Help, found baby in water

[LesliA]

I found a baby squirell this afternoon in a puddle of water & it had just been raining. I picked him up & he was just so cold but making a little chirpping noise so I took him in & got him dried & put him between 2 warm bottles of water on a towel & wrapped him up. Then I took him back out & opened towel hoping his mom would come for him but she didn't. His eyes are just opening & he has 3 tiny teeth on the bottom. He isn't active & he is breathing threw his mouth & i can hear a clicking when i listen real close. Im thinking he got water up his nose while in the rain & puddle. What can I do for him, i havent tried to give him anything because I'm afraid he will asperate while mouth breathing if he hasn't already. Please help me help him.

[SammysMom]

If you have a heating pad with no auto shut off, put him in container of fleece or old tee shirts and put the container half on and half off of on the heating pad. Keep him warm and dry. Where are you located and we can try to help find a rehabber in your area. He will probably need antibiotics if he was in a puddle.

[LesliA]

I am in Winnsboro, Tx & I got him dry & have him in a box with t-shirts & towels with 2 water bottles filled with hot water under towel & i change them out every 45 mins with new bottles of hot water. He can get away from them if he gets to warm. He seems to be comfortable but cant get him to drink & can hear the click when he breaths & hes breathing threw his mouth real gaspy like breathes.

[stepnstone]

It is very possible baby aspirated water while in the puddle and has aspiration pneumonia.
He will need to be treated with antibiotics asap, aspiration pneumonia can take them down fast.
Check to see what you may have, call around to family, friends, and see what you can come up with.
We can tell you if it can be used, how to break down and dose. All medications administered to squirrels
are dosed by body weight. We will need the weight of baby and milligrams of antibiotic to dose.

[LesliA]

He weighs 2.3 ounces
I have Amoxicillin capsules 500 mg.
If i pour the powder out of capsule I have .6 of a gram.

[Spanky]

Give me a few minutes and I will write this up and send dosing instructions via PM.

[Spanky]

I sent dosing instructions for the amoxicillin in a PM.

While amoxicillin is better than nothing, it is not always effective in treating Aspiration Pneumonia (AP), so please continue to try to locate other antibiotics that may be much, much more effective. A few examples are Cipro and Augmentin, but anything you find please post the name and someone will advise on how effective it may be for AP.

[Rock Monkey]

I hope he makes it.

Letting him snuggle between layers of your clothing will also keep him warm, relatively upright, and moving a little bit. They are used to near constant snuggling with their Mother. I think physical touch raises their spirits and with it their immune system.