Templeton
09-15-2021, 11:38 AM
Hello everyone! First off - I just want to thank all of you SO MUCH for everything you’ve done to help me along the way so far! (Long post) We are now in week three of being squirrel daddies (her name, by the way, is The Lady Templeton), I wanted to check in here with a few updates, observations, and a couple more questions.
To catch anyone up from earlier posts - I found this baby squirrel after a tree fell against our house during Hurricane Ida. Tried reuniting with momma (playing the crying video, etc.) but that never worked out so she is under our care! Have had lots of help here on the board. Anyway -- everything with Lady is going great! The city is still in quite a state of limbo after the hurricane. Mail deliveries are finally happening again, but they’re still very delayed and wacky. So we’re still waiting to get some supplies (Baytril and Fox Valley are all still on the way), but we have received the gram scale and the Miracle Nipple and LOVE it! We’re still feeding Esbilac Goat Milk Formula based on the age chart from Henry’s Pets until we receive the Fox Valley. She eats like a champ!
In regard to her growth, we’ve had big developments this week! She’s grown a lot (about 74g), is now strong enough to stand on all four legs and walk around, her tummy has white fur growing (can barely see the milk line at all anymore), her tail is getting bushy, and her eyes opened two days ago! (I actually get kind of emotional seeing her recognize my face and voice.)
319490
319491
A few observations and questions that I just wanted to address: after she eats and starts to get sleepy (I mean, she starts to doze off *as soon* as she’s done!), I notice that her little hands kind of tremble until I put her back in her bed. Is this something to be alarmed about? Also, she doesn’t poo after every meal. We can always get her to pee, but the poo only comes maybe every other meal. (I do find a few rogue “I-did-it-by-myself” poos in her habitat now and then.) Is this ok? Her post-feed tummy has always felt like the “soft water balloon” and not the “hard air balloon” so I don’t think she’s ever constipated.
Other questions I haven’t found definitive answers to:
1. Should we be bathing her? If so, how often and using what technique? She gets a warm water wipe down after eating, but not sure if we should be doing something more thorough.
2. She still goes back and forth between the warm side of her habitat and the cool side. (Is it weird that I find every single thing she does to be absolutely adorable?!) At what age do we no longer need the heating pad?
3. Should we be “exercising” her? Taking her out to walk around (closely monitored, of course!), say, on the bed or a soft floor? Or does she need to remain in her nest exclusively?
4. I read that food blocks should be introduced at some point after the eyes open? I think at around six weeks? I have no actual idea how close we are to that milestone - we estimate that she’s somewhere around five-six weeks old now. Maybe? Can we base the introduction of that on weight? Do you have a preferred brand?
5. When will she need access to water? Does that come after weening from formula? Or sometime before? She is always hydrated, according to the pinch test, but unsure about when she’ll start needing it.
6. Looking (far) ahead to down the road… I know she’s going to be on formula until she’s 14-16 weeks old (or longer, as I understand it, if she isn’t refusing it), at which point we can try to start weening off… But I’m starting to wonder… When we get up into the 200g+/15ml+ stage, should I be looking at a different delivery system? These syringes are only 3ml and that means it is going to take *quite a few* of them to get the job done…
I think that’s all I have for right now. Thank y’all again so much for all of the helpful information and encouragement you’ve given me!
To catch anyone up from earlier posts - I found this baby squirrel after a tree fell against our house during Hurricane Ida. Tried reuniting with momma (playing the crying video, etc.) but that never worked out so she is under our care! Have had lots of help here on the board. Anyway -- everything with Lady is going great! The city is still in quite a state of limbo after the hurricane. Mail deliveries are finally happening again, but they’re still very delayed and wacky. So we’re still waiting to get some supplies (Baytril and Fox Valley are all still on the way), but we have received the gram scale and the Miracle Nipple and LOVE it! We’re still feeding Esbilac Goat Milk Formula based on the age chart from Henry’s Pets until we receive the Fox Valley. She eats like a champ!
In regard to her growth, we’ve had big developments this week! She’s grown a lot (about 74g), is now strong enough to stand on all four legs and walk around, her tummy has white fur growing (can barely see the milk line at all anymore), her tail is getting bushy, and her eyes opened two days ago! (I actually get kind of emotional seeing her recognize my face and voice.)
319490
319491
A few observations and questions that I just wanted to address: after she eats and starts to get sleepy (I mean, she starts to doze off *as soon* as she’s done!), I notice that her little hands kind of tremble until I put her back in her bed. Is this something to be alarmed about? Also, she doesn’t poo after every meal. We can always get her to pee, but the poo only comes maybe every other meal. (I do find a few rogue “I-did-it-by-myself” poos in her habitat now and then.) Is this ok? Her post-feed tummy has always felt like the “soft water balloon” and not the “hard air balloon” so I don’t think she’s ever constipated.
Other questions I haven’t found definitive answers to:
1. Should we be bathing her? If so, how often and using what technique? She gets a warm water wipe down after eating, but not sure if we should be doing something more thorough.
2. She still goes back and forth between the warm side of her habitat and the cool side. (Is it weird that I find every single thing she does to be absolutely adorable?!) At what age do we no longer need the heating pad?
3. Should we be “exercising” her? Taking her out to walk around (closely monitored, of course!), say, on the bed or a soft floor? Or does she need to remain in her nest exclusively?
4. I read that food blocks should be introduced at some point after the eyes open? I think at around six weeks? I have no actual idea how close we are to that milestone - we estimate that she’s somewhere around five-six weeks old now. Maybe? Can we base the introduction of that on weight? Do you have a preferred brand?
5. When will she need access to water? Does that come after weening from formula? Or sometime before? She is always hydrated, according to the pinch test, but unsure about when she’ll start needing it.
6. Looking (far) ahead to down the road… I know she’s going to be on formula until she’s 14-16 weeks old (or longer, as I understand it, if she isn’t refusing it), at which point we can try to start weening off… But I’m starting to wonder… When we get up into the 200g+/15ml+ stage, should I be looking at a different delivery system? These syringes are only 3ml and that means it is going to take *quite a few* of them to get the job done…
I think that’s all I have for right now. Thank y’all again so much for all of the helpful information and encouragement you’ve given me!