My Squirrel died today. Help me find the reason.

[Noop]

I had rescued 4 weeks old two squirrel babies on 26th July. We were feeding them puppy formula milk frequently first, and then gradually to 3 or 4 times a day. They were fond of grapes and pear. But they only ate 2 to 3 percent of one grape. And took only two small bites of it. They would have fruits only twice or thrice in a week. Otherwise they won't eat any in general. No nuts were fed.

Everything was fine till yesterday. Both were active and taking formula feed normally.

In morning they appeared fine, in noon at 2:30 pm, when I tried to pick "Charlie", it did not seem to be active as before. I doubted if it was sick. I offered him formula milk, it readily accepted and feeding seemed to be normal. I thought he might be sleepy and lazy. He had a habit of passing stool immediately after feeding. Today also he passed stool whilst I was holding him in my hands. But today stool was watery, with 2 to 3 yellow bits of nuggets suspended in liquid. 2 drops were passed then. After that I laid him in its house, thinking that he might sleep now.

After 2 hours I placed fruit slice in his house. Saw that his brother "Coco" was sitting active but Charlie was lying on his back, with all 4 legs spread in air. I thought it's his sleeping posture. Searched Google for squirrel sleeping positions, found one similar. So I thought that I will check again after half an hour and let me not disturb him.

After an hour I saw he was still lying in same position. I touched him and found out that "Charlie" was no more.

I am extremely shocked and surprised how so quickly Charlie passed away.

I examined him after that.
1. No injury mark.
2. Yellow semi liquid poop visible was under his tail.
3. Body was stiff as rigor mortis had set in. Belly was swollen, perhaps due to the same.
4. Mouth was closed, nasal opening had one (very small) frothy bubble.
5. Eyes were 95% closed and furry skin surrounding eyes was very wet.

Facts:
1. He was very active till yesterday. No signs of any illness.
2. Their house was extremely protective. No poisonous thing can be ruled out.
3. He took feed normally some minutes /hour before his death. He seemed lazy and showed less activity only at noon.

What could be the possible reason behind Charlie's death?

What might have gone wrong?

I want to know so that if I rescue a squirrel in future I should keep a check.

[Chirps]

So sorry this happened to you! What kind of squirrels are they? If they are palm squirrels, you might find some answers in the breed specific forum. There is not much info on your Indian squirrels generally, but I believe a member posted a tutorial in that section.

[Shannon]

I am so sorry, as I sit here and hold my boy afraid he may be leaving us soon, my heart breaks for you. I hope you find answers and I will be here if you need a friend.

[CritterMom]

I had rescued 4 weeks old two squirrel babies on 26th July. We were feeding them puppy formula milk frequently first, and then gradually to 3 or 4 times a day. They were fond of grapes and pear. But they only ate 2 to 3 percent of one grape. And took only two small bites of it. They would have fruits only twice or thrice in a week. Otherwise they won't eat any in general. No nuts were fed.

Everything was fine till yesterday. Both were active and taking formula feed normally.

In morning they appeared fine, in noon at 2:30 pm, when I tried to pick "Charlie", it did not seem to be active as before. I doubted if it was sick. I offered him formula milk, it readily accepted and feeding seemed to be normal. I thought he might be sleepy and lazy. He had a habit of passing stool immediately after feeding. Today also he passed stool whilst I was holding him in my hands. But today stool was watery, with 2 to 3 yellow bits of nuggets suspended in liquid. 2 drops were passed then. After that I laid him in its house, thinking that he might sleep now.

After 2 hours I placed fruit slice in his house. Saw that his brother "Coco" was sitting active but Charlie was lying on his back, with all 4 legs spread in air. I thought it's his sleeping posture. Searched Google for squirrel sleeping positions, found one similar. So I thought that I will check again after half an hour and let me not disturb him.

After an hour I saw he was still lying in same position. I touched him and found out that "Charlie" was no more.

I am extremely shocked and surprised how so quickly Charlie passed away.

I examined him after that.
1. No injury mark.
2. Yellow semi liquid poop visible was under his tail.
3. Body was stiff as rigor mortis had set in. Belly was swollen, perhaps due to the same.
4. Mouth was closed, nasal opening had one (very small) frothy bubble.
5. Eyes were 95% closed and furry skin surrounding eyes was very wet.

Facts:
1. He was very active till yesterday. No signs of any illness.
2. Their house was extremely protective. No poisonous thing can be ruled out.
3. He took feed normally some minutes /hour before his death. He seemed lazy and showed less activity only at noon.

What could be the possible reason behind Charlie's death?

What might have gone wrong?

I want to know so that if I rescue a squirrel in future I should keep a check.


Does his littermate continue to do well?

The fast onset bad diarrhea that isn't from suddenly changing formulas and with another animal that isn't sick is a real mystery though.

