Activity level and more.....

[Fur Friend]

Hello. My cat brought a baby squirrel home 3 weeks ago. It was not injured that I could see, eyes closed and a very thin layer of hair. I figured it was about 4 weeks old. I immediately got on the internet and began to research what I needed to do. I warmed her, hydrated her, and then began feeding her some goat milk puppy replacement (Esbilac) about 24 hours later. She did very well, once the Fox Valley milk replacer arrived, I switched her over. She opened her eyes last week, I know she for sure has her two lower teeth, not going to attempt to look for her upper teeth. Anyway, she is very active when I am holding her and have her out of her cage, but when she is in her cage all she does is sleep. Is this normal? Of course, I don't see her every second she is in her cage, but I have never seen her moving around it other than from one sleep spot to the another. Also, should I remove the heating pad now? She does not seem interested in the food blocks. Which is okay, she is drinking her replacement milk just fine, but do I remove them from her cage each day and put fresh blocks in? Sorry for all the questions. We named her Pip.

[Mel1959]

:Welcome

If Pip opened her eyes last week, then she’s only about 6 weeks old now…..eyes open typically at 5 weeks. Yes they do sleep a lot. In the wild they don’t venture out of their nest till they’re about 8 weeks or older. She’s still young to be doing much climbing. Keep the heating pad in till she no longer chooses to sleep on it.

I’m not sure what block you’re feeding, but Henry’s Picky blocks are usually well liked. Continue to provide half a block each day, removing the old block that becomes hard and tasteless. They can also mold which is another reason to remove the old ones. Eventually she’ll figure out it’s food and consume it. Provide a water source….either a water bottle, shallow dish, or both.

[Fur Friend]

Thank you. The ENVIGO-Harlan Teklad Global Rat Food Pellets 2018 arrived today. I will try tomorrow to see if she is more interested in these pellets. She is growing very well, I would said she has more than doubled her size since we found her 3 weeks ago. She started trying to nipple on me today, so hopefully she will show some interest in solid food tomorrow.

[Fur Friend]

Do I need to freeze the ENVIGO-Harlan Teklad Global Rat Food Pellets 2018?

[Mel1959]

No, they do not need to be frozen. These blocks are not nearly as tasty as Henry’s blocks. It may take awhile for her to begin to eat them. Is your plan to release her in the Spring? If so and she doesn’t take to the Harlan Teklad block it might be worth buying some Henry’s Picky blocks. I know they’re expensive but she must eat some type of rodent block.

[Fur Friend]

My plan is to release her in the Spring, as of now. I am getting pretty attached to her though, but I also want to be fair to her and let her have her best life. So we will see what happens when Spring arrives. Thank you for all the information.