Formula Warnings

[Nancy in New York]

When buying PetAg puppy replacers make sure you are getting the correct one.
We have had several members this week with very sick squirrels due to feeding
the incorrect formula. (Through NO fault of their care takers, as it can be confusing)
PetLac sits in the squirrels tummies like cement.
They bloat, and can not defecate. This could cause death.
You want to get the PetAg Esbilac Puppy Milk Replacer Powder

NOT
PetLac Puppy Milk Replacement Powder.................................................. ........................CORRECT FORMULA



IF you have already fed this, a long time member has come up with this protocol below that has helped save his babies.

The trick for me seemed to be getting in as much water, as quickly as possible, once you see and feel the hardness in the belly. Not sugar water or Pedilyte, but plain water. I did this every hour (giving about .2-.3 ml) and ensure you stimulate after each, for 2 reasons. 1. You have to get that water out of the bladder, and it will burst if you don't. 2. You want that water to start working on the crud in the belly. After 8-10 hours, you should start seeing some movement out of the bowel (they will continue to poop, but you will start to see it more watery, which is what you want). At that time, start introducing diluted formula at the ratio of 25% Esbilac, 75% water. Feed this for the first half day. The second half day, I bumped up the ration to 50/50. I fed this for a day and then went to 75% Esbilac, 25% water and introduced full food the next day (and the blockage was gone!). So far, I am at 100% success rate. One note though. I check my pinkies after every feeding, so see if their bellies are hard or squishy. I would suggest everyone get in the habit of checking them after every feeding as habit and you can't go wrong in catching them before they bloat up. Once they take on that angry red color on their bellies (this is when their system goes septic), they are gone and can't be saved, so the trick is to catch them before this happens (hence, getting in the habit to see if their tummies are hard or not).

[Nancy in New York]

In case you have used PetLac OR Fox Valley 32/40, this is what one member did for his
little ones that were given Fox Valley 32/40, and it saved their lives.
Seems the Fox Valley and the PetLac has the same effect, it sits like
cement.

The trick for me seemed to be getting in as much water, as quickly as possible, once you see and feel the hardness in the belly. Not sugar water or Pedilyte, but plain water. I did this every hour (giving about .2-.3 ml) and ensure you stimulate after each, for 2 reasons. 1. You have to get that water out of the bladder, and it will burst if you don't. 2. You want that water to start working on the crud in the belly. After 8-10 hours, you should start seeing some movement out of the bowel (they will continue to poop, but you will start to see it more watery, which is what you want). At that time, start introducing diluted formula at the ratio of 25% Esbilac, 75% water. Feed this for the first half day. The second half day, I bumped up the ration to 50/50. I fed this for a day and then went to 75% Esbilac, 25% water and introduced full food the next day (and the blockage was gone!). So far, I am at 100% success rate. One note though. I check my pinkies after every feeding, so see if their bellies are hard or squishy. I would suggest everyone get in the habit of checking them after every feeding as habit and you can't go wrong in catching them before they bloat up. Once they take on that angry red color on their bellies (this is when their system goes septic), they are gone and can't be saved, so the trick is to catch them before this happens (hence, getting in the habit to see if their tummies are hard or not).

[island rehabber]

BRILLIANT information!

[FortWorthSquaddy]

Can anyone opine on liquid Esbilac Puppy Milk Replacer?
Water, condensed skim milk, soybean oil, cream, sodium caseinate, etc...

[Just-Profit]

Gotcha, spammer!

[FortWorthSquaddy]

Can anyone opine on liquid Esbilac Puppy Milk Replacer in a can? (Bought at Russel Feed)
Ingredients in order:
Water, condensed skim milk, soybean oil, cream, sodium caseinate, etc...

[Nancy in New York]

The only thing I know about the liquid is that it causes diarrhea
so we never recommend it.
If I'm not mistaken, I think it has something to do with different proteins sources.

[CritterMom]

It is the sodium caseinate that is the issue. The dry powder has both whey protein isolate, which is VERY digestible, AND the caseinate, which is less digestible - which is what allows it to stay in the system longer and thus allow you to go longer between feedings. But in the wee ones, having the easily digested whey protein isolate is the way to go. It may not be as convenient for the human but it is a lot better for the baby.

