1-2 week old baby squirrel refusing to feed enough

[lgr]

We found our baby squirrel last Wednesday (7/24/24). Based on the weight and the way it looked we estimated his age at about 1 week old. We started by rehydrating with homemade pedialyte and then started feeding him with small amounts of Esbilac, increasing the powder to water ratio gradually. However, he developed a bit of diarrhea and bloating so we switched to homemade goat’s milk formula. The diarrhea stopped and the bloating went away, too. However, he is refusing to eat more than 0.5-0.8 ml per feeding. The largest single feeding so far was 1 ml. Based on his weight the feeding amount should be about 1.5 ml.
He will start eating quite eagerly but then loses interest. We feed him with warm formula switching syringes to make sure it does not go too cold. We try to feed him every 2-3 hours during the day and once at night. Despite his low appetite for the formula, he likes to drink pedialyte, if offered, between the feedings. When we brought him in, his weight was approx. 32-33 g. Today (5 days later) he weighs 34-35 g. He has not pooped now for about a day (at least not during stimulation), though he pees OK and does not appear to be bloated.
We are concerned that he’s not eating enough and not gaining weight. 1 g over 5 days seems too little. I don’t think he’s got aspiration pneumonia. I can sometimes hear clicking sounds but they’re not consistent and seem to be coming more from the mouth rather than the lungs. Also I noticed he's got 2 small bottom teeth showing which could be reason for his poor appetite. Do you have any advice? Should we be concerned? Is it OK to wait and see if his appetite picks up or should we bring him to the vet or a rehabber if we can find one?


Thanks,

Luke

[island rehabber]

Welcome, Luke. The two main causes of lack of appetite in a baby squirrel are: formula is too cold, and dehydration. Since he likes your homemade Pedialyte try giving him a Pedialyte feeding in between his formula feedings..... So if you're feeding every 3 hours you want to give him the hydration at the 90-minute mark. The second thing is the cold formula problem. At this age they eat slowly and that causes the syringe to get cold. I use a small glass like a shot glass inside a coffee mug. I put almost boiling water into the coffee mug and then the shot glass with formula into that. You need to be careful and test the formula on the back of your wrist.... It should feel hot but certainly not burning. Remember that baby squirrels are used to food --in other words, milk-- that comes straight from their mom's body which is usually at 102°. Your formula needs to be close to that. You'll be amazed at the difference in a baby's feeding habits once you warm up that formula. Keep us posted!

The other thing I want to say here is that since you have only the one baby it is much better for him to grow up with siblings, and you may seriously want to consider passing him over to an experienced rehabber so he can grow up knowing he's a squirrel. :grin2

[lgr]

Thank you for your quick reply. That's what we actually tried doing - a shot glass in a bowl with very hot water and refill the syringe as soon as the formula is too cold. We'll try rehydrating more consistently.
As for passing him on, that's the plan since we have a vacation planned soon and no one to take care of him during our trip.
I'm attaching some pictures. Does he look OK to you? And is my age estimation 1-2 weeks old correct?
327609327608327607

thanks,

Luke

[Spanky]

https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

[island rehabber]

Yes I'm thinking 10 days to 2 weeks old. Does he have an umbilical dot on his abdomen? if not then he definitely has passed the 10-day mark. The link that Spanky posted is extremely helpful, and I am glad that you are considering getting him to an experienced rehabber. I know everyone starts somewhere when they rehab squirrels, but starting with a pinky is kind of like taking your sailboat out for the very first time during a bad storm. You theoretically know what to do and there are plenty of books on the subject, but you're totally unprepared for the surprises that come along.