please help me with the age of this little guy

[blaze's mom]

I have hand fed kitten, puppies, and baby cows, so this is a new experience for us. I found this board and am soooo glad that I did. I have learned alot so far.

I just need to know about how old this little guy is...Im thinking 16 days ?? We just got him on Saturday. He fell out of a nest and there was no way of putting him back in. The mom would not come back for him because it was at a ball park and there was a softball tournament going on and would not be ending for MANY MANY MANY hours!!!!

Tenderhearted me could not let this little guy be left for dead so I scooped him up and we are now committed to raising him.

I called the vet who told me to use cats milk. So we got some of that and fed him that the first night. Then I got online and started reading that I needed PUPPYS MILK the esbilac. I went to the only place available (walmart) and found the Milk replacement for puppies so I gave him that on sunday and monday. Since it was a holiday over the weekend I was just able to get some of the esbilac today at the vets office. They only had the liquid. So I will start him on that today. How much do I feed him. I have been giving him 2 cc of the other stuff. And he has been eating that fine, pooping fine and peeing fine. He was NOT dehydrated when we got him. He doesnt seem to have any injuries I keep him in a little box on a heating pad with half of the box off the heating pad just like i had read to do

also.. how much whipping cream do I add to the liquid kind?

the first night we got home with him i immediately researched how to feed him. Im glad I did because I am now VERY careful about how fast he eats and to not give him too much at a time so that he does not aspirate it.

anyways... just need some help on his age to make sure I am feeding him enough and any other tips will be usefull too.

He is not really getting a good suckling grip on the syringe... where can I get something better?? i just had the eye dropper that i have been using and today got some syringes from the vet but not sure if they are the best to use?

As his new mommy.. I only want the best for this little guy! :flash3 and to be re-assured that I am doing things correctly!



http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7d723b3127cceba2be4c2205200000036108Aas2zNy5YtU

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

He looks like he is 3-1/2 weeks!
He could possibly drink 2-3 cc. per feeding.
Try getting a nipple for the syringe that may herlp you, I wouldnt give him any whipping cream until his eyes are open and he has been fully transitioned to esbilac. Whipping cream really isnt nescesary.:Welcome :Welcome :thankyou for saving the baby..stick around here and you will find all the info you need and people to help you!!

Also get him some fleece or baby blankets to lay on towels can tear their nails out. By the way you have him on a heating pad on low right?

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

Rippie is right he is about 3 and a half weeks old. A beautiful little foxer baby! I think he should be able to eat about 3 ccs per feeding, maybe even 3 and a half. He is very cute!

[blaze's mom]

Ok.. so he is a little older than what i was thinking... my 10 yr old will be happy to hear that... he cant wait for blaze to open his eyes. So waiting till blaze is 5 weeks is like torture to my son. haa haa.

yes, heating pad is on low. And Im always sticking my hand in there to make sure he is not too hot/cold.

Ok..so I can hold off on the whipping cream. That will make it easier.

what kind of nipple and where do I get it?? Do I need to buy a certain syringe to go with the nipple?

And I do have him bundled in old baby blankets that I had left over from my kids. My 4yr old daughter was more than happy to hand them over from her collection that she uses for her baby dolls. The towel pics were from the first day when I didnt know any better!

I hope to read all the other threads tonight when I have more time. I am sooo glad I found this board because I am learning alot so far!

Its funny how I worry about him just as much as I did/do worry about my own children.

when do I need to start worrying about the calcium thing and the lighting??

[blaze's mom]

how can you tell what kind of squirrel he is??

I forgot to mention...the blue streak on his back is a perm. Marker.. I had to put a mark on his back because there were TWO that fell from the same tree and I needed to be able to tell them apart. I didnt know what else to do so I put a mark on his back.

My sister in law has the other baby squirrel. He was not doing as well as this one at first but she is taking really good care of him and he seems to be coming around and getting stronger too.

[blaze's mom]

how often do I need to be feeding him?

I brought him with me to work because I live too far from home to go home at lunch to feed him. So he stays under my desk at work all snuggly in his little box on a heating pad. Once he gets mobile..I wont be able to bring him to work anymore but for now he is fine.

