Alopecia in baby squirrel?

[CBeluga3]

Hi, my name is Cindy. I have raised and released many little squirrels over the last 10 years. I work under a licensed rehabilitator and am a veterinary technician. I haven't been on here for a while so I didn't realize the issue with the Fox Valley 32/40 formula and did have quite a bit of bloating with the last several babies that I have had using it. (I will go back to the esbilac) This last squirrel I have, we worked through the bloating and he is now on the 20 formula. He is about 5-6 weeks old. Just opened his eyes on Saturday. However, he doesn't have very much body hair. I've never experienced this with any of my little ones. Everything else is completely normal now (appetite, urine, stool and behavior) and was just wondering what this could be from. I will try to figure out how to upload a pic. I would say not getting the right nutrients but he's only been on fox valley with pedialyte and water through the bloating. Any advise would be helpful thanks.

[CBeluga3]

I should state that his hair is growing in, so he's not completely bald. He has hair on his head, feet and tail and his body is just starting to catch up. The are little tiny hairs coming in. I just found it strange that he is not growing his hair normally. I've had him about 3 1/2 weeks, he was brought in on 8/9 I believe. Yesterday he was 110 g.

[CritterMom]

Is this a baby eastern gray? We HAVE seen this a number of times with the little red squirrels.

[CBeluga3]

Yes. Eastern gray

[CritterMom]

Do you know his back story before you got him? Are the "others" you reference his sibs or just other baby squirrels the same age? I am wondering if this might be from extreme malnutrition before he landed with you. His tail is floofing up nicely now and it looks like he has baby hairs all over now, so getting the right chow into him should grow the rest of it in. He is adorable. I like his furry gloves!

[CBeluga3]

He was found on the ground with some scratches and bruises on him. He did have a large bruise around one area of his spine. There is some thickening there but I couldn't actually see a break/fracture on xray and he never had any issues moving his lower limbs. I did give him some baby ibuprofen for the first week and a half to make sure he wasn't painful from it. He didn't seem to be once I decreased it then stopped it. And he has always moved about normally. He is a single, the other babies went to a rehabber with more time on her hands because I thought they were bloating because of my schedule, (I work in an OR in a veterinary practice), never thought of the formula. They were a different batch with me a few weeks before he came in. I was also taught to ground up some chow and put it in their formula at about 4-5 weeks old, right before they open their eyes to ensure an easier acceptance of the block ( that was before we used Henrys) but that's usually what I do. He is really cute with his furry gloves and tail lol

[stepnstone]

I would say not getting the right nutrients but he's only been on fox valley with pedialyte and water through the bloating. Any advise would be helpful thanks.

Were you mixing pedialyte with the formula?

[CBeluga3]

No, I didn't mix it with the formula but had to keep going back to it periodically between that and water when he was becoming bloated and slightly dehydrated. Along with tummy massaged and warm water baths.