flying squirrel does not want to eat from miracle nipple

[lovesquirrels1]

I tried to feed the 5 week old flying squirrel his formula with a syringe with miracle nipple on it but I can't get him to take it. He licked some formula off my hand and after I dunked the syringle in hot water I got him to grab it for a second once or two but he's not taking hardly any of his formula... the main problem is he doesn't want anything to do with the nipple and keeps pushing it away and/or running away from it, even if I hold him still he doesn't want it near his face, also tried gentlely pushing it into his mouth What else can I try? He grabbed a tiny piece of apple (no skin) off my hand and went under a piece of fleece with it, he seemed to be eating the apple but I'm worried that he didn't eat much of his formula. He's 29grams right now and his eyes are open and seems to have a full coat of fur.

[Spanky]

I tried to feed the 5 week old flying squirrel his formula with a syringe with miracle nipple on it but I can't get him to take it. He licked some formula off my hand and after I dunked the syringle in hot water I got him to grab it for a second once or two but he's not taking hardly any of his formula... the main problem is he doesn't want anything to do with the nipple and keeps pushing it away and/or running away from it, even if I hold him still he doesn't want it near his face, also tried gentlely pushing it into his mouth What else can I try? He grabbed a tiny piece of apple (no skin) off my hand and went under a piece of fleece with it, he seemed to be eating the apple but I'm worried that he didn't eat much of his formula. He's 29grams right now and his eyes are open and seems to have a full coat of fur.

Are you feeding Esbilac (powdered) formula?

I'd experiment with the temperature, they like it hotter than you might think. The temp I feed is right around 120F degrees.

At this age he should also be eating rodent block... and only rodent block until he is eating that well. Then introduce healthy veggies and fruit after he loves his veggies.

[lovesquirrels1]

HE'S EATING!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to report good news!!!!!! He ate .5ml this morning and took .9ml the second time.

I switched from the miracle nipple to henry's silicone nipple (not sure if he likes that better or he's just calmed down enough to eat) and gave it to him while he was snuggled in his cage on all fours (not pointing down or on his back) and he is taking his food now. I have a piece of rodent block in with him not 100% sure if he;s nibbled on it or not it's hard to see because he's under his covers most of the daylight hours and comes out for exercise at night.

I want to thank everyone who put work into the great resources on this board, making cheat sheets for people to down load etc.

[lovesquirrels1]

Feeding 20/50 Fox valley formula the one for squirrels 4 weeks and up. I wasn't sure which formula was the best so I got that one since it said squirrels right on it and it shipped with the rodent blocks and syringes from henry. Is the puppy formula better? This one really disssolved into the water with no problems at all so as far as useability I like it.

[Spanky]

Feeding 20/50 Fox valley formula the one for squirrels 4 weeks and up. I wasn't sure which formula was the best so I got that one since it said squirrels right on it and it shipped with the rodent blocks and syringes from henry. Is the puppy formula better? This one really disssolved into the water with no problems at all so as far as useability I like it.

The Fox Valley 20/50 is perfect. :thumbsup

[lovesquirrels1]

The Fox Valley 20/50 is perfect. :thumbsup



He's taking 1.5-2ML 3x a day now, he gained a couple grams and is at 31g now. He seems like he would eat even more. Should I feed more than 3x a day if he's hungry enough to eat it?

[Spanky]

He's taking 1.5-2ML 3x a day now, he gained a couple grams and is at 31g now. He seems like he would eat even more. Should I feed more than 3x a day if he's hungry enough to eat it?

Yes.

[lovesquirrels1]

Last 24 hours he's slowed down on interest in his milk replacer, he actually skipped a meal tonight. I am guessing he's 7 weeks old now, very active and taking some henry's and mazuri blocks. Do they slow down on the milk as they start taking blocks or should I be worried?

[Spanky]

Yes, they will take formula less often as their solid food intake increases. It may just be that it is time to reduce the number of formula feedings... How many formula feedings a day is he being offered?

[lovesquirrels1]

2ML 3x daily. Today he took 1ML in the morning, then chewed on Mazuri, 2ML in the afternoon and then took a chunk of henry's. I haven't given him his evening meal yet. Mainly he just seems to want out of the cage real bad. He's still in a 10 gallon right now but I take him out daily and let him climb around on me. He's 40g so Im wondering if he's big enough to go into a different cage now like a bird cage or some kind of wire cage?