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

I would feed him every 3 hours, as late as 10-11 pm & then starting at 5a.m.
Also he is a grey baby.
ALso you mentioned putting him on esbilac if you had him on a different kind other than esbilac ...
the esbilac will need to be watered down for a day or so.

[thundersquirrel]

if i had him, i'd be feeding him probably five times a day, with one more at night.

there's another one? i would highly suggest putting the two together. they will be far better off together- they can learn from each other, keep each other warm, and when it comes time to release, they'll teach each other how to socialize with other squirrels.

i would also like to add that you two have done GREAT jobs at this, and this little guy looks very healthy, however, please, PLEASE (and if you take nothing else in, take this);

if your baby starts to deteriorate (i.e. stops eating, gets sick, bad poops, bloats, clicks, any one of those) take him to a trained wildlife rehabber. we've had some very sad deaths on the squirrel board recently, and often it's because untrained people learn how to properly care and/or fix a squirrel's problems far too late.

i say this with all respect for you. you sound very intelligent and caring, which are two necessary qualities to raise a squirrel. just keep what i said in mind. :thumbsup

[blaze's mom]

I do appreciate all of your input and help and will continue reading and learning as much as I can about these little squirrels. Its a whole new world to me that I have come to appreciate!!!

Thundersquirrel... I will most definately keep what you said in mind. And I will absolutely seek help for this little guy and turn him over to a trained wildlife rehabber if I see that he is not growing and thriving everyday! I have a big heart for helping people and am using this life lesson to teach my children that we should help all that we come in contact with ...even little baby squirrels!!! now if I could just get my 4 yr old to quit telling people that we have to lick our squirrels booty:rotfl then I would be doing great.. haa haa

I bought a little scale today so that I can weigh him and make sure he is growing and gaining weight. Just as I did when i was nursing my own child. Just for peace of mind I had to be able to weigh my child to make sure he was in deed getting milk and growing. And I will do the same for Blaze.

Is there a place I can go to find out how to be trained as a wildlife rehabber for squirrels??

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

Call your local Wildlife Rehabilitator, they will be able to direct you.
Also handle baby as least as possible, only for feeding and deficating.
Handleing stresses them out.

[blaze's mom]

You are SOOOOO right!!!! I will never look at a squirrel the same way.

I will weigh him tonight and let you know how much he in fact does weigh.

[4skwerlz]

Here are some pics of the right kinds of syringes and some nipples.
12473

Below is a pic of the proper feeding position. Notice the tip of the syringe points UP at the baby's mouth.
12474

Sounds like you've really done your homework. You're doing a fantastic job! I have to agree to please put the two babies back together. :Welcome to the Squirrel Board!

[thundersquirrel]

oh your kids sound so cute!

just as a precaution, though....i wouldn't let your children do much handling. for one thing, the squirrel has germs that could pass to a child. for another thing, a child (though i'm sure you bathe yours regularly :D) carries a lot of germs themselves.

i don't think petting on the head is a problem at this age, but other than that, the chittlins gotta keep their distance. :poke for the best.:peace

[blaze's mom]

i dont let my 2yr old hold blaze at all. He just likes to look and occasional pat blaze on the head. My daughter likes to hold him (wrapped in a blanket) for a minute while I prepare to feed Blaze. Then I do all the feeding and booty wiping:D my 10 yr old likes to hold him when he gets home from school but only for a few minutes. Im not allowing much handling of Blaze right now. They all realize he is a little baby. And I make them wash their hands BEFORE and AFTER handling blaze. Just as I would do if they were handling any baby.

Im trying to be extremely cautious and careful with handling Blaze. I dont want him stressed or anything to happen to him. We have all grown attached and it would crush all of us for him to get sick or something. the kids dont mind obeying the rules with Blaze.

my 10 yr old is very cautious and helps me make sure the younger kids stay AWAY from blaze and lets him get his beauty rest! :D

well, gotta go feed the little guy and head to bed myself. Thank you all for all of your help and support!

[blaze's mom]

one more thing...does the local vet offices carry the nipples or do I need to order them from the website posted here on TSB ??

which ones should I buy??

[blaze's mom]

something else I was wondering....

when you wash your squirrels bedding... do you use regular laundry soap? or maybe should I use the dreft for babies or the all free and clear??

