New here with question about baby squirrel care!

[Lillamys]

The baby squirrel we found before the hurricane three weeks ago is eating good and gaining weight. We have her in a tub with fleece material and the no shut off heating pad in the back of a closet because I had read they needed to be in a dark and quiet place. She opened her eyes a few days ago. Should I take her tub out so she can get use to the daylight? All day? A few hours? I am trying to do all the right things for her. We found two males right before we found her but one had already gone and the other died within a few minutes. We kept looking and found her. Thank you in advance!

[Mel1959]

Yes, she can come out of the dark and get used to her human caretakers. Don’t be afraid to handle and cuddle her. You are the only loving stimulus that she has. A sibling or mother would provide someone for her to cuddle with, groom and play with. Now you are her person. Baby squirrels love and need attention. They will purr and make happy noises as they play with you. Put a small stuffed animal with no plastic eyes, etc., in with her so she can cuddle with it.

What formula are you feeding her? Is she gaining weight? Do you weigh her and feed her 5-7% of her weight at each feeding?

We’d love to see some pictures of your baby. :Love_Icon

[Lillamys]

Thank you for the response to my question! I am using the 5% of what she weighs to feed her and the powered puppy formula. Miracle nipples and syringe. I think I feed her to slow for her liking because she will let go and turn around in my hand a few times till I can get her back to focus on the nipple again. I understand about how over feeding and feeding too fast can cause so many problems so I go slow. Yesterday she weighed .16grams so today she will start getting 3.5cc’s. I order the FoxValley formula for over 4 weeks baby’s and will start adding that to the puppy formula a little at a time today. I have to figure out how to add a picture and will post one soon. Thank you for all your help!

[Lillamys]

Opps.. her weight is 72.5 grams so I am feeding her 3.5cc’s.

[Mel1959]

At that weight she should be eating 3.6-5ml per feeding. You might want to allow her a little more at each feeding gradually increasing it as she grows. Most times babies reach a point around 6+ weeks that they are growing so fast that they want more than the recommended 7%. This is fine as long as the increases are done gradually over multiple feedings.