6 week old constipation with transitioning to FV 20/50

[Tango]

I have an approximately 6 week old grey squirrel. She was brought to me only 9 days ago. She was started on Esbilac and had issues with diarrhea. I finally received the Fox Valley 20/50 on Sunday 4/30/23 and started transitioning her. She has been doing great, however, she has not had a stool since this am. She no longer has diarrhea, but I'm thinking she is constipated. Her belly feels soft, and I couldn't get her to pass any stool when stimulated with warm water and a cotton ball. Suggestions? It is time for her next feeding now, but I'm not sure that I should feed her more formula. This is my first attempt at saving a baby squirrel, I need some advice. Help!

[LittlestMonster]

I’m sure someone with much more experience than me will come along to advise. I recently had one about 5.5 weeks old that seemed constipated after transitioning from Esbilac to FV. He acted like he didn’t feel 100%, and his belly was soft too like yours. I gave him a bit of water in between feedings, and that did the trick.

[Mel1959]

I would definitely give some water between his normal feeding times. It’s always a good idea to give water when they’ve had diarrhea to replace the liquids lost. Add some honey to it to make it more enticing as well as a pinch of salt. Because he had diarrhea it may take a little while for enough food to be processed to produce stool. At 6 weeks old he could be urinating and defecating on his own. It’s always a good idea to continue to stimulate so you can monitor the situation.

Let us know if he continues to not produce stool.

[Tango]

Update: for lack of a better plan, I decided to start her on full strength Pedialyte (she will not drink it if I dilute it). Instead of a regular feeding, I gave her only 2 cc's Of 50/50 Esbilac and Fox Valley 20/50. That was at 9pm last night. I soaked her in warm water and attempted to stimulate with no results. Her belly was so full I was afraid to feed her more formula. I have given her the Pedialyte throughout the night, and as of this morning she produced a small formed stool. My question now is, should I give her a regular feeding now and keep her on the 50/50 Esbilac and FV 20/50? She, (her name is actually Lola), Lola had worked her way up to 3ccs. FV and 2ccs Esbilac, every 4 hours (she is only 94 grams), before this bout of constipation. Could the constipation have been caused by the FV? Has anyone had issues with that before? I realize she is small for her age, but she has never had normal stools since I got her 10 days ago. She had diarrhea consistently before starting on the Fox Valley three days ago. Thoughts?

[Mel1959]

I have never had an issue transitioning to FV. How is Lola’s stool now? Discontinue giving pedialyte and switch to water sweetened with a little honey if necessary. Pedialyte should only be used for 24 hrs because of the sodium content. Keep in mind that she has to consume more food than her body uses in order to produce waste. Therefore it may take awhile for her to consistently produce stool. You can usually never go wrong by giving water hydration IN BETWEEN normal feeding times, not IN PLACE of feedings.