Black and brown baby and no wildlife rehab centers close

[Bobbi12]

I have acquired two baby squirrels some little girls found I have been feeding them milk replacer and they started eating bits of veggies fruits and nuts. My windows were left open and it got to 66 I. My house the babies were doing amazing before that happened and now they are breathing hard and fast not moving well I'm really worried

[Charley Chuckles]

I'm bumping your thread I'm not sure, are they on heating pad, 3/4 under container?

[Bobbi12]

They will still eat but very small amounts with what I'm reading I think they have pneumonia but I don't know where I can get antibiotics either!

[Bobbi12]

Yes they have a heating pad fluffy blanket to hide in also with tht

[Charley Chuckles]

Do you or anyone you may know have any leftover antibiotics, many can be used for squirrels.
If you do you need to put up the name and MG and someone here can dose👍

[Bobbi12]

I'm bumping your thread I'm not sure, are they on heating pad, 3/4 under container?


Do you or anyone you may know have any leftover antibiotics, many can be used for squirrels.
If you do you need to put up the name and MG and someone here can dose👍

What kind would like amoxacillin work

[Spanky]

Augmentin (which is amoxicillin with clavanate; Clavamox is the animal verion), SPro (Ciprofloxacin; enrofloxacin is the animal verion ("Baytril"), Bactrim (SMP/TMZ), Doxycycline are amoung those that treat Aspiration Pneumonia (AP)...

However, it would be great to provide more information to know if giving meds will do more good than harm.

How long have they been orphaned?

What milk replacer have they been eating?

Are their stools well formed?

Are they well hydrated and pass the pinch test?

Stop feeding fruits and nuts for now. Pictures would be very helpful.

I worry they may be getting weak from lack of nutrition. Not all milk replacements are equal and only a few provide nutrition needed by baby squirrels. In fact they will continue eating but actually well and starve to death (failure to thrive) if they are not getting the necessary nutrition at this delicate start of their lives. That can happen if they are severely dehydrated as well since they cannot digest food properly.

[Bobbi12]

What kind would like amoxacillin work

327950

[Bobbi12]

Augmentin (which is amoxicillin with clavanate; Clavamox is the animal verion), SPro (Ciprofloxacin; enrofloxacin is the animal verion ("Baytril"), Bactrim (SMP/TMZ), Doxycycline are amoung those that treat Aspiration Pneumonia (AP)...

However, it would be great to provide more information to know if giving meds will do more good than harm.

How long have they been orphaned?

What milk replacer have they been eating?

Are their stools well formed?

Are they well hydrated and pass the pinch test?

Stop feeding fruits and nuts for now. Pictures would be very helpful.

I worry they may be getting weak from lack of nutrition. Not all milk replacements are equal and only a few provide nutrition needed by baby squirrels. In fact they will continue eating but actually well and starve to death (failure to thrive) if they are not getting the necessary nutrition at this delicate start of their lives. That can happen if they are severely dehydrated as well since they cannot digest food properly.


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[Spanky]

If they do have Aspiration Pneumonia (AP - have they been aspirating formula... coming out of their noses) they will need antibiotics to save their lives. Ask family friends and neighbors. Sometimes larger fish (as in aquarium / pet) stores sell products call FishFlox and FishMox that can be used (in order of preference). If this is AP time is of the essence, AP kills very quickly (in hours) once established.

O my. While I have never used Exotic Nutrition (EN) I can say I have also never seen anyone show up on TSB with healthy squirrels that was using EN. One big red flag is the "all in one good for any species" kind of labeling. Here is a link to Fox Valley and you'll see that reputable wildlife formulations are different for different species (and notably that bunnies, opossum and squirrels all have different needs. The Fox Valley 20/50 is appropriate for squirrels this age:
https://store.foxvalleynutrition.com/milk-replacers

A puppy milk replacer that can be bought off the shelf that is appropriate for squirrels is Esbilac Puppy Milk Replacer (the powdered version, the liquid is very different and not good for squirrels).

I am going to provide 2 links to Henry's (they also sell Fox Valley!) for information on baby squirrel care (6 pages long) and another on MBD:
https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

This second link is about Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) which is something I have seen encountered several times on TSB with squirrels being fed the EN. Please read this and see if this describes what your squirrels are experiencing?
https://henryspets.com/what-is-metabolic-bone-disease/ (https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/)

Have they been eating only nuts and fruits? If yes, especially if not much formula, they may be suffering MBD even though they are younger than we'd typically expect MBD to develop, but it certainly is a real concern. Stop the nuts.