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Lady Squirrelly
08-31-2007, 04:25 PM
Hello,
I am new but have been reading posts here for a couple of weeks.

My problem.

I got Doll when she was about 3 weeks old. There was a place on her side that drained. I treated it with antibiotics for a couple of days. Then I realized what it was and started looking for more info on them. That is how I found this board.

I left the place alone. A few days later she was squeeking. I checked on her only to see the thing crawling under her skin. EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

It found a new place on her side close to the underside of her arm and made a hole to breath through. She fussed a little then finally settled down.

The entire next day she kept diving for the hot plastic of the heating pad. I could not seem to keep her off it. The morning after that I looked at the place and it was brown, dried, and crusty like a burn. The rest of her was fine. I figured she heated it to death.

No such luck. Two days later I found it, now right above the arm extending onto the chest. It grew and oozed. I wiped the ooze but left it alone. It was so ugly I tried the meat and petrolium jelly way to remove it, but neither brought enough of it out to grab. I resigned myself to let nature take its course even if it looked so bad. I was terrified I would do something wrong and kill it and thus kill her.

Now a week later (she is 6 weeks old now) the hole has closed up and the lump is getting smaller. It never got big enough to hatch. I cannot find a place it has moved to again. It was much bigger than it was the first time I saw it move.

She seems fine except some jerking she does when she is asleep, but she has done that since I got her. She is gaining well. Her eyes opened Thursday morning. My class weighs her every Monday and Thursday to record for Science.

Do I just keep an eye on her??? Has anyone else ever seen this happen???:dono

She is the 8th baby I have raised but this my first experiance with those nasty little bot fly critters.

Thanks,
Elsie

Mars
08-31-2007, 04:35 PM
Is it possible the nast little thing "hatched" and left while you were not looking and the hole is just healing up?? :thinking

Mars
08-31-2007, 04:36 PM
Oh - forgot !!!! :D

:wave123 :Welcome :wave123

rippie-n-lilgirlsmom
08-31-2007, 04:44 PM
:Welcome I am dealing with the same horrible issue today one of my releases Ben came to eat today with what looks like a week old bot fly.
I dont really know a lot about these rotten things except that if they are killed while under the skin they will release a toxin. Since you are in a state where vets will see wildlife (Fla) you may want to have the baby checked over. The one my boy has is in about the same exact position.

Lady Squirrelly
08-31-2007, 04:48 PM
Thanks for the greetings and the answers.

I don't think it hatched. It was no where as big and ugly as the many pictures I have seen. That is why I am so worried.

I have never seen anything that tells how long they take to hatch. It has been in this spot about a week.

rippie-n-lilgirlsmom
08-31-2007, 04:55 PM
By the 3rd or 4th week they hatch. You may want to get antibiotics to be safe.

squirrelfriend
08-31-2007, 04:59 PM
It sounds like it came out on its own. Whether or not if it did, is the hole still open? If so can you squirt some water in there to rinse it out? Thus helping to prevent any infection.

rippie-n-lilgirlsmom
08-31-2007, 05:02 PM
In my rehabber book it says to flush with chlorhexiderm or saline solution.

Lady Squirrelly
08-31-2007, 05:19 PM
The hole is closed up with a little scab. It does not seem to be infected. It seems to be shrinking in size. Doll seems fine.

I will call the Vet tomorrow to be safe. She has seen two of my other squirrels.

atlantasquirrelgirl
09-02-2007, 09:20 AM
In adults, bot warbles are mostly harmless unless they are growing around the throat area and could block the airway. In babies, the squirrel may be comprimised while trying to play the role of host, so sometimes it's best to extract the warble. You just have to judge on the health and age of the squirrel.

It sounds from your latest post that the warble is gone if the spot is shrinking. There is a trick to extracting it, and you have to be very careful doing so. Usually, it should be done by somebody who has done it before. But the procedure entails flushing the entrance hole with a water solution. The warble will then not be able to breath, and will actually try to exit it's head for air. You can then grab it with tweezers and pull it out. However, if the warble is only partially removed, or part of it decomposes in the hole, it could cause a very nasty infection.

Lady Squirrelly
09-04-2007, 07:48 PM
I was not able to get an appointment at the Vets on Saturday. Then on Saturday while feeding Doll pink bloody puss came from the hole. Boy was I scared. It stopped and I put some Polysporin on it. I read on the board that Neosporin was not good for them.

I the bot fly place continues to slowly get smaller and less pink. She still eats and moves well.

I was able to get her an appointment this afternoon.

The Vet said she had never heard of one moving once, much less twice. She agreed that from all I told her, it must be dead.

My two choices were surgery (that scared me because she is still so little) to remove it or antibiotics and to watch it.

Doll is now on antibiotics and still seems to be doing well. My class weights her twice a week. She weighed 77g last Thursday and 112g today (Tuesday).

She is such a little pig.

Thanks for the advice.
mjs

justmare
09-04-2007, 08:08 PM
What antibiotic did the vet prescribe?

I'm just curious. I have a lot of experience treating domestic rats with antibiotics, but in the three + years I've had Rachel I've never had an occasion to medicate her (thank goodness).

What antibiotics are safe for squirrels?

Lady Squirrelly
09-04-2007, 08:41 PM
The bottle says

SMZ-TMP Susp. 1/2 oz.

It is pink.

It looks like the same stuff she gave by big squirrel Jack when he had his eye injured on his release.

justmare
09-04-2007, 08:47 PM
Oh, okay -- SMZ-TMP is sulfamethoxazole trimethoprim.

From the rat medication drug chart I did with Daryl Mabley, DVM:

SULFAMETHOXAZOLE/ TRIMETHOPRIM

BRANDS: TRIBRISSEN, COTRIM, BACTRIM, SEPTRA

Bactericidal, broad-spectrum combination (antibiotic) active against many secondary infections, but not mycoplasma. Great for urinary tract infections. Tastes terrible, so is difficult to get rats to take. Prescription needed. Inexpensive. Note: Sulfonamides without Trimethoprim are bacteriostatic.

This is an easy one for me to get. What other antibiotics are frequently prescribed for squirrels?