Baby flyers age?

[sEPPYnITO]

About twoish days ago I found a baby flying squirrel. I have things for formula and have been feeding it, but want help determining its age since I'm not sure and want to make sure I'm feeding it the right amount.

[island rehabber]

oh my goodness, that's a tiny one. I am going to guess 10 days to 2 wks old, but I don't have a lot of flyer experience so someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Do you have a gram scale? The 5-7% rule is great for determining how much to feed. For example, if she is 16 grams in weight you would feed 5% of that in mls -- or .8ml -- to a maximum of 7%-- or 1.1 ml-- at each feeding.

[sEPPYnITO]

oh my goodness, that's a tiny one. I am going to guess 10 days to 2 wks old, but I don't have a lot of flyer experience so someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Do you have a gram scale? The 5-7% rule is great for determining how much to feed. For example, if she is 16 grams in weight you would feed 5% of that in mls -- or .8ml -- to a maximum of 7%-- or 1.1 ml-- at each feeding.

No, I do not have a scale but I will see if I can get one. So far Ive been feeding it 0.01 to 0.02ish since he's so small. (Im not sure if that's even how to count on a syringe?) Thank you for the advice! since I dont have a scale for now I'm just taking pictures to make sure it puts on weight and not as scrawny. when I first found him his ribs were clearly showing! they still are a bit, but I believe he is doing a lot better. I really just don't want to do anything wrong, with how delicate baby squirrels are.

[island rehabber]

No, I do not have a scale but I will see if I can get one. So far Ive been feeding it 0.01 to 0.02ish since he's so small. (Im not sure if that's even how to count on a syringe?) Thank you for the advice! since I dont have a scale for now I'm just taking pictures to make sure it puts on weight and not as scrawny. when I first found him his ribs were clearly showing! they still are a bit, but I believe he is doing a lot better. I really just don't want to do anything wrong, with how delicate baby squirrels are.

What formula are you feeding? That seems like a very small amount but without a gram weight we can't be sure. PLEASE try to weigh him. Can you see a milk line in his tummy after he eats? It will be a white "belt" across the abdomen, about halfway up. Does he eat eagerly? Seem like he could take more? Let him tell you what he needs. If his poops get mushy then that's overfeeding, but until then he's fine.

[sEPPYnITO]

What formula are you feeding? That seems like a very small amount but without a gram weight we can't be sure. PLEASE try to weigh him. Can you see a milk line in his tummy after he eats? It will be a white "belt" across the abdomen, about halfway up. Does he eat eagerly? Seem like he could take more? Let him tell you what he needs. If his poops get mushy then that's overfeeding, but until then he's fine.



I have been feeding him goats milk esbilac with heavy cream. I will try to find something to weigh him on as mentioned. And I will make sure to check what you suggested with how much he can/should eat with his next feeding. As for his poop, it has been soft, but still solid enough to make a longish pellet. I will continue to keep an close eye on him and try to make sure he's getting the right ammount.

[Ozzy2019]

Sippyinto,

I responded to your other post with a hydration formula, milk replacer formula, needs for a gram scale also amd other stuff.

I agree with island rehabber on the age amd amt of formula. I am gonna attach how to care for a baby squirrel 6 page with pic list. Awesome read amd there are pics of the milk line island rehabber is talking about.

Very important cause underfed he can die . Overfeed diarrhea amd bloat and bloat kills quick.

Also if you have no experiance be careful. Aspiration of milk just one drop will cause aspiration pneumonia and that will kill quick.

Put the baby"s mouth to your ear do u hear clicking? That seems to be heard quicker that way in early stages. Did with one of mine that was a pinkie.

Now put his lung area to your ear close like a cell phone. Any clicking? Just incase some milk git down his lungs by accident.

Gotta be vigilant about how slow you feed. If it takes u five minutes to feed then u are doing it right

Lastly about feeding please get a 1 cc syringe called a miracle no slio o ring. They dont catch it push too hard along with the short nipple mracke nipple. Those 2 thing will help emensely.

I say 1 cc instead of 3 or 5 because the diameter of that syringe is smaller and puts out less milk than a bigger size. I learned that the hard way years ago.

Once I became a paramedic I realized why vets , rehabbers, admins here on the board say speci****y at that age 1 cc. Be careful once it's doing good it can suck to fast and move that plunger on the syringe too fast and aspirate. Yiu dontvwant to deal with bloat, diarrhea, aspiration pneumonia or anything else dealing with milk issues.

Before I post the links on squirrel care if you need a rehabber any 1 on here can point you to one.

Well cant paste without losing this. So in keyword search here type in baby squirrel care guide or gi to www.heneryspets.com and touch the menue button and u will see baby squirrel care guide broke up into 6 parts.

PM me anytime