My 5 Week Old Has No Fur

[akikendall]

My 5 week old male (Scoot) has the fur of a 3 week old. He just opened his eyes today so he has to be 5 weeks. Why would he not have much fur? Do I need to do something?

[Oldfolks]

Hopefully someone gets back to you soon I'm a newbie to the squirrel life .. he does look awfull skinny to for a 5 week old is he eating good do you have a weight for him ?

[Spanky]

A weight and any background would be helpful. How long has he been with you, what formula being fed.. how much and how often, etc. While 5 weeks is the normal time when they open their eyes, sometimes their eyes will open early if they are under distress and things are not quite right.

[akikendall]

Yesterday he was 56g. He eats well. My only problem is that I work so he doesn’t eat for that 8 or so hours. I can get 2 feedings in when I get home.

[Spanky]

At this stage he needs to be getting 5 - 6 feedings every day... 6 feedings (every 4 hours around the clock) for one that is this old and this small. Sounds like he is not getting enough to eat. Are you saying he is currently eating only 2 times a day?

What formula is he being fed?

[akikendall]

I found him 8/10. Tried to find his mom to no avail. I think he was about a week old.

I started feeding him esbilac. I’ve been giving him a little bit more then 7% of his weight. I work so Mon-Thur he eats about 7a and then at 6p, 8:30p and then 10p. I get off early on Fri so he eats a little more regular until Mon comes around. I bought some Fox Valley I just need to know how to switch over.

This morning he weighed 55g. He’s pretty active when I take him out of his bed but he does sleep a lot.

I hope you can help me figure out what is happening and if there’s anything I can do for him while I’m at work.

[Spanky]

He is small and frail because he is not getting enough to eat.... if this has been the routine since he was a week old, that is surely the reason he is so small (half the size he should be).

One thing that really needs to be done is feeding him overnight... like 1AM and then again at 4AM. It is not really good that he goes 8 hours without eating while you are at work and then 9 hour overnight without eating.

He needs to be fed more often...

[Charley Chuckles]

Just asking for others to chime in...
Would Ultra Boost by Fox valley be a good idea at this point to add to the formula to get him to plump up? 🤷

[akikendall]

I’ll try to do the overnight feedings. I’ll start taking a longer lunch so I can come home midday and feed him.

When can he start eating the rodent blocks? He does have his teeth.

[akikendall]

I feel bad that I’m not feeding him enough. I’m doing the best I can for him. I’ll try my best to do whatever I can.

[Tashahaven]

Raising a baby squirrel is incredibly time consuming/time intensive, and requires an extreme level of dedication and commitment (losing sleep, rearranging your life and routine to accommodate the demanding feeding schedule etc).

It is even more difficult and challenging, if you live alone, and work full time! (I KNOW, because I’ve done it!)

You clearly care and WANT to SAVE this innocent darling! And thank you for trying and not looking the other way! Now we need to figure out how to best support him so he can grow into the strongest, most capable adult possible, to live free in the trees! Happily doing what squirrels do; playing, eating, mating, fighting, and being ADORABLY cute, sweet, mischief makers! 🥰

Understanding how underfed, and developmentally behind he is right now… I would like to ask some questions & talk through possible solutions, to help get this baby back on track…

(Keep in mind, that if he isn’t able to correct the current path he is on, he could suffer lifelong deficiencies/ issues &/or failure to thrive) Baby squirrels grow from the size of a large peanut, to weaning & leaving the nest in around 16 weeks! That is incredibly fast. The body is growing at an exponential rate, developing, maturing and burning calories like CRAZY to accomplish this. It’s hard to comprehend, if you haven’t rescued/raised other small wild mammals, especially when all they do is SLEEP. But thank goodness they DO sleep so much. It allows almost all of their consumed/available calories to go toward their growth and development.

My questions are:

1.) Have you tried to find an experienced rehabber to take over the care for this baby? Would it be okay if we reached out to our network in an attempt to locate a qualified rehabber who can care for him and help him “catch up”? (Extremely dire and necessary for him to “catch up” given his current condition.

2.) Do you have anyone you are close to, who you trust & may be willing to help feed him while you are at work. IF you have the ability to take a longer lunch as you said, that IS great! AND he NEEDS it. BUT he will also probably need at least another additional feeding as well.

3.) ** This is a LONG SHOT - & I DO NOT recommend most people do it.**
BUT is it at all possible to maybe bring him to work WITH you? Where he can have a SAFE, QUIET, place to stay, unbothered, yet close enough to you where you could successfully have the ability to provide to necessary feedings he needs?

It’s very important to understand, now that his eyes are open he will be much more mobile and exploring his surroundings! So this is really not a viable solution for MOST people.