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I am glad to hear that the children do not feed the squirrel and have minimal contact. That is how it should be. Kids love baby animals and are always curious about them, but really shouldn't be feeding them because they don't truly understand how fragile they are.

As for the laundry detergent, I just use whatever. Mine don't seem bothered and I get them the cheap stuff.

[island rehabber]

something else I was wondering....

when you wash your squirrels bedding... do you use regular laundry soap? or maybe should I use the dreft for babies or the all free and clear??

Putting my two cents in -- I use the All Free&Clear, mainly because I'm allergic to all those phony scents but I'd swear that my squirrels do less of that "pffft!" snorting sound when I wash their bedding in unscented soap. Many times people bring me squirrels wrapped in towels that really have a strong laundry soap smell, and me and the squirrels are "pffft"-ing! :D

[rippie-n-lilgirlsmom]

S&B is right a little baby foxer, I missed that red....my bad!:hidechair

[thundersquirrel]

the nipples might be found at a vet's office, but you could bring in a picture of the ones sold at Chris's store, just so you make SURE you get the right kind. there are some straaaaange fake nipples out there. :)

my guess is that you will notice an increase in his eagerness to eat once you get a nipple. be wary of this, because once they get overeager, they start to aspirate themselves. even then, many babies will just ignore the aspiration and keep on eating! usually i gotta YANK that nipple from their mouths and wipe their nose, and make them slow down. :nono :rotfl

[blaze's mom]

Which one do you reccomend I get? I can order from Chris's store today if I cannot find them at the vet. I will check at the local feed stores as well.

Hopefully I find them but if not I do want to get something on order today.

4skwerlz....thanks for the pics on the nipples. Yes, that is the way I am holding him to feed. When I was younger my aunt rescued some babies and I still remembered how she held them to feed them. She was able to release them in her yard and they lived in a tree right outside her house and still came to her to eat nuts and things out of her hands. That is my hopes for us and for blaze. I live in the country with LOTS of trees

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

If you get one from the vets try to get the long thin yellow ones or the see through ones. They work best for me at least.

I agree with GB, if you order online, get the sample pack then you can decide which you like best.

[blaze's mom]

ok..great!!!...Im going right now to look for them. If I dont find them on my lunch break then I am ordering them online this afternoon!

thank you so much!

[thundersquirrel]

once you get them, just a heads up- most nipples are closed off (no hole at the end). you usually have to cut one yourself.

don't just cut off the end of the nipple. i like to get a pair of very small but sharp scissors, and snip the end twice, making a cross. they should not be very deep snips- just across the top. you can check to make sure liquid gets through with some water.

it sounds like you'll set blaze up wonderfully! though i still think he should be with his sibling...how is the other one doing, by the way?

[blaze's mom]

the vets did not have any small nipples other than the ones that come with the nursers that do NOT work with my little blaze.

however i did find one at our rinky dink pet store. It was not exactly like the ones posted but it was alot longer and skinnier and blaze was able to get a good latch on it. I put a few little holes in it with a needle and put it on the syringe and was able to push just a little bitty stream through it. So when blaze actually got to sucking he would just get a little bit at a time. He didnt go too fast and NONE came out around his mouth at all. It was the best feeding experience with him so far. Hopefully tonight it goes just as smoothe.

I will post pictures of the nipple tonight when I get home and yall can tell me what you think

thanks!!!

[blaze's mom]

I will try the criss cross cut tonight with the other nipple. (i bought 2 of the same ones) and see which nipple he does better with.

The little cheap scale I bought the other day was too hard to actually read the grams of what he weighs. So today i went and bought the $30 digital one so that i can get a more accurate reading and be able to monitor to make sure he is gaining. How much should he gain in a day? week??

The other squirrel (a little girl) is taking my sister in law a little bit of time to make her poop. But i think she is doing good. She takes her to work as well so that she can feed her through out the day. However her vet told her to feed only 1 cc every 2 hours where as I feed blaze 3 to 3.5 cc every 4 hours. They will be back down next weekend. They live about 2 hours away. We will be able to compare the two and hopefully see what is working and what is not.

I would raise both squirrels if she decided that she did not want to continue taking care of the one that they have. But her son picked up their squirrel and I picked up blaze when they fell from the tree. I know she and her kids really want the squirrel that they have and will take really good care of her as well.

