A summary of ideal formulas for babies

[Steph]

Hello everyone!

I am currently gathering up all the information I can on squirrel rehabilitation to produce an online webinar. It will be in French since I live in Quebec (Canada), maybe one day I'll translate it if there's any interest for that. Unfortunately, there are no regulations here about squirrel rehabilitation so anybody can raise squirrels, and they feed them all kinds of terrible things.

I'm not an experienced rehabber like most of you, so I wanted to make sure I give out the best information in the webinar. Would you mind letting me know if I got the information right regarding formula? I also have a few questions (in red), so I would greatly appreciate your help

FROM BIRTH TO 4 WEEK OLD SQUIRRELS

• At the moment, we DO NOT recommend Fox Valley 32/40 as there have been digestive issues associated to the formula.

• Feed Esbilac puppy formula with probiotics. It should be made as 3 parts water to 1 part powder for the first few feedings and then slowly increase the powder until you’re mixing it full strength, which is 2 parts water to 1 part powder.

• Is Royal Canin an adequate substitute to Esbilac? It is more readily available here than Esbilac.

FOR 4 WEEK OLDS UNTIL WEANED OFF

• Ideally, transition from Esbilac to Fox Valley 20/50, or offer a 50/50 mix of Esbilac and FV (20/50)

• If Fox Valley is not available, keep feeding Esbilac. Should whipping cream be added to increase fat content? If so, what is the ratio/recipe?

TEMPORARY GOAT MILK FORMULA
Offer this when waiting to obtain FV or Esbilac (shipping can be slightly longer here as we're in Canada)
From Henry's website, the recipe is : 3 parts goat milk, 1 part plain yogurt, 1 part heavy cream. Leave out the cream for the first few feedings and then add it in gradually. If diarrhea occurs, reduce or eliminate the cream for a few feedings.

Are there other temporary milk recipes that are adequate, if people can't find goat milk? I've seen these two recipes being shared (not on this website, but from people who contact us in Quebec and say this is what they use). I'm fairly certain they are NOT good AT ALL but I'd like to explain why they aren't, so I'd appreciate your help

• 1 cup whole milk + 4 tablespoons 35% whipping cream boiled together

• Evaporated milk + water + corn syrup + egg yolk (not sure how it is made by people but I assume they boil the mix)

Basically anything with regular cow milk is bad, right? And I suspect eggs shouldn't be given to babies, even though adult wilds sometimes eat them?

If you have any additional tips or information regarding formulas, I would love to hear it. Thank you in advance for your help!!

[Ekorre]

I'm sure others will chime in with answers to your specific questions.

You might find this thread helpful (it covers a lot about formula):

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...(Esbilac-etc-)

I think it's great that you're doing this!

You've certainly come to the right place to get the information & answers you need.

[Spanky]

FROM BIRTH TO 4 WEEK OLD SQUIRRELS

• At the moment, we DO NOT recommend Fox Valley 32/40 as there have been digestive issues associated to the formula.

• Feed Esbilac puppy formula with probiotics. It should be made as 3 parts water to 1 part powder for the first few feedings and then slowly increase the powder until you’re mixing it full strength, which is 2 parts water to 1 part powder.

If you are seeking confirmation on the above, yes we do continue to avoid the FV 32/40 and not recommend it. The transition does seem to help especially with babies that have been separated from mom for a while. I am sure you have included to hydrate first and never feed a cold baby!

• Is Royal Canin an adequate substitute to Esbilac? It is more readily available here than Esbilac.

I have no personal experience with Royal Canin but that IS what we recommend to folks outside the USA that do not have access to Esbilac or FV. I have seen RC in my vets office though.

FOR 4 WEEK OLDS UNTIL WEANED OFF

• Ideally, transition from Esbilac to Fox Valley 20/50, or offer a 50/50 mix of Esbilac and FV (20/50)

• If Fox Valley is not available, keep feeding Esbilac. Should whipping cream be added to increase fat content? If so, what is the ratio/recipe?

Full fat yogurt is another good "fattener" that I prefer to heavy cream. I don't have a strict recipe, I add about 1 tablespoon yogurt to 16 oz of formula (but still prefer the half FV 20/50 and half Esbilac!).

FV Ultraboost is better fat alternative to add, but if you cannot get FV formula this is likely not an option. I am not aware of anything remotely comparable to the Ultraboost, but perhaps other know of alternatives?!?!?

Are there other temporary milk recipes that are adequate, if people can't find goat milk? I've seen these two recipes being shared (not on this website, but from people who contact us in Quebec and say this is what they use). I'm fairly certain they are NOT good AT ALL but I'd like to explain why they aren't, so I'd appreciate your help

• 1 cup whole milk + 4 tablespoons 35% whipping cream boiled together

• Evaporated milk + water + corn syrup + egg yolk (not sure how it is made by people but I assume they boil the mix)

Basically anything with regular cow milk is bad, right? And I suspect eggs shouldn't be given to babies, even though adult wilds sometimes eat them?

