Baby won’t poop

[Pierce]

4-5 week old baby fox squirrel maybe slightly malnourished he was slim, we rescued 3 days ago hasn’t pooped at all, he’s peed. That’s it. We feed him puppy replacement milk slightly watered down. We tried giving more water between meals, tried hot bath below waist with rubbing of genitals and belly, we cannot get him to poo. Seems healthy otherwise. Has an appetite. Drinks both formula and water with only a little coaxing, but no poop!! We are worried can we give him magnesium or laxative maybe? Please help thank you

[Spanky]

4-5 week old baby fox squirrel maybe slightly malnourished he was slim, we rescued 3 days ago hasn’t pooped at all, he’s peed. That’s it. We feed him puppy replacement milk slightly watered down. We tried giving more water between meals, tried hot bath below waist with rubbing of genitals and belly, we cannot get him to poo. Seems healthy otherwise. Has an appetite. Drinks both formula and water with only a little coaxing, but no poop!! We are worried can we give him magnesium or laxative maybe? Please help thank you

First, here is a very good 6 page primer on baby squirrel care:
https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

It is critically important that he is fully hydrated in order to be able to properly digest formula... if pinch a bit of skin it should flatten back down within a second or so... if it remains "tented" a few seconds, he is dehydrated.

Which puppy replacement milk are is he being fed... not all puppy replacement milk... in fact very few... meet the nutritional requirements of squirrels. And 95% of them will result in diarrhea.

Having said all this, depending on the circumstances of of he came to be orphaned and how long he may have been separated from his mom, I have had babies that did not start having BM's until 72 hours (+/-) later. If the tank was empty, they were severely hydrated it can take some time for their system to get up and operating correctly. Maybe fill us in on the particulars of how be became and orphan and the circumstances of his coming into your care.

[Pierce]

Thank you for the info he had the tiniest poop today but it was so tiny I think he’s still blocked up… his pee is a Amber/light brown color. Does that also mean he is dehydrated? I’m trying to do more water between feedings, but he doesn’t seem to want to water only the milk.

[Spanky]

Thank you for the info he had the tiniest poop today but it was so tiny I think he’s still blocked up… his pee is a Amber/light brown color. Does that also mean he is dehydrated? I’m trying to do more water between feedings, but he doesn’t seem to want to water only the milk.

Sounds dehydrated, yes. Poops should be very moist at his age. Sometimes even like toothpaste and a golden color.

As long as he is not bloated I would suggest giving him water, maybe with just a bit of honey or syrup added to entice him if we will not drink plain water, and give as much as he'll drink but give him 1 - 2ml every 30 minutes for the next 5 hours. When they are dehydrated, feeding formula is counter productive since they cannot digest it properly. Giving hydration (and on an empty stomach) results in the fluid rushing from the stomach into the tissues, hydrating the baby. When feeding formula, fluids will rush out of the tissues and into the stomach for the "digestion process", which is just dehydrating the baby more.

Offer the water very warm, even hot but not burning, like you do when feeding formula. They don't really take to cool, lukewarm water.

Once his hydration is very good, his processing formula they way his body should process it will begin...

[Spanky]

Which puppy replacement milk are is he being fed... not all puppy replacement milk... in fact very few... meet the nutritional requirements of squirrels. And 95% of them will result in diarrhea.

Inappropriate puppy formula could very well be the issue. The Esbilac Powdered formula.. not the liquid and not the Esbilac Goat's Milk... is the only "puppy formula" which squirrels will thrive. There is a very low survival rate on other formulas since they do not meet the nutritional needs of a baby squirrel... you keep feeding them and if your lucky enough that they do not get diarrhea, they just continue to decline and do not have positive outcomes.