BobbleheadBabySquirrel
10-28-2022, 04:27 PM
Last Sunday, a mama squirrel led her babies into our backyard and left them there. Literally, left them. She climbed into the roof of our house and would not come back down for her babies. It started to snow and by nightfall all but two of the babies had died. One was mostly healthy but put up a big squawking fight when we picked her up. The other was limp, covered in bruises around her chest and head and didn't fight at all. We set up a makeshift incubator for them with a warm heating pad under an aquarium and tried to get them feeling better. One died rather quickly. The other one has been with us since and is doing great. Now I have SO many questions.
Firstly, how old does she look? We were thinking about 6 weeks? She's still very much on formula and hardly nibbles at solid foods, but we've been offering her veggies anyway. I also bought some rodent blocks for her to try but they won't be here until Monday.
Second, does she look thin? When we found her, despite her having a mama hanging around, she was a tiny sack of bones. You could literally feel every bone in her little body and I think she's starting to fill out, but she still seems small to me. (That BOBBLEHEAD!!)
Third, I'm a bit confused about her family dynamic. The two that we brought inside after the snow were SUCH different sizes. The other baby was definitely still a baby but looked to be twice her size, with much more developed features and jaws. It looked more like a mini adult. Do squirrels keep their older kits and younger ones together?
Fourth, she is super super skittish about any little sound, and from what I've read this is normal. Today we had a huge breakthrough. When I'm not feeding her, she usually just huddles and shakes, but I scratched her little back today and she started kicking her leg like a dog and then started grooming herself right in front of me!! This is progress, right? Eventually she won't be stricken with terror around me all the time?
Fifth, I've still been stimulating her to go to the bathroom. Is this normal at her age? She kind of poops on her own, but when I stimulate her she poops a ton.
Sixth, What on earth happened? Why did mama decide to abandon her babies like this? She's still hanging around the backyard. I am fairly certain that it's the mama because she looks like she's been nursing, but she has NO interest in taking this baby back. The one that died was in sorry shape. It wasn't thin like the surviving baby, but it looked like it'd been dropped off of a building. It was covered in bruises and clearly had something wrong with its back end. It took Pedialyte off a syringe just fine after we warmed it up, but would afterwards go unconscious and then wake back up grasping at the air with its front paws. It eventually had a seizure and died. Did it fall out of a tree or something?
Seventh, I've been feeding her every four hours, but I can't find a really good estimate of how often I should be feeding. She takes food every time I offer it.
Eighth, We've been keeping her on a heating pad but I'm not sure it's enough. At night she huddles inside of a ice scraping glove that I bought for her, which makes me think she's cold?
323512
Ninth (I'm sorry I said there'd be a lot of questions!!) She LOVES her ice glove. When she gets spooked, she slips herself back into it to hide. It makes her very easy to carry around, to be honest. Is it bad that I've been carrying her around with her glove tucked into my coat for warmth? Sometimes she hears a sound like the kitchen sink or a door opening and fully flips out inside the glove, trying to burrow down deeper to get away from the sound. She hates, hates hates HATES the sound of the sink running. Whatever you do, do not be holding Edward Scissorhands when someone is turning the sink on!!
323513
Tenth, someone mentioned to me earlier that I should be washing her glove every day since she's probably pooping in there. Since the glove is such a big comfort thing for her, should I have multiple gloves to swap out while one is in the wash?
Eleventh, When will she start to play? We've got plans for a huge cage for her to grow up in and we've already bought her loads of little toys. I'm excited to see her play, but right now she just seems to be terrified of everything. I feel bad that she couldn't grow up with her sister.
Twelve-th?, When she's not hanging out in her glove, in my coat, she's in her warm incubator. How often should I be replacing her blankets with clean ones?
P.S. We named her Benny. I don't know what the name came from, but my partner's grandparents were insistent until the day they died that every squirrel was named Benny. So, ours is Benny too.
Firstly, how old does she look? We were thinking about 6 weeks? She's still very much on formula and hardly nibbles at solid foods, but we've been offering her veggies anyway. I also bought some rodent blocks for her to try but they won't be here until Monday.
Second, does she look thin? When we found her, despite her having a mama hanging around, she was a tiny sack of bones. You could literally feel every bone in her little body and I think she's starting to fill out, but she still seems small to me. (That BOBBLEHEAD!!)
Third, I'm a bit confused about her family dynamic. The two that we brought inside after the snow were SUCH different sizes. The other baby was definitely still a baby but looked to be twice her size, with much more developed features and jaws. It looked more like a mini adult. Do squirrels keep their older kits and younger ones together?
Fourth, she is super super skittish about any little sound, and from what I've read this is normal. Today we had a huge breakthrough. When I'm not feeding her, she usually just huddles and shakes, but I scratched her little back today and she started kicking her leg like a dog and then started grooming herself right in front of me!! This is progress, right? Eventually she won't be stricken with terror around me all the time?
Fifth, I've still been stimulating her to go to the bathroom. Is this normal at her age? She kind of poops on her own, but when I stimulate her she poops a ton.
Sixth, What on earth happened? Why did mama decide to abandon her babies like this? She's still hanging around the backyard. I am fairly certain that it's the mama because she looks like she's been nursing, but she has NO interest in taking this baby back. The one that died was in sorry shape. It wasn't thin like the surviving baby, but it looked like it'd been dropped off of a building. It was covered in bruises and clearly had something wrong with its back end. It took Pedialyte off a syringe just fine after we warmed it up, but would afterwards go unconscious and then wake back up grasping at the air with its front paws. It eventually had a seizure and died. Did it fall out of a tree or something?
Seventh, I've been feeding her every four hours, but I can't find a really good estimate of how often I should be feeding. She takes food every time I offer it.
Eighth, We've been keeping her on a heating pad but I'm not sure it's enough. At night she huddles inside of a ice scraping glove that I bought for her, which makes me think she's cold?
323512
Ninth (I'm sorry I said there'd be a lot of questions!!) She LOVES her ice glove. When she gets spooked, she slips herself back into it to hide. It makes her very easy to carry around, to be honest. Is it bad that I've been carrying her around with her glove tucked into my coat for warmth? Sometimes she hears a sound like the kitchen sink or a door opening and fully flips out inside the glove, trying to burrow down deeper to get away from the sound. She hates, hates hates HATES the sound of the sink running. Whatever you do, do not be holding Edward Scissorhands when someone is turning the sink on!!
323513
Tenth, someone mentioned to me earlier that I should be washing her glove every day since she's probably pooping in there. Since the glove is such a big comfort thing for her, should I have multiple gloves to swap out while one is in the wash?
Eleventh, When will she start to play? We've got plans for a huge cage for her to grow up in and we've already bought her loads of little toys. I'm excited to see her play, but right now she just seems to be terrified of everything. I feel bad that she couldn't grow up with her sister.
Twelve-th?, When she's not hanging out in her glove, in my coat, she's in her warm incubator. How often should I be replacing her blankets with clean ones?
P.S. We named her Benny. I don't know what the name came from, but my partner's grandparents were insistent until the day they died that every squirrel was named Benny. So, ours is Benny too.