The liquid Esbilac has ONLY the casein, none of the whey protein isolate. So it doesn't digest properly and either sits in the system not going through until it begins to ferment and cause bloat; or the system just rejects it and it shoots through undigested as diarrhea.

[CNeal]

Hello, I am new here. My sister just got two very young pink and grey baby squirrels. She got 3, but one just died tonight. She told me to buy her the esbilac for her to feed them, but my walmart didnt have it. So I bought her a different one. I will attach pics. Can someone please tell me if this is safe for the babies?? I am devastated to think that my mistake might have killed one of them!

When buying PetAg puppy replacers make sure you are getting the correct one.
We have had several members this week with very sick squirrels due to feeding
the incorrect formula. (Through NO fault of their care takers, as it can be confusing)
PetLac sits in the squirrels tummies like cement.
They bloat, and can not defecate. This could cause death.
You want to get the PetAg Esbilac Puppy Milk Replacer Powder

NOT
PetLac Puppy Milk Replacement Powder.................................................. ........................CORRECT FORMULA



IF you have already fed this, a long time member has come up with this protocol below that has helped save his babies.

[stepnstone]

Hello, I am new here. My sister just got two very young pink and grey baby squirrels. She got 3, but one just died tonight. She told me to buy her the esbilac for her to feed them, but my walmart didnt have it. So I bought her a different one. I will attach pics. Can someone please tell me if this is safe for the babies?? I am devastated to think that my mistake might have killed one of them!

Milk Replacer is not Esbilac. It is the wrong formula, does not contain all the type nutrients needed, not digested as well and usually causes diarrhea which in turn dehydrates baby. You said sister "just got" these babies, very unlikely the formula was the cause. That being said, you do need to get the correct formula with the pre and pro biotics.
Has she ever raised these babies before this? Does sister have a scale to be weighing these babies? Babies need to be weighed to be fed between 5-7% of their body weight, over feeding can be dangerous. Feeding with too large an instrument can be dangerous. Aspirating formula can be dangerous.
I'm attaching a link on baby squirrel care, please ask any concerns you may have and we'll do the best to answer them.
Go to this link. It's 6 pages long with the next button on the top right corner..
http://www.henryspets.com/baby-squirrel-care/

[CNeal]

They were brought to her yesterday evening. She has attempted to raise a couple before that were brought to her by someone where her husband works, but they were both very sick when she got them and didnt make it. We have both done a ton of research, but every site says something different regarding food. Fox valley is the best, no dont ever use that! Esbilac is the best, no its killing babies! Goats milk, no never! We have ordered both of the mixed of the fox valley, waiting on delivery, now I read here that it is bad. We just want to save these babies, but I am so frustrated! We are continuing to rehydrate, and will be getting a scale tomorrow. They aren't taking much at a time of the rehydration fluid.

[stepnstone]

They were brought to her yesterday evening. She has attempted to raise a couple before that were brought to her by someone where her husband works, but they were both very sick when she got them and didnt make it. We have both done a ton of research, but every site says something different regarding food. Fox valley is the best, no dont ever use that! Esbilac is the best, no its killing babies! Goats milk, no never! We have ordered both of the mixed of the fox valley, waiting on delivery, now I read here that it is bad. We just want to save these babies, but I am so frustrated! We are continuing to rehydrate, and will be getting a scale tomorrow. They aren't taking much at a time of the rehydration fluid.

I'm going to copy this reply to your personal forum https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...ing-the-babies and answer from there.
Please stick with that thread, jumping back and forth gets very confusing when seeking advise.