If you have any additional tips or information regarding formulas, I would love to hear it. Thank you in advance for your help!!

Were it me I would not include these last two as options at all. If folks even think they are "acceptable" they may well decide to use these formulas for nothing other than convenience... JMO.

[Steph]

Oh wow, thank you so much Ekorre, I hadn't found that thread, it's got a lot of valuable info!!

[Steph]

Thank you Spanky!

I will take note of the Esbilac + full fat yogurt recipe, that should be fairly accessible to most people! And thank you for confirming people shouldn't use the last two homemade recipes I mentioned. It seemed to me like they could do a lot more harm than good, but it's always hard to convince people to stop using them when they say "oh but it's worked once for someone I know"

Oh and yes I will certainly detail the how-to's in the webinar (hydrate first, never feed a cold baby, which syringes to use, how to hold baby, angle of feeding, etc.).

[Ekorre]

Oh wow, thank you so much Ekorre, I hadn't found that thread, it's got a lot of valuable info!!

You're very welcome!

There's a lot of great information in this thread as well:

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...now-what-to-do

In my post in that thread (#13), I've put together some of what I think is most important (basics).

Hope it helps!

[island rehabber]

Great job, Ekorre and Spanky, helping Steph get this put together. You covered all the bases, I believe.

[Mel1959]

What a nice thing you're doing, Steph. . There will be lots of appreciative little Canadian squirrels.

One thing I might add, it originally came from Redwuff, who is a licensed rehabber member. For the first time this year I had some little ones that didnt seem to psyched about the Esbilac formula. She suggested mixing up the goats milk formula and then mixing it at a 50/50 ratio with Esbilac. My little ones did seem to take it better and I eventually transitioned them to straight Fox Valley when they were older.

I also can't say enough wonderful things about Fox Valley Ultraboost. If there is a need for extra calories, for whatever reason, it is wonderful. I have never had any intestinal issues (diarrhea) with it.

Again, thank you for doing this.

[Steph]

Thank you so much Mel, and apologies for the delay in responding! I will definitely include this information in my videos, I'm so grateful to have input from everyone, I'm always so impressed with this community . I will mention FoxValley Ultraboost for situations where the squirrels need more calories, that's a great tip!
Thank you again, and I will keep you posted on my webinar videos!

[Gray Squirrel]

Hello everyone!

I am currently gathering up all the information I can on squirrel rehabilitation to produce an online webinar. It will be in French since I live in Quebec (Canada), maybe one day I'll translate it if there's any interest for that. Unfortunately, there are no regulations here about squirrel rehabilitation so anybody can raise squirrels, and they feed them all kinds of terrible things.

I'm not an experienced rehabber like most of you, so I wanted to make sure I give out the best information in the webinar. Would you mind letting me know if I got the information right regarding formula? I also have a few questions (in red), so I would greatly appreciate your help

FROM BIRTH TO 4 WEEK OLD SQUIRRELS

• At the moment, we DO NOT recommend Fox Valley 32/40 as there have been digestive issues associated to the formula.

• Feed Esbilac puppy formula with probiotics. It should be made as 3 parts water to 1 part powder for the first few feedings and then slowly increase the powder until you’re mixing it full strength, which is 2 parts water to 1 part powder.

• Is Royal Canin an adequate substitute to Esbilac? It is more readily available here than Esbilac.

FOR 4 WEEK OLDS UNTIL WEANED OFF

• Ideally, transition from Esbilac to Fox Valley 20/50, or offer a 50/50 mix of Esbilac and FV (20/50)

• If Fox Valley is not available, keep feeding Esbilac. Should whipping cream be added to increase fat content? If so, what is the ratio/recipe?

TEMPORARY GOAT MILK FORMULA
Offer this when waiting to obtain FV or Esbilac (shipping can be slightly longer here as we're in Canada)
From Henry's website, the recipe is : 3 parts goat milk, 1 part plain yogurt, 1 part heavy cream. Leave out the cream for the first few feedings and then add it in gradually. If diarrhea occurs, reduce or eliminate the cream for a few feedings.

Are there other temporary milk recipes that are adequate, if people can't find goat milk? I've seen these two recipes being shared (not on this website, but from people who contact us in Quebec and say this is what they use). I'm fairly certain they are NOT good AT ALL but I'd like to explain why they aren't, so I'd appreciate your help

• 1 cup whole milk + 4 tablespoons 35% whipping cream boiled together

• Evaporated milk + water + corn syrup + egg yolk (not sure how it is made by people but I assume they boil the mix)

Basically anything with regular cow milk is bad, right? And I suspect eggs shouldn't be given to babies, even though adult wilds sometimes eat them?