I told her about this board and how helpful yall have been and I share every bit of info with her that I learn from here.

[Tammy]

Hey- Your little Blaze is just beautiful. Your doing a great job and everyone here is always ready to help. Enjoy taking care of him. I never appreciated squirrels until I cared for 4 babies who's Mama died. I loved every minute of it. They opened my eyes to the world of nature. I raised a little orphan after them named Chance. He's my little pleasure- the best of both worlds- lives inside with access to the outside. He got bullied when I tried to release him. The other squirrels kicked him out of his own house. So his house in inside and he goes thru an open window to access outside. You will love every minute of this experience. :grouphug :thumbsup

[blaze's mom]

thanks tammy...

that would be awesome if we could have blaze stay with us inside but also have access to the outside as well. (when he gets older) we would love for him to stick around and be our pet but I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there. And if he chooses to go with the other squirrels... well there is nothing we can do about that but love him and miss him.

Im thinking of being a rehabber for squirrels. Im really enjoying it. Im going to contact rehabbers around here to see how often they get the squirrels. I dont think there is many places like that around here so if there is one they may have their hands full and need a helping hand from me. If nothing else... I would like to volunteer to help.

[thundersquirrel]

yes, please volunteer! i'm not sure about other places, but we're SWAMPED where i live right now (10 calls in less than 24 hours, UGH).

hopefully you can come to an arrangement with your sister...i understand the situation is difficult, but i can't help but encourage pairing the two. it's hard enough to be an orphan, you know?

[4skwerlz]

hopefully you can come to an arrangement with your sister...i understand the situation is difficult, but i can't help but encourage pairing the two. it's hard enough to be an orphan, you know?

I have to chime in (again) on this. I've been observing and photographing wild squirrels for about 7 years, and the bonding and companionship I've seen between siblings is amazing. They really depend on each other while they're growing up: they love to snuggle, play fight, and chase each other--and there is no other squirrel they can do this with. And then after they're "released," either from mom's nest or by you, they help each other survive. They will build a nest together, keep each other warm in winter, and take care of each other when they are injured.

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I couldn't agree with you more 4 skwerlz. It would be a shame if these two babies were raised separate when they could have had eachother. I have only raised siblings once and it was 2 sisters. The love they had for eachother was amazing. When one escaped the cage while I was cleaning one day, the other went frantic in the cage looking for her sister. Then I ended up releasing the other one so they would at least be together and the other came down in the tree so I put her back in the cage. Once she recovered from being frightened (she ran out of the cage scared and never got over it; she spent the night way up in a tree and the next morning was exhausted and had come down to where I could get her with the ladder), she started looking for her sister in the cage. I finally did get her sister back and they both went tumbling around and playing when they saw eachother for the first time in 4 days! They missed eachother so much. And when I released them, I would often see them together.

[thundersquirrel]

and it's SO CUTE the way they play with each other!

talk to your sister. if you decide to put the two together, but can't decide who will raise them, keep these things in mind-

-these babies will need daily feedings (obviously)
-eventually they will need hard food
-eventually they will need a pre-release cage (which usually must be made)
-they should be released in the place with more trees, less outdoor cats, and more availability from the releaser in case they need to come back for some reason

let us know what you think, and hopefully, what your sister thinks. :thumbsup

[blaze's mom]

how much should blaze be weighing at his age??

he is 68 grams. That was before I fed him at lunch.

I feed him 3cc to 3.5cc every 4 hours. Is this enough? Should I be feeding him more?

how much weight should I expect for him to gain in one day... one week??? I will continue weighing him everyday to make sure he gains. I just want to make sure he is gaining properly.

[thundersquirrel]

here's a tip to avoid over-feeding-

a baby's belly is an indicator of it's fullness. while it's good to stick with the 5% rule, you should also keep an eye on the tummy.

when a baby is full, their tummy should feel like a day old balloon. that means you should be able to gently press on the belly, and it should feel round, but should not be tight.

sometimes when a feeding goes too far (and the baby's belly gets tight) i'll wait a little longer than usual before the next feeding and give them a more diluted mixture of formula (maybe one part powder to four parts water).

i can't recall his age, so i can't say how often. guess i should look through the beginning of the thread again. :)

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

68 grams is a good weight for Blaze. I would say to feed him 5 times a day.