wondering about feeding the others. Can they drink formula from a shallow bowl? I am afraid we will aspirate another one with the syringe. They are eating other foods but were not given a balanced diet and the one that died showed signs of MBD when we got her. Please help us save these two babies!

I am sorry she did not make it, thank you for trying to help her and her siblings. RIP Precious one. :sad


You should ask all your family, friends and neighbors for any leftover antibiotics they may have in their cabinets. You will need only a single pill.

Some feed stores sell a Baytril (enrofloxacin 10%) solution that is put in chicken's drinking water.

Please remained focused on getting appropriate antibiotics to have on hand in case they are needed. We do not want to wait until they are needed because by that time there is very little time before the AP will take them.

An 8 week old is very young for developing MBD, but on the flip side the formula (Esbilac) is the very best defense against MBD. Best to use smaller syringe... 1ml or 3ml would be best. When feeding 8 week old squirrels you are more holding back the plunger , as opposed to pressing it into the barrel, to keep the baby from drinking too fast. Drinking from a bowl is not adequate to enure they are getting proper amounts of formula. Usually at eight weeks they are taking quite a bit of formula with each feeding (7% - 10% of body weight in MLs).

[GGE]

Thanks for getting back with me. We are trying to do a crash course on raising squirrels😬.
So with the syringe, do you let them suck on it and just follow with the plunger to keep air out? Getting supplies is about 3 hours round trip so we want to make sure we have everything they need and we don’t want to hurt another baby.
What about bedding and housing? We used Carefresh when my daughter had pet mice. Is that okay for squirrels? Since we are only trying to get them raised until we can release them I don’t want to invest a lot of money and I am not looking to do squirrel rehab on a regular basis😄. The container of Esbilac was $35!
When we received these babies, the people that found them had them for about 3 weeks. They fed them lettuce, walnuts, watermelon, garbanzo beans and crotons and the poor babies had nothing to drink. Four of the 7 died before we got them and the one that died last night was weak, wanting to sleep most of the time except for eating, and had a deformed skull, kind of dented looking when he came to us. That is why we suspected MBD and yesterday she was wobbly. She aspirated yesterday while drinking her formula. The other two are very active and normal acting.
Should we add calcium carbonate due to their poor diet or just stick with formula? I ordered the blocks from Henry’s but shipping to Canada, especially in our area will take about 10 days. In the meantime we picked up Oxbow rodent blocks. What do you recommend as far as feeding and when should we wean them? I am in information overload and don’t really have time to research it on my own to provide the best care for our babies so if you could give me a crash course or a specific website or post that outlines it all we would really appreciate it!

Thanks again, hopefully we can save these two babies with your help!

[stepnstone]

Thanks for getting back with me. We are trying to do a crash course on raising squirrels😬.
So with the syringe, do you let them suck on it and just follow with the plunger to keep air out?
No! You put a drag on the plunger so you control the flow of formula not baby!
Getting more formula into their mouths then they can swallow is what makes them choke,
come out their noses and risks going into their lungs. AP!



Getting supplies is about 3 hours round trip so we want to make sure we have everything they need and we don’t want to hurt another baby.
What about bedding and housing? We used Carefresh when my daughter had pet mice. Is that okay for squirrels? Since we are only trying to get them raised until we can release them I don’t want to invest a lot of money and I am not looking to do squirrel rehab on a regular basis😄. The container of Esbilac was $35!
When we received these babies, the people that found them had them for about 3 weeks. They fed them lettuce, walnuts, watermelon, garbanzo beans and crotons and the poor babies had nothing to drink. Four of the 7 died before we got them and the one that died last night was weak, wanting to sleep most of the time except for eating, and had a deformed skull, kind of dented looking when he came to us. That is why we suspected MBD and yesterday she was wobbly. She aspirated yesterday while drinking her formula. The other two are very active and normal acting.
Should we add calcium carbonate due to their poor diet or just stick with formula? I ordered the blocks from Henry’s but shipping to Canada, especially in our area will take about 10 days. In the meantime we picked up Oxbow rodent blocks. What do you recommend as far as feeding and when should we wean them? I am in information overload and don’t really have time to research it on my own to provide the best care for our babies so if you could give me a crash course or a specific website or post that outlines it all we would really appreciate it!
Thanks again, hopefully we can save these two babies with your help!

Go to this link this is a HUGE help.
It's 6 pages long with the next button on the top right corner.

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

[Spanky]

Here is a primer on caring for baby squirrels, it is 6 pages long. If you have any questions after reviewing the baby care link, please ask!

I wonder if you can order the Esbilac from Amazon (should be cheaper!)?

We do not recommend weaning them... we give them formula for as long as they'll take it... right up until release if they will cooperate. It is the very best defense against MBD. :thumbsup

Here is the link to the healthy squirrel diet:
https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?44440-Healthy-Diet-for-Pet-Squirrels

My squirrels get no nuts until they are about 10 weeks old and even then maybe 1 a day. It's partly training... provide only healthy food early in life and they'll learn (be trained?) to eat what is good for them. They'll get more nuts as we get closer to release (14 weeks +) but not more than 2 a day until they are in the release cage, then they might a few each day.