New here, this is Hazel

[MissMischief]

Hi everyone,

I am well known in my neighborhood for animal rescue and rehabilitation so I wasn't too surprised when my neighbors knocked on my door because they found a baby squirrel. Unfortunately the neighborhood kids that found her played with her for over an hour before notifying adults. So by the time I was informed, it was almost dark.

We tried to reunite her with her mom but by the time the sun fell we figured we better take her in. We rehydrated her, warmed her, and checked her for any bugs. The next morning we tried again to reunite her with her mom but it was unsuccessful.

Fast forward one week. She is still with us. We are feeding her the Fox Valley formula. She is just starting to open her eyes! She's getting more adventurous and energetic. Shes gaining weight everyday (roughly 1 gram a day, is that normal, too much, or too little?) Shes eating well, has regular bowel movements, and has the routine down.

Our hope is to release her when she is of an age to do so as long as it is safe to do so. We plan to reach out to our wildlife rehab center when she is off of the formula so she can learn to socialize with other hand reared and awkward squirrels. As much as we would love to keep her forever, our hope is that she can live a long squirrel life of freedom. Worst case scenario, if its not safe to release her then we will provide her the best life we can in captivity, but thats the back up plan.

I appreciate this community and hope to learn everything I can. Im having the most difficulty aging her. She weighs 80 grams. She has just started to slightly open her eyes the tiniest but. She has her bottom teeth. Anyone know roughly how old she may be?

[Spanky]

Baby squirrels' eyes open pretty much at 5 weeks. Hazel looks to be about 4.5 weeks old, maybe days from opening her eyes and seeing the world for the very first time!!!

She should start rapidly gaining more than 1 gram a day.

Baby squirrels do better if they are raised and releasaed in a group even though they will not stay together long term. "Singletons" have a harder time. If you are not committed to seeing this through, seeking out a rehab center sooner than later might be best. The release process ("soft release") takes a long time (weeks). She'll do much better given the chance to integrate with other squirrels if done properly and if that is a safe option. By the time she self weans squirrels her same age will not accept her into their group.

If she is about to open her eyes (5 weeks) there is a 2, maybe 3 weeks window when she can be introduced to squirrels of similar age. At about 8 weeks, the window closes and she'll be on her own.

[MissMischief]

Baby squirrels' eyes open pretty much at 5 weeks. Hazel looks to be about 4.5 weeks old, maybe days from opening her eyes and seeing the world for the very first time!!!

She should start rapidly gaining more than 1 gram a day.

Baby squirrels do better if they are raised and releasaed in a group even though they will not stay together long term. "Singletons" have a harder time. If you are not committed to seeing this through, seeking out a rehab center sooner than later might be best. The release process ("soft release") takes a long time (weeks). She'll do much better given the chance to integrate with other squirrels if done properly and if that is a safe option. By the time she self weans squirrels her same age will not accept her into their group.

If she is about to open her eyes (5 weeks) there is a 2, maybe 3 weeks window when she can be introduced to squirrels of similar age. At about 8 weeks, the window closes and she'll be on her own.


Thank you so much! We will contact our wildlife center and look for a rehabber that can place her in a group asap! We want her to be successful integrating and don't want to set her back at all!

[stepnstone]

Are you feeding her between the recommended 5-7% of body weight?
Between 4-5 weeks average weight is between 80-120 grams eating at
4-6 cc's every 4 hours and up to 6-8 hours without during the nighttime.

Locating a private Rehabilatator who could place her with others would be ideal.
Before taking to any Rehab center and before admitting you have this baby, you
should talk with them first and feel them out on what their procedures are.
Many facilities will euthanize babies that have been held/ raised by the public in
accordance to their license and the wildlife laws in their State.