Baby squirrel VERY constipated

[island rehabber]

Make that:

Milk composition table, in percentages, from Borden, Inc. research:
Species--------Solids-------Fat-------Protein------Carbohydrates
Cow-----------11.9----------3.5-------3.0-----------4.6
Dog------------24.0--------10.5-------7.9-----------3.8
Cat------------20.0----------6.5-------9.0-----------6.8
Gray Squirrel-----6.6--------12.6--------9.2----------3.4

That is from this website: http://www.naturalhorsetrim.com/18.htm It also has racoon, oppossum, rabbit etc, for anyone who is rehabbing those

That should read better. As you can see, cat and squirrel are very close. Just add a little heavy cream or multi-milk and you've got good squirrly formula.

Gabe has a slightly different chart, and surmised this one might be a bit outdated (or reseach varies?) but this is close enough to gie a good picture of what you're feeding with each form of milk.

At the risk of beating that poor dead horse () I've got to put my two cents in here. If you look at the chart above, you'll note that only in one category -- protein -- are cat and squirrel numbers closer than squirrel and dog. Squirrel and dog milk composition are closer in Fats and Carbs, and not far apart in Protein as well. This is why those who have successfully rehabbed hundreds of squirrels (not me -- I mean folks like Chris Clark and Shirley Casey) always use either a puppy powder (Esbilac) or a specially formulated mixture like those made by Fox Valley for squirrels. It is really not advisable to use KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) or any other pet milk intended for kittens when feeding baby squirrels, for this reason.

[lazarus_04]

Oh yes island rehabber! We switched back to esbilac pretty quick when we figured that out!

[lazarus_04]

Hmmm. I still don't know. Is it alright to carry them in your pockets and pet them alot? Or should we handle them as little as possible?...

[Mars]

It's not how much you handle them at this age, they need you as their MOM, it's how many people are doing the care giving. Try to limit the care givers (and visitors) to one main person and one back up person. They will do fine.

[lazarus_04]

Alright then!

[acorniv]

At the risk of beating that poor dead horse () I've got to put my two cents in here. If you look at the chart above, you'll note that only in one category -- protein -- are cat and squirrel numbers closer than squirrel and dog. Squirrel and dog milk composition are closer in Fats and Carbs, and not far apart in Protein as well. This is why those who have successfully rehabbed hundreds of squirrels (not me -- I mean folks like Chris Clark and Shirley Casey) always use either a puppy powder (Esbilac) or a specially formulated mixture like those made by Fox Valley for squirrels. It is really not advisable to use KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) or any other pet milk intended for kittens when feeding baby squirrels, for this reason.

Yes, you are correct. IR - cat is a typo - should read DOG and squirrel are very close - not cat and squirrel. Gabe alerted me but I could nto find the original post. Thanks for helping out. I believe the rest of my posting and the chart makes it clear that KMR is not a good idea.

[acorniv]

Kieran and Keegan are HUGE compared to Miss Hickory, and she is 10-11 weeks old! I woudl not worry about either of yours, even if one has chicken legs, LOL.

MH's very sleek, so that might make some difference, but she must be a different, smaller. less fluffy subspecies than yours and then any of the others I've seen here. For example, the photo in the Chris's ad - she is the same variety but isn't at ALL fluffy. Her coat almost looks painted on - super short, everywhere but her tail, of course. It's not thick either, though it is evenly covered - but looks like a bottle brush (so do my yard squirrels) instead of bushy - of course it is pretty hot here. I don't expect her to look like the Canadian ones, but she doesn't look like anybody's here. She is really petite - chipmunk sized. She's not short on energy or spunk or brains, and she eats well ( solids only as of today - kicked the bottle), so I don't think it is her health - I think she's just small. All muscle too - none of that baby fat the others have. She has a black spot on her nose, and saffron yellow spats on all her feet - we love those!

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

You are correct about southern squirrels. Yours is a foxer like mine are right? Apparently they get smaller and smaller as you go south and no need for all that bushiness down south either because they deal more with heat than cold. I have never seen the southern squirrels so I can't tell you first hand, but someone at work asked me about it and so I posted the question of whether your guys are the same as ours up here and everyone said yes, and explained that they deal with the heat so are smaller and less furry.

[acorniv]

You are correct about southern squirrels. Yours is a foxer like mine are right? Apparently they get smaller and smaller as you go south and no need for all that bushiness down south either because they deal more with heat than cold. I have never seen the southern squirrels so I can't tell you first hand, but someone at work asked me about it and so I posted the question of whether your guys are the same as ours up here and everyone said yes, and explained that they deal with the heat so are smaller and less furry.

Thanks for the information. It makes sense - they don't need the fat stores or the fur, and they can move faster without it. They may have evolved smaller for that reason. Miss Hickopry is an Eastern Gray, not a foxer. She doesn't seem out of line for her age and for others around here, but my gosh, she's tiny compared to ones I see on SB - especially those black ones! She also has a different body type. She has a long pointed face, almost like a deer (not gaunt - just long) and smooth, muscular body. Lithe and fine boned - a ballerina's body, like my daughter's. Not an ounce of excess body fat; like my son. I keep wanting to say she's built like my other kids, so of course she looks like them, but we don't share any genes so that is silly If she were curled up, I could conceal her in my 2 cupped hands. I doubt Lazurus could to that wih hers at this point, and MH is much older.

She's about the size of our flying squirrels - they are tiny!. They are also the most beautifully marked animal I've ever seen.

[lazarus_04]

She sounds so cute acorniv. Do you have pictures by any chance?

Well, Keegan is doing great! I don't think he's going to need any more help, which takes a load off, lol! They both seem pooped today though...Yesterday, it took everything I had just to put them back in their cage! They kept crawling back up my arm, and boy can those little guys cling, lol! This morning, I fed them and they went right back to sleep till noon! Had time to walk the dogs, do 2 load of wash...EAT. Wow!

Hey, it's normal for them to eat less milk when they start to eat solids right? When I fed them yesterday and this morning, they didn't eat nearly as much as they used to. The 4 pieces of honeydew mellon and green peas they scarfed down could have something to do with that though! I'm trying out some cherry tomatoes and strawberries today.

The only problem I have now is that Keegan keeps stealing food from his little brother, even when they're both sitting in front of their food bowl. As the french would say: Pas d'chicane dans la cabane!..maybe I should buy another bowl.

...*looks behind her at the cage* Is it normal for squirrels to vocalise when they eat nuts?...