I helped another person from India with a baby palm squirrel and sent her this link: http://rehabbersden.org/index.php/36-pages/pricing-table/simple/261-hand-rearing-and-rehabilitation-of-orphaned-palm-squirrels-funambulus-sp-revised-contd

I found lots of good info there and since we get a fair number of people coming here with questions, I wanted to learn. This person I helped contacted the woman on the site and told me she was very helpful. If she des lots of rehab, she would likely know if you are having issues with illnesses like this in these guys right now.

[Noop]

[29/08, 4:24 am] Dr. Nupur: These 2 squirrel babies were rescued from our backyard. There is a narrow space between walls of 2 houses and often squirrels were spotted there.
We waited till night on 26th July for their mother to come back but she dint.
For another some days we kept on looking for their mum but we couldn't find her. So we had assumed them to be the orphaned ones or the abandoned ones.

Charlie was an affectionate loving squirrel. But his brother Coco is an aggressive one. Coco attempted to bite us many times before/after we fed him. Once he has successfully bitten and wounded my husband's finger. He wanted to be free outside and go back to that "wall space area".

But I kept him in the house I had made for them, due to:
1. Charlie and Coco often played each others and slept together. Separating them could be worse as Charlie loved to be in that House.
2. As per Internet resources, releasing them at 6 or 7 weeks could be dangerous for them being an easy prey for the predators.
3. Both were not self feeding much. Their fruits tray was often Untouched by them. I didn't find it feasible to release them till they were 8 weeks old.
4. I was planning to release them after one more week as they had become repulsive to human touch.

I suspected an infection in the box after Charlie passed away. So I fed Coco formula and took him to my backyard. I showed him up that "wall space". He readily got inside. I felt a bit contented that he has finally come to a place where he always wanted to be. (During previous escapes he always rushed to that place).
[29/08, 4:28 am] Dr. Nupur: During last feed from my hand, I hear a slight tick tick sound from his throat. Perhaps he was crying to see his brother. He took feed normally and was active as before.
[29/08, 4:33 am] Dr. Nupur: That Tick tick sound lasted for some seconds.

I am keeping a watch over that "wall space" if he comes out for any help. I will try to call him by his name and will offer him milk after sunrise.

I will update here whatever is noticed in Coco in coming hours/days.

[Noop]

So sorry this happened to you! What kind of squirrels are they? If they are palm squirrels, you might find some answers in the breed specific forum. There is not much info on your Indian squirrels generally, but I believe a member posted a tutorial in that section.

He was an Indian Palm Squirrel.

[Charley Chuckles]

I am so sorry, as I sit here and hold my boy afraid he may be leaving us soon, my heart breaks for you. I hope you find answers and I will be here if you need a friend.

Sorry I'm just reading this and a bit confused, is your squirrel ok and what's going on🤷

Sorry for the loss of your Indian palm squirrel, I just love them ❤️ to me they are that closet we have here to a red squirrel 🐿️💕

[Noop]

[29/08, 4:24 am] Dr. Nupur: These 2 squirrel babies were rescued from our backyard. There is a narrow space between walls of 2 houses and often squirrels were spotted there.
We waited till night on 26th July for their mother to come back but she dint.
For another some days we kept on looking for their mum but we couldn't find her. So we had assumed them to be the orphaned ones or the abandoned ones.

Charlie was an affectionate loving squirrel. But his brother Coco is an aggressive one. Coco attempted to bite us many times before/after we fed him. Once he has successfully bitten and wounded my husband's finger. He wanted to be free outside and go back to that "wall space area".

But I kept him in the house I had made for them, due to:
1. Charlie and Coco often played each others and slept together. Separating them could be worse as Charlie loved to be in that House.
2. As per Internet resources, releasing them at 6 or 7 weeks could be dangerous for them being an easy prey for the predators.
3. Both were not self feeding much. Their fruits tray was often Untouched by them. I didn't find it feasible to release them till they were 8 weeks old.
4. I was planning to release them after one more week as they had become repulsive to human touch.

I suspected an infection in the box after Charlie passed away. So I fed Coco formula and took him to my backyard. I showed him up that "wall space". He readily got inside. I felt a bit contented that he has finally come to a place where he always wanted to be. (During previous escapes he always rushed to that place).
[29/08, 4:28 am] Dr. Nupur: During last feed from my hand, I hear a slight tick tick sound from his throat. Perhaps he was crying to see his brother. He took feed normally and was active as before.
[29/08, 4:33 am] Dr. Nupur: That Tick tick sound lasted for some seconds.

I am keeping a watch over that "wall space" if he comes out for any help. I will try to call him by his name and will offer him milk after sunrise.

I will update here whatever is noticed in Coco in coming hours/days.



In morning I prepared formula milk, called out his name as I would do daily before feeding them. Called out many times, no response came.

Tried to look inside the space, 75% space was visible but couldn't see Coco.

I poured some drops of formula near the place where he had left me yesterday. After half an hour I visited again, no one had taken the formula till then.

Conclusion: Coco's condition has not been determined so far.

Query: after considering all those points, please help me find what might have happened to Charlie.