[afjacm]

I received two baby boys almost two weeks ago. We have them Pedialyte for the first 12 hours. Then only thing we could find that night was Kitten replacement. They are that for the first day and then we picked up esbilac goats milk replacement. The babies seemed to love it and didn’t have any issues. I continued my research( I have never had babies this little) and decided that I was going to buy fox valley. I have both 32/40 and 20/50. I switched without transitioning to the 32/40 (nervous they were going to get sick on the other formula from my readings) and they seemed to do fine. They have been on it for 5 days now. The past 24-36 hrs I’ve noticed Cory’s belly wasn’t deflating between feedings. Trevor’s seemed fine. They were both using the bathroom fine. The color changed to a golden-yellow. Then yesterday I noticed Cory’s belly was getting slightly more tighter, but only near where his milk band is. He looks fat, but it’s not super tight. Then I noticed his stools were getting firmer. Just now, I noticed the belly of Trevor’s to be a little rounder than normal. I gave .5cc sugar water (I didn’t not have apple juice) to both. Then read some more and decided to switch to water right now I told I can see a difference in their belly’s. Any advice would be much appreciated. I keep reading and reading and the information here between people is a bit conflicting. Rehabbera, halp? I need my babies to be happy and healthy.

[afjacm]

I will also add that they still have an appetite. I’ve been feeding roughly between every two to 3 hours, sometimes stretching it to 4 a couple times over the past week due to life happening.

This is Cory, the first yummy problem we had. It doesn’t look like much, but I’m trying to catch it before it gets worse

[island rehabber]

stop using the 32/40 immediately.

IT IS NOT SAFE for babies of that age, and has not been safe since 2015 when I and other rehabbers lost dozens of pinkies because of it.

Esbilac is fine until their eyes open. If the bloat continues to get worse (you are seeing the beginning of bloat with all of them right now, because of the 32/40 crap) you need to start this protocol as follows:

[HRT4SQRLS]

Do you have any idea how old they were when you received them? Did they have fur? Were they pinkies?
You mentioned having them almost 2 weeks. I just wanted you to know that your babies are extremely underweight.

Hopefully they will start gaining when transitioned to the proper formula.

EDIT: I just saw your profile pics. They WERE pinkies indeed. I guess they are younger than I thought.

[afjacm]

Do you have any idea how old they were when you received them? Did they have fur? Were they pinkies?
You mentioned having them almost 2 weeks. I just wanted you to know that your babies are extremely underweight.

Hopefully they will start gaining when transitioned to the proper formula.

EDIT: I just saw your profile pics. They WERE pinkies indeed. I guess they are younger than I thought.

How old would you guess they were in that picture? They had zero fur but you could see the slit in their eyes. I chalked it up to around 1 week 🤷*♀️

[afjacm]

Cory and Trevor seem to be doing much better. Their tummy’s deflate completely before their next feeding. We are feeding about every 3 hours. And they are both closer to 40 grams as of yesterday. Since we had the FV issue, we did the water for awhile and then transitioned them to the puppy formula. They seem to be having some pooping issues. Wednesday, we started the no formula water for 9 hours. Then back on diluted formula the next day, and we got a BUNCH of poopies from both. The typical gold little nuggets. Now, I haven’t had a real solid stool from either. They both are producing a nug or two, but they are extremely soft and slightly sticky. I’m not sure if that would constitute as constipation or something else? They do not make any noises when passing them or any sign of strain. Should I keep feeding normal formula and give it some time?

[HRT4SQRLS]

How old would you guess they were in that picture? They had zero fur but you could see the slit in their eyes. I chalked it up to around 1 week 🤷*♀️

I think your original thought of a week old was probably close. When the eyes open they should be 5 weeks old. Look at those cute babies!

[Dinkbradders]

[please help as I have no time to read through I did the exact same thing and gave 5 cc to one squirrel and 4 cc to the other think they're 6 to 7 weeks old one definitely just vomited so I think one of them went for a very long way straight afterwards I left the house to pick my daughter up from school so do I just go home and give water or will they make it to the next feeding and I go back to the goats milk until I can get the correct stuff online?QUOTE=Nancy in New York;1178498]When buying PetAg puppy replacers make sure you are getting the correct one.
We have had several members this week with very sick squirrels due to feeding
the incorrect formula. (Through NO fault of their care takers, as it can be confusing)
PetLac sits in the squirrels tummies like cement.
They bloat, and can not defecate. This could cause death.
You want to get the PetAg Esbilac Puppy Milk Replacer Powder

NOT
PetLac Puppy Milk Replacement Powder.................................................. ........................CORRECT FORMULA



IF you have already fed this, a long time member has come up with this protocol below that has helped save his babies.[/QUOTE]