How often should a 4-5 week old baby be pooping?

[Lightwell]

How many turds per day?

Im a little worried because I dont get many. Could she be pooping and eating it?

[Rock Monkey]

At 4-5 weeks their eyes are usually open, which means they are mobile. Once they reach this age they no longer need to be stimulated to poop, unless they are constipated. They can be sneaky poopers and pee'ers. They use poop and pee to mark territory so tend to get upset when their pee is cleaned up, so sometimes they will back up and pee under something.

How long have you been taking care of her?

What are you feeding her? (If this is some constipation, it is often caused some issues with the diet.)

They should have ready access to water to drink. The best, safest way to achieve this is with a pet water bottle. If using a dish the sides should be no higher than 1/2" and the depth of the water not more than 1/8". Anything higher substantially increases the chance of the squirrel aspirating themselves. Drinking water from a dish is not in their skill set at this age. They are still clumsy and in nature would still be getting all of their fluids and nutrients from Mom. Being sufficiently hydrated facilitates pooping, particularly if constipated. Bottom line: a water bottle is very much preferred.

[Rock Monkey]

Here is a link to a video to test to see if you squirrel is dehydrated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjPMVq7Tq2g&ab_channel=squirrelsandmorellc

Here is another showing proper feeding technique.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLjRlzTOGHY&ab_channel=squirrelsandmorellc

[Rock Monkey]

Could she be pooping and eating it?

This occurs sometimes, but this is unusual. It wouldn't harm them if they did.

At this age they have voracious appetite and are growing rapidly. They are burning up most of the food. It is important let them not eat too quickly. The video on feeding technique addresses this issue.

[Lightwell]

I have had her 6 days. The first day she got puppy milk, and then I got her the squirrel replacement milk on the second day. She is not dehydrated, she pees like a firehose when I stimulate her.

I believe shes almost 5 weeks, but hasnt opened her eyes yet. Well furred, tail went from smooth to fluffy. Today she just started walking instead of crawling.

Ive seen the feeding video and am doing it correctly. Ive bottlefed lots of baby animals and she is a better bottlefeeder than any puppy or kitten.

Just no info on how much poop is enough. I get a pellet a day.

[Spanky]

I have had her 6 days. The first day she got puppy milk, and then I got her the squirrel replacement milk on the second day. She is not dehydrated, she pees like a firehose when I stimulate her.

I believe shes almost 5 weeks, but hasnt opened her eyes yet. Well furred, tail went from smooth to fluffy. Today she just started walking instead of crawling.

Ive seen the feeding video and am doing it correctly. Ive bottlefed lots of baby animals and she is a better bottlefeeder than any puppy or kitten.

Just no info on how much poop is enough. I get a pellet a day.

Healthy babies open their eyes pretty much at 5 weeks, not 4 weeks.

Please do not use a "bottle" as squirrels easily aspirate from bottle feedings which leads to Aspiration Pneumonia (AP) which is THE number 1 killer of baby squirrels being cared for by humans.

Is the "squirrel replacement formula" Fox Valley 20/50?

[Rock Monkey]

Is her belly bloated?

How much does she weigh?

How often is she fed and how much does she eat at each session?

With young squirrels 5% of body weight is a good, conservative place to start in terms of amount of formula given at each session.

So, (squirrels weight in grams) x .05 = (weight of formula given). Note, each cc of formula weighs approximately one gram.

Can you post a picture of her? (They convey a ton of information.)

[Rock Monkey]

Quoting Lightwell from Introduce Yourself Post "106 grams. Feeding her 30-35 cc a day. Average of a 4 hour difference in feedings. I use the fox valley squirrel formula. I use a ml syringe with a nipple attachment. I have fed over 400 kittens by bottle and dropper."

So 106 g x .05 = 5.3 grams, which translates roughly to 5.3 cc per feeding session.