If you have any additional tips or information regarding formulas, I would love to hear it. Thank you in advance for your help!!

I have been thinking about writing about the formulas people use for baby squirrels. I am looking for answers myself. I do have my own beliefs about this but hopefully if I am wrong I will come closer to the truth. I do not have the experience with a lot of squirrels , but I have been looking at post and I believe a lot of people are having problems with certain commercial formulas. I am not sure this is so but it seems to me that these companies just look at nutrient tables to decide what too put in their formula. Tables do not tell everything. I have not done much studding of tables but form the tables I have looked at and a breakdown of mother squirrels milk what they are doing does not make sense to me. I think what is really important is not if the formulas are (supposed to be) scientifically made but how do they actually work in real life. I get comments like why reinvent the wheel. If people take this additude and something is wrong it will never be fixed. I think one thing that is necessary is that when people have a problem they say not only who made the formula but which formula of that company they used, what else did they mix it with and where they giving the squirrel anything else It is results that mater not if a formula was scientifically made. The science used to make Scientifically made formulas can be junk science. It is not only that some people say that some of these formulas are killing baby squirrel they also say the squirrels had a painful death.

When someone says that they had a problem with a formula it should be taken seriously and brand loyalty or if it is said to be a scientific made formula should not influence peoples thinking . I believe that some of the more natural homemade formulas are safer. I will get comments that a certain commercial formula works why use a homemade one and then they say people have made home made formulas that use all sorts of things and have bad results. Just because people make bad homemade formula does not mean that a good one cannot be made or as I think is the case a better one than the commercially made ones. If you make a homemade formula and just put anything in it there is very little chance that it will not be a bad one, but if your do some studding of what has been used in the past and how it worked and take some of the new information about probiotics you can probably make a better safer formula than the commercial formulas. May be there are some nutrients that would help but when you start adding supplement your run the risk of putting things furthered out of balance or that the form of the supplement is not a good one. Commercial companies may not use the best or even use a bad form if a good form cost more. Too much of a nutrient can be as deadly as to little.

I am not saying that people should blindly except any formulas that can be made at home but to give the ones that have worked in the past a chance. I also think that people should not blindly except that the commercial formulas are best. Some commercial formulas may be bad.

I am interested in what you are looking at, but I do not trust the commercial formulas.

[Spanky]

I do have my own beliefs about this but hopefully if I am wrong I will come closer to the truth. I do not have the experience with a lot of squirrels , but I have been looking at post and I believe a lot of people are having problems with certain commercial formulas.

If you are reading older threads, yes there has been issues with different commercial formulas that may have been recommended at one time or another. For a while they may not have been recommended. It can be confusing since a formula that is a go-to formula now may have been causing serious issues in seasons past... and vice versa.

And there are many "commercial" kitten and puppy formulas that do and will cause issue. KMR will cause issues in squirrel babies almost universally. All puppy formulas but Royal Canin and powdered Esbilac are almost certain to cause immediate (diarrhea, bloating, un-digestable, etc.) or long term problems like a failure to thrive.

One of the great things (among many) about TSB (IMO) is that there is a large community that shares contemporary information, which helps to "catch" changes in commercial formulas. Not only can members report having issues, others can confirm the same issues or maybe identify other issues.

I will also take the time to add my thoughts about "homemade" formulas: I personally am not willing to do such experimentation on fragile and often compromised babies.

[stepnstone]

TSB does not "blindly" suggest what formulas are best...
This board has done extensive research on "commercial" formula's and their changes throughout the years. We research, we listen to the problems associated with feeding, we diligently research for answers among experienced rehabilatators even contacting manufactures for answers when and where necessary. Experience has taught us what works nutritionally for these babies and what no longer works due to manufacture changes, age of babies, etc.
It is your pejorative not to trust "commercial" formulas but to suggest a "homemade" formula could be made to supply the needs of those that constantly rehabilitate squirrels they are feeding 3-4 times per day is not feasible even if one could get the ingredients nutritionally correct which has been proven time and time again not to be adequate. Cold storage would be a problem for sure, time consumed and constantly making fresh formula especially for those that rehab multiple squirrels would be ridiculous among other factors. Many squirrels have suffered in the long run from the lack of proper nutrition in homemade formulas they were fed and this board has witnessed those results with horrific outcomes.
Your own comment; "I do not have the experience with a lot of squirrels" speaks volumes. TSB has that experience and strives to help those without the knowledgeable experience needed to do what is in the best interest for the squirrel's survival from the time of possession through release and it all begins with a proper diet that meets a squirrel's daily nutritional requirements.