Feeding Help - Thai squirrel.

Hello! I have a baby squirrel in Thailand (they’re about half the size of a grey squirrel).

He’s on day 6 since he was found by a dog. He was 24g and is now 26g. Has struggled between diarrea and constipation. Eyes still closed.

I have access to and have been feeding him 50:50 of:

- formula milk for a sugar glider
- goats milk / yogurt / cream mix

I’ve ordered esbiliac online but it’s been delayed and won’t arrive for maybe another 4 days.

What should I feed him to make sure he’s putting weight on?

Zero experience with sugar gliders but their diet is so dramatically different than a squirrels I would avoid that. What goats milk/yogurt/cream recipe do you have?

If baby needs hydration, give it between feedings instead of feeding diluted formula and transition over the next day to day and a half to full strength formula, which will help with the weight gain. You will want to transition to the Esbilac slowly when you get it, too, by mixing the formulas together and gradually increasing the Esbilac and decreasing the goats milk formula.

[QUOTE=CritterMom;1369131]Zero experience with sugar gliders but their diet is so dramatically different than a squirrels I would avoid that. What goats milk/yogurt/cream recipe do you have?

Can he survive off this alone ok? I’ve been doing this mix:

3 tablespoons of goats milk
1 tablespoon of yogurt
1 tablespoon of heavy cream

Is that ok? I’m or should I change the ratios?

No, that is okay. It is a temporary food though, the Esbilac (you got the regular powdered puppy formula, I hope) has all of the nutrients, the correct amount of fat and protein, etc., which the goats milk formula does not have. I would definitely transition to the Esbilac when it gets there.

Is this a palm squirrel?

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Originally Posted by CritterMom

No, that is okay. It is a temporary food though, the Esbilac (you got the regular powdered puppy formula, I hope) has all of the nutrients, the correct amount of fat and protein, etc., which the goats milk formula does not have. I would definitely transition to the Esbilac when it gets there.

Is this a palm squirrel?

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Thank you. Is it ok that he won’t have the esbiliac for maybe a week and a half in total (since his mums milk to when it arrives). Can he survive?

Hes not a palm squirrel. He’s likely a finlaysons squirrel. Although I can’t find online the ones with the whiter tail tip. But I know the type he will be, I see them all around :)

How much weight should he be putting on a day?

Oh, what a beautiful little squirrel (I googled)!

I can't give you an exact amount of gain per day but there should be a steady weight gain each day. It will probably increase once he is on the Esbilac. By the way, you can use the heavy cream you are using in the goats milk formula to boost the fat and pack some weight on skinny babies.

It is recommended to try to feed between 5-7% of the body weight at each feeding, and to try to aim for the 7% (without inducing diarrhea of course). If he gets fussy about eating enough, heat the formula a little hotter. For some reason, they like their formula quite a bit warmer than mama squirrel could ever produce without a raging fever or a microwave! A few degrees warmer can make a huge difference.

I believe he will be okay on the homemade formula until you can get the esbilac. I have no idea what your local retail situation is nor if these brands are sold in Thailand, but other good formulas are Beaphar Lactol puppy formula (always get powdered) and Royal Canin Babydog formula - again, the powdered.

And put the formula powder you end up with in your FREEZER. The labels do not tell you this but it will go rancid sitting out at room temperature. It mixes fine right from the freezer, and it won't go bad in there.

[QUOTE=CritterMom;1369139]

Thank you for the advise! I have been giving 5% of his body weight but will start to increase it to try to reach 7%.

How often should he be urinating and dedicating? Would you expect that every feed? I’ve been doing 7 feeds in 24 hours, every 3 hours during the day and 4 hours at night.

Well, you will likely see more poops when you switch to the Esbilac. You need milk solids to produce poops, and the goat's milk doesn't have that many. Increasing the amount fed plus reducing the dilution by cutting out the water you have been adding will help too. He should be peeing at feeding time but he may have started doing that on his own. They likely will not poop at every feding.

What you want to achieve with feeding is to fill the tummy, then wait until that formula has departed the stomach before feeding again. After feeding, if you hold the baby under the armpits and let his body dangle unsupported, his tummy should look like a teardrop - round and visibly filled at the bottom, and it should be soft and squishy, like a water balloon, not hard like one filled with air. If he hasn't developed a lot of fur on the tummy yet, in good light you can actually see the formula through the skin - we call that the 'milk line.' It disappears when the food has entered the lower GI and reappears when you feed again.

