Naldinho
05-19-2020, 12:30 AM
My GF found a baby squirrel outside her business on the walkway. We feed squirrels so during the day there is a lot of activity but this was way too late ~9 PM for squirrels to be out and this one looked too small. We watched it for a while and it walked amount 20-30 meters along the walkway zigzagging a lot. Eventually, we decided it was not safe to leave it out so we brought it inside and we have it in a cat carrier.
The squirrel seems to have two teeth coming so we don't think it was out on its own. It was able to climb the wall enough to be completely off the ground but didn't seem strong enough to climb up. Based on this and googling I think the squirrel is about 5-6 weeks old (eyes open). The squirrel also had a bloody nose. At times it was breathing so heavily the entire body was moving in a very exaggerated way -- not sure if that was fear or breathing problems. When my GF wrapped it and held it close it would sleep.
Because of COVID everything is closed so we tried to give it a water + sugar + salt mix using a straw and then a pen but that didn't work well. A very little got in but too much was going into the nose. I found instructions for testing for dehydration by pinch the back and there was a negligible amount of tenting so we figure better to try to feed in the morning with proper syringe/droplet -- it will be eight to ten hours between the time we found the squirrel and a pharmacy opening.
We used a microwave hot pad to get the temperature up as well as wrapping it up. We don't have a heat source so and the microwave hot pad is only warm for an hour or so we we just put the temperature up to 27C in the shop.
So that is where we're at -- we want to the best chance at saving the squirrel and returning it to nature so what should we do?
The current plan is to hydrate then go find Esbilac and try to feed but is there anything else?
Ideally would prefer to reunite with mother -- searched entire property and couldn't find any other babies or any sign of an upset nest. Obviously the baby belongs to a squirrel that comes to feed just not sure how the baby ended up there alone. What are the chances of reuniting with the mother?
Failing that we'd hope for a rescue -- I have some local numbers. The third option would be we care for it ourselves which is far from ideal as we have several cats at home and the shop when machines are running is really loud.
Anyway, any assistance would be greatly appreciated. It is 12:30 am so going to get a few hours sleep then head back to the shop to check-in.
The squirrel seems to have two teeth coming so we don't think it was out on its own. It was able to climb the wall enough to be completely off the ground but didn't seem strong enough to climb up. Based on this and googling I think the squirrel is about 5-6 weeks old (eyes open). The squirrel also had a bloody nose. At times it was breathing so heavily the entire body was moving in a very exaggerated way -- not sure if that was fear or breathing problems. When my GF wrapped it and held it close it would sleep.
Because of COVID everything is closed so we tried to give it a water + sugar + salt mix using a straw and then a pen but that didn't work well. A very little got in but too much was going into the nose. I found instructions for testing for dehydration by pinch the back and there was a negligible amount of tenting so we figure better to try to feed in the morning with proper syringe/droplet -- it will be eight to ten hours between the time we found the squirrel and a pharmacy opening.
We used a microwave hot pad to get the temperature up as well as wrapping it up. We don't have a heat source so and the microwave hot pad is only warm for an hour or so we we just put the temperature up to 27C in the shop.
So that is where we're at -- we want to the best chance at saving the squirrel and returning it to nature so what should we do?
The current plan is to hydrate then go find Esbilac and try to feed but is there anything else?
Ideally would prefer to reunite with mother -- searched entire property and couldn't find any other babies or any sign of an upset nest. Obviously the baby belongs to a squirrel that comes to feed just not sure how the baby ended up there alone. What are the chances of reuniting with the mother?
Failing that we'd hope for a rescue -- I have some local numbers. The third option would be we care for it ourselves which is far from ideal as we have several cats at home and the shop when machines are running is really loud.
Anyway, any assistance would be greatly appreciated. It is 12:30 am so going to get a few hours sleep then head back to the shop to check-in.