9 month old squirrel Puked and sleepy

[Sboone89]

Hi,

My 9-month-old Eastern Fox squirrel Icarus has me worried. She appeared to vomit yesterday. Apparently, they don't have the ability to vomit but that is what it looked like. She made a little gagging noise and heaving kind of motion. She puked about 3 times within a short window. It was after eating a bunch of Siberian Elm bark off a branch I gave her a few days ago. She had been stripping the bark. The puke looked kind of like baby food and was the brownish color of the bark with some white foamy spit and some dehydrated carrot chunks. She seems to be eating, drinking, and pooping normally but today she seems a bit more tired than usual. I woke up at 7:30, she is usually running around at that time but she was still in her house. She played a bit this morning but now seems like she just wants to nap in the corner of her habitat.

I don't think she is dehydrated but it is a bit more difficult to tell on an adult.

Help? I am worried.

[Mel1959]

I trust you removed the branch/bark so she can no longer eat it. Squirrels can regurgitate, which is what you saw. On a positive note it appears this species of tree bark has been ground and used in making flour and added to cereals, so it’s not toxic. The tree hasn’t been sprayed with any insecticide, has it?

Try to encourage your guy to drink more. It will help flush his system.

I’d watch him and see how he is tomorrow. Hopefully, once he rid it from his system he’ll begin to feel better.

[CritterMom]

Don't know about that -

This:

Although not directly related, Ailanthus trees (a.k.a. Tree of Heaven) are often mistaken as sumacs. In springtime they produce many flowers that have a foul odor which some say is similar to cat urine. It rapidly out competes other tree species, releasing an allelopathic chemical which inhibits the growth of other plants. Some researchers have extracted this chemical from Ailanthus trees, successfully using it as an herbicide. Not only is this tree toxic to other plants, there have been anecdotal reports of it being slightly toxic to humans and livestock. Ailanthus trees can grow quite rapidly, leading to weak, unstable branches.

is from here: https://www.lot-lines.com/the-4-most-dangerous-trees-for-colorado/

[Mel1959]

I read the article referenced. Although it’s titled “The Four Most Dangerous Trees for Colorado” it is referring to the fact that the Siberian Elm is invasive. I did not read that the Siberian Elm tree was toxic when googling this particular tree. In fact the seeds are edible and taste like sunflower seeds.

It is best to encourage your guy to drink water to flush his system. It could be that he ate too much, or as I previously suggested, there could have been some type of spray on it which could be toxic to him.