I mention all of that because you need to avoid the temptation to "top him off" in between feedings. By the time the last feeding is getting ready to exit the stomach, it has been in there in a warm environment for a while, and needs to exit the tummy before you refeed, because if you dump fresh formula on top of the old, which is nearing the point of souring (which a perfectly normal), it will mix and the bacteria in the milk will sour the fresh you have just introduce, and you then see bloat and all sorts of bad issues. Let that baby complete digesting before feeding again and that doesn't happen. If you hold the baby up by the armpits again that teardrop shaped squishy tummy will be flat and there will no longer be a visible milk line.

My squirrel hasn’t pooped in 24 hours, should I be worried? What can I do? I’ve been stimulation with warm water, but nothing. He’s still on goats milk mix

Probably not. Feel your baby's tummy. Is it soft and kind of squishy? If so, that is good. Or is it hard and drumlike - if that is the case the baby has gas or is constipated. If that is the case, the easiest thing to do is to draw a deep bowl full of warm water, hold the baby under the armpits and dangle in the water up to the chest, using a finger to stroke the tummy in a downward direction - not hard, but you are trying to stimulate the muscle action that moves food through the digestive system, so you do need some pressure.

If soft and squishy, it is because there are just not very many solids in the formula you are feeding to build up and need to be pooped out! Are you up to full strength with no additional water added? And have you gotten up to 7% of body weight per feeding yet?

The squirrel was ok again after. The esbiliac finally arrived on Friday so Saturday and Sunday I transitioned him from the goats milk mix to the esbiliac. On Saturday he opened his eyes.

Now he’s just having esbiliac. He isn’t as interested in milk at all since switching to esbiliac. He only had 1.6cc in his last feed (he’s 38g) and he hasn’t had a poop in 24 hours. His bed smells like wee so I assume he can go to toilet by himself now.

I’m warming his milk. Is it normal for him to eat a bit less when he’s getting used to new formula? When should I worry he hasn’t been to toilet? I’ve tried warm bath for his bottom half and stimulating.

You were adding heavy cream and yogurt to the goats milk recipe - this may taste not nearly as good to him. Add a bit of both to the esbilac. For example, 1 part formula powder, 2 parts water, 1/2 part heavy cream and 1/2 part yogurt. Warm the formula well, too. This may just be a taste thing. I raised my first squirrel AND my little flying squirrel on this blend.

No poops if not eating enough. See if the new improved formula works.

Thank you, I will get more yogurt and cream and try tomorrow 🙂

He went back to eating fine today, so I’ve just kept him on esbiliac. But he hasn’t pooped in 36 hours. Can there really be nothing to poop? His tummy looks ok. He’s still weeing fine.

Is he ok or what can I do to help him?

Just keep feeding him on schedule, always working to try for a little more formula each day so as to continue weight gain. As long as his tummy is flat when you go to feed him and soft and squishy after you feed him he just doesn't have anything to poop quite yet.

Even when he hasn’t pooped in 48 hours it will be ok to keep feeding?

He shouldn't be going that long without pooping, yet there seems to be no signs of any distress. He isn't straining, his tummy isn't bloated and hard, right?

How are you mixing the Esbilac - give me the ratio of water to formula. How often are you deeding, how much does he take and how much does he weigh right now?

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Originally Posted by CritterMom

He shouldn't be going that long without pooping, yet there seems to be no signs of any distress. He isn't straining, his tummy isn't bloated and hard, right?

How are you mixing the Esbilac - give me the ratio of water to formula. How often are you deeding, how much does he take and how much does he weigh right now?

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1 part powder, 2 parts water. Making a new batch every 24 hours and the new batch is always sitting the fridge for 8 hours before use. He was 41g today and I’ve been feeding up to 7% of body weight per feeding, usually 6 feeds within 24 hours, every 4 hours.

He doesn’t seem in any discomfort.

Then keep feeding. I can't fault anything you are doing.

I do stand by the adding in of heavy cream and yogurt though. Here in the US we usually start with Esbilac and at about 4-5 weeks we switch them over to another formula called Fox Valley 20/50. The FV20/50 is a much more robust formula - more fat, thicker, etc. So boosting your Esbilac with the heavy cream and yogurt as the little one grows is likely a good idea.

Can you give us some pics?