However, to give you a little bit of background on me and my recent baby girl (who is now pregnant, or recently had babies, and FREE living the life she was meant to live!) I live alone and also work full time, with a fluctuating schedule. I’m a manager at HFT, so I brought my girl with me to work, in her little bin, with the heating pad, and put it inside of a large duffle. I put her in the cash office (where the safe/money is handled, very quiet, and only a few people had keyed access) & plugged in the heating pad for her. This was extremely beneficial and helpful ESPECIALLY when she was eating every 2.5-3 hrs around the clock. I was able to then, heat the water, warm the syringes, and feed/potty her during my lunch. She was safe, secure, in a quiet, warm environment. Once she opened her eyes, it took another 2 weeks-ish before she was actually back on track with squirrels her age. At that time, she could finally stay home in her baby cage, and I would only need to feed her at lunch/every 4 hours.

Your little guy needs help. At the VERY least, overnight feedings. I hope we can figure out a solution and a way to help you save this sweet boy!

[Spanky]

Just asking for others to chime in...
Would Ultra Boost by Fox valley be a good idea at this point to add to the formula to get him to plump up? 🤷

It would help if he gets 5 feedings a day minimum, but increasing the which decreases the protein would not be the greatest strategy with only 3 - 4 feedings. Before adding additional fat (Ultraboost) I would concentrate on getting at least 5 feedings a day to start...

[Spanky]

I’ll try to do the overnight feedings. I’ll start taking a longer lunch so I can come home midday and feed him.

When can he start eating the rodent blocks? He does have his teeth.

We typically start introducing rodent block as the first and only solid food shortly after their eyes open. However, they will not actually start eating... actually eating.. the block for a week or 2 later. They start by shredding up the block.

Even if he starts eating block he will continue to need formula... let them self wean. Sometimes that is at 10 weeks, sometimes 15 weeks.. sometimes they take formula right up until release. Formula is the single best thing for them.

[akikendall]

When I first found him, I brought him to the LSU wildlife center and because of their size they only take injured animals. Then I looked on the wildlife and fisheries website and called all 7 rehabbers and none of them could take him. One of them was nice enough to give me this site and some literature. So I did try to find someone.

I work at a corporate office of a Home Health company. There is unfortunately no way I can bring him to work.

I have insomnia so I take medicine at night to sleep. That’s why I’m not sure I can wake up during the night. I can get a feeding in the morning, 1 at lunch, get home at 6p and feed him, then 1 at 8p and 1 at 10p. That would be 5 feedings. Fridays I get off at 1p so every 4 hours up until Sunday will be no problem. He does eat about 4-5ml each feeding.

I hope this can be enough. If I can do more I absolutely will!

[akikendall]

I’ve gotten more feedings in. I’m on track for 5 feedings today. He’s already looking better!
He weighed 65g this morning!

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[Spanky]

Good job! Keep up the good work. :bliss

I would consider purchasing some Fox Valley Ultra-boost, as Charley Chuckles suggested, if you can and add that into his formula if he is getting 5 feedings a day... the added fats can help him catch up some.

[Sadachara]

Here's my thoughts, and what I have noticed...

With my current and first squirrel rescue, I felt he wasn't getting precisely what he needed with Esbilac. So I started introducing FV 20/50 over a 24 hour period until I reached 50/50 Esbilac(correct one) and FV. Her weight gain was sub-nominal at best with Esbilac, to which I believe does not have enough fat perhaps? With Esbilac 50% and FV 20/50 50%, she is gaining weight at a regular clip now. 4.5 weeks she was 120g, she just hit about 5 weeks and rolled 130g today.

What I do is weigh every day at the same time with a good postal scale that has a cloth on the top tare weight zeroed out. I journal every feeding, every aspiration (in the event they happen - which hopefully is rare), every pee and poop. You can find printable charts for this, or just use a notebook.'Rebound' on weight seems to be pretty quick once you get their diet up to par. However I would transition over a day or so to 50/50 Esb/FV.

One thing I found with journaling is she eats less and requires less frequent feedings once FV 20/50 got up to 50% of her formula mix.. She was taking nearly 8cc's of Esbilac, but with 50/50 mixture, she is down to 5.5cc-7cc range per feeding, with the average around 6.0ish.. But she is gaining more weight right now with less formula. My assumption here is that Esbilac just doesn't cut it as a sole source of food, and you need Ultraboost or FV20/50 brought into the mix. This should also reduce the required number of feedings.

Please note, i am not an experienced rehabber, but I am a research scientist, clinical researcher and related field backgrounds. Everything I do is exceedingly meticulous and logged. Also note, I found a Laboratory Magnetic Stirring unit to be exceptionally good for formula preparation as it reduces the chance for bubbles/air to near-zero, and results in a very consistent formula that is better digested. You can find them pretty cheap on Amazon, as well as glass bottles to make the formula in and then to store it.



I’ve gotten more feedings in. I’m on track for 5 feedings today. He’s already looking better!
He weighed 65g this morning!

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