jcridge
08-08-2020, 02:39 PM
Hello,
First time poster. Glad I found this forum. I little background. I grew up on a farm that raised all kinds of animals (chickens, goats, parrots, dogs, cattle) but I've never attempted to rehabilitate a squirrel.
Last Saturday my son was out running and came across baby squirrels laying on the side walk. There were two boys and later we found a girl. They appeared to have fallen out of the nest some time earlier that day as one of the boys had already passed and the girl was very bad shape. The second boy, that I have now, was in the best shape but dehydrated. Rather than leave him on the sidewalk or in the area (it was later afternoon) we decided to take him and call a rehabilitation center. From looking at pictures online I estimate he was just barely two weeks old (if that) when we found him.
Once we got him home we got some pedialyte into him. We called two rehabilitation centers in the area, but got voicemail for both of them. Left our details and expected a call back. No call came that day or the next. We followed up again and still no call back. Not sure why, perhaps because of COVID they are not operating at the moment. So I started a crash course on what to do to try and keep this little guy alive.
He has been on Esbiliac powder (expiration date 10/21) since Sunday. Mixed one part powder to two parts water (I've since learned I should have started with more water). We started a little bit of formula at a time with feeding him and slowly began to give him more with each feeding. We've been feeding him every two hours (or as close to that as possible). He ate well at first but then became lethargic on Monday and Tuesday and began losing weight. We could see it visually as I didn't have a scale at that time. I do now. On Tuesday evening he aspirated a little while trying to feed him. On Wednesday he continued to be lethargic and ate poorly, but he continued to eat. I would slowly put a drop of formula in his mouth, wait for him to swallow, and so on until he would stop eating. On Thursday, my scale arrived and I could start weighing him. Since then I have been tracking feeding date, time, amount, weight before feeding, whether he eliminates #1 and #2, and then any observations. I'm feeding him with a miracle nipple. Since Wednesday he has slowly began to gain weight again, but on Friday morning during his early morning feeding I noticed a clicking with his breathing. Looking this up and learned it could be aspiration caused pneumonia. I quickly made an appointment at a local exotic pet vet in the area and the vet confirmed the clicking and put him on antibiotics. He also suggested I try to hydrate him more between feedings with water or pedialtye. This was Friday afternoon. Friday night his appearance and appetite continued to improve and he has continued to gain weight. That brings us to today (Saturday 8/8). He continues to eat fairly well and is gaining weight slowly. I should also add that he has been very good at urinating and defecating during the past week (I stimulate both of these before and after each feeding). At first his stool was loose, but now it is firmer and the color and consistency of carmel.
As this is all very new to me I'm hoping someone can help me with some questions I have.
1. I've had him on Esbiliac puppy milk (powder) replacer, but I've read this might not be good for him (I've found contradictory advice across the Internet). Then I read if the expiration date on the can is 10/21 or later it should be OK. Should I continue feeding him the Esbiliac?
2. I ordered some Fox Valley 32/40 for him as I'd read on other sites that it was good for baby squirrels, but I learned here it could be bad for him. Is this still the case that Fox Valley 32/40 is bad for baby squirrels under 4 weeks old?
3. Sometimes he eats really well and is very interested in eating. It is very encouraging when he eats well. But then later in the day or night he seems very disinterested in eating and I have to really work to get anything into him. Is this normal for baby squirrels?
4. In between some meals I've been giving him a little bit of regular, filtered, water. Say 0.3-0.5cc, to help with his hydration. I've read this can also help with the digestion of powdered milk formula. Is this a good practice? Should I continue doing this?
5 I measure he weight before each feeding. For the most part his weight has increased between each feeding, but some times it goes down a little bit (tenths of a gram) and then on the subsequent feeding it increases again. Is this normal or should he be gaining weight between each feeding?
Any other pointers are welcome. Thanks.
John
First time poster. Glad I found this forum. I little background. I grew up on a farm that raised all kinds of animals (chickens, goats, parrots, dogs, cattle) but I've never attempted to rehabilitate a squirrel.
Last Saturday my son was out running and came across baby squirrels laying on the side walk. There were two boys and later we found a girl. They appeared to have fallen out of the nest some time earlier that day as one of the boys had already passed and the girl was very bad shape. The second boy, that I have now, was in the best shape but dehydrated. Rather than leave him on the sidewalk or in the area (it was later afternoon) we decided to take him and call a rehabilitation center. From looking at pictures online I estimate he was just barely two weeks old (if that) when we found him.
Once we got him home we got some pedialyte into him. We called two rehabilitation centers in the area, but got voicemail for both of them. Left our details and expected a call back. No call came that day or the next. We followed up again and still no call back. Not sure why, perhaps because of COVID they are not operating at the moment. So I started a crash course on what to do to try and keep this little guy alive.
He has been on Esbiliac powder (expiration date 10/21) since Sunday. Mixed one part powder to two parts water (I've since learned I should have started with more water). We started a little bit of formula at a time with feeding him and slowly began to give him more with each feeding. We've been feeding him every two hours (or as close to that as possible). He ate well at first but then became lethargic on Monday and Tuesday and began losing weight. We could see it visually as I didn't have a scale at that time. I do now. On Tuesday evening he aspirated a little while trying to feed him. On Wednesday he continued to be lethargic and ate poorly, but he continued to eat. I would slowly put a drop of formula in his mouth, wait for him to swallow, and so on until he would stop eating. On Thursday, my scale arrived and I could start weighing him. Since then I have been tracking feeding date, time, amount, weight before feeding, whether he eliminates #1 and #2, and then any observations. I'm feeding him with a miracle nipple. Since Wednesday he has slowly began to gain weight again, but on Friday morning during his early morning feeding I noticed a clicking with his breathing. Looking this up and learned it could be aspiration caused pneumonia. I quickly made an appointment at a local exotic pet vet in the area and the vet confirmed the clicking and put him on antibiotics. He also suggested I try to hydrate him more between feedings with water or pedialtye. This was Friday afternoon. Friday night his appearance and appetite continued to improve and he has continued to gain weight. That brings us to today (Saturday 8/8). He continues to eat fairly well and is gaining weight slowly. I should also add that he has been very good at urinating and defecating during the past week (I stimulate both of these before and after each feeding). At first his stool was loose, but now it is firmer and the color and consistency of carmel.
As this is all very new to me I'm hoping someone can help me with some questions I have.
1. I've had him on Esbiliac puppy milk (powder) replacer, but I've read this might not be good for him (I've found contradictory advice across the Internet). Then I read if the expiration date on the can is 10/21 or later it should be OK. Should I continue feeding him the Esbiliac?
2. I ordered some Fox Valley 32/40 for him as I'd read on other sites that it was good for baby squirrels, but I learned here it could be bad for him. Is this still the case that Fox Valley 32/40 is bad for baby squirrels under 4 weeks old?
3. Sometimes he eats really well and is very interested in eating. It is very encouraging when he eats well. But then later in the day or night he seems very disinterested in eating and I have to really work to get anything into him. Is this normal for baby squirrels?
4. In between some meals I've been giving him a little bit of regular, filtered, water. Say 0.3-0.5cc, to help with his hydration. I've read this can also help with the digestion of powdered milk formula. Is this a good practice? Should I continue doing this?
5 I measure he weight before each feeding. For the most part his weight has increased between each feeding, but some times it goes down a little bit (tenths of a gram) and then on the subsequent feeding it increases again. Is this normal or should he be gaining weight between each feeding?
Any other pointers are welcome. Thanks.
John