Change in behavior

[Animal Lover 85]

Hello,

I have a 11 week old squirrel that I have raised since she was about 3 weeks old. With the help of the Squirrel Board, I have been able to keep her alive and well. However, today she has become less active and appears to be breathing heavily. She doesn't feel overly warm, I don't hear any clicking sounds, she is down to taking formula only once a day, so I'm not sure what's wrong! I do have antibiotics on hand, Baytril and Amoxicillin, if needed. She hasn't been in any fights or been exposed to anything different lately. I was reading that you should not use puppy liners, but I have them below the cage to catch the droppings, not up where she has access to it. Not sure what to do and I'm not sure what is wrong. Any advice is appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

[Mel1959]

I’m not sure what might be going on. What are you feeding her besides the formula 1 time a day? Which formula?

[Javarat]

First thought.. possible dehydration. Check her water bottle to make sure it is working. Tap the metal ball on the end until you see bubbles in the bottle. I do this every day.
Add a water dish to the cage. Some babies have problems with water bottles so a dish is a good back up.
Give her formula once per day, along with blocks and healthy foods, but also offer some pedialyte in a syringe at a different time of day.

Check her teeth. Watch her when she is eating to make sure is doing okay, and is not twitching or jerking her head when chewing (like in pain).

Look for her feces, and see what they look like. Check her bottom for diarrhea.

You might want to move her to a smaller enviroment (like a ventialted tub) to monitor her actions and pooping and peeing.

[Animal Lover 85]

Thank you for responding. I have been feeding her the Fox Valley Formula 20/50 as well as 1-2 Henry's Healthy blocks. She also gets a variety of apples, carrots, broccoli, sweet potato, and some blueberries. I am worried about her though because she didn't eat her block tonight and she just loves those. I can't imagine that she has pneumonia because she has not aspirated. I'm not sure what to do. Can you give squirrels antibiotics prophylactically? If so can you please let me know the calculations for how much to give her? It's PO and not an injectable.
Thank you!

[Animal Lover 85]

Thank you! I will check her water bottle, though I did offer her pedialyte today but she didn't want anything to do with it. I will add the water dish though.
I will monitor her for the other symptoms you mentioned to see if anything else is going on.
Thank you!

[Grinderhead]

I was reading that you should not use puppy liners, but I have them below the cage to catch the droppings,


Is her pee getting on them? I would remove them and put newspaper.

[Animal Lover 85]

Is her pee getting on them? I would remove them and put newspaper.

Yes, she is urinating on them. I will replace with newspaper. Thank you!

[Animal Lover 85]

Good morning everyone,

I just wanted to add a quick update for Miss Sandy Cheeks. She seems to be feeling better this morning, although maybe not 100%, at least has improved. She is eating now. She's peeing. She does not have diarrhea. I replaced her bedding with newspaper. She is still reluctant to drink though. We will have to work on that. Thank you to everyone who responded and helped yesterday!