Couple questions.....

[TamiKakes]

I finally got a gram scale (one I had was broken) and finally weighed my baby girl. Says 137 grams. So about 5 1/2 ish weeks old? Her eyes have not opened yet.
Also, she was pooping fine, was black tar like her first poo when we rescued her and then was slightly runny. Now I haven't seen anything in about a day and a half. She is on esbilac with probiotics, feeding about 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm and 11 PM.
Should I supplement water/salt/sugar mix between feedings?
Pee is a pale sometimes kinda bright looking yellow.

[Javarat]

Age is based more on fur and eyes than weight.

3 weeks - The baby's lower front teeth begin emerging. Hair is now slick, smooth, and shiny. Still no hair on legs and belly.
4 weeks - Has light grayish-brownish hair all over, except lower legs and belly and under tail. Some downy white hair beginning on belly and legs.
5 weeks - Thicker hair, including legs and belly. Tail hair is short, straight, and lies parallel with the bone. Eyes open.
5 to 6 weeks -Upper front teeth begin emerging. Begins curling tail over back.

As far as diet... Dark brown poop is the remnants of mother's milk. They will often go through a period of not pooping (but peeing) during transition. I just had one that did not poop for 36 hours. Then you will see a feeding or two with whitish soft poop, and then it will change to yellow hard pellets.

I would bet your baby is less than 5 weeks and should be getting 6 feedings per day. It should be eating between 6 and 9 ml per feeding. Keep stimulating to get pee and try to get poop. Feel the tummy.. it should be soft like a water balloon, white with no rash or redness. Any sign of a rash or hard tummy after more than 24 hours of no poop could be bloating and constipation. You would then want to immediately swap to a frequent (2 hours) water feeding to break the blockage.

8 hours is way too long for a nighttime... you really need to do a feeding at around 3am!!!<<<< VERY IMPORTANT
Long periods between feedings like this puts the baby's digestive system on pause, which can cause constipation, blockage, and possibly fatal bloating.

[TamiKakes]

She looks like pics of 5 weeks with all the fur though. That's why I'm confused.

[Javarat]

They are very furry at this time of year.
If she has any pink on her tummy at all.. she is less than 5 weeks.

PLEASE do a feeding at 3am tonight.
She is not stabilized yet... as she has not yet passed yellow pellets.
Right now she is probably crampy and dehydrated as her body shifts from mother's milk to formula.
We need to keep the feedings at every 3 to 4 hours, but no longer.
Three would be even better until she transitions, as we don't want her to dry up and get blocked.
Her body keeps trying to pull water from the food, but she will only poop when you stimulate her after a feeding.
If she pulls too much fluid out of her intestines it could block her up.
You may have to rub her genital area with a cotton ball, a napkin, or finger for up to 10 minutes after each feeding to get her system moving.
Watch out for any hardness of the tummy or reluctance to eat (less than 3 ml).

You will need to do a middle of the night feeding for about a week after she opens her eyes.

A baby squirrel at less than 6 weeks is like a human baby of less than 6 months.
Except they won't wake you up at 3am because they are starving.

[TamiKakes]

Okay. Thank you.

[Javarat]

Excuse me if anything I said was upsetting.
I never feel safe with a baby until I see several feedings with nice, firm, yellow pellets afterwards.
I have a 5 1/2 week old right now, furry with eyes open, and I feed it at 8am, 12am, 4pm, 8pm, midnight, and 4am.
It went for 31 hours with no poops... now that it has pooped yellow pellets several times I will probably shift it to 4.5 hour feedings.
It gets easier once they hit two weeks after eyes open... when you can go to four 6 hour feedings.

5 weeks (4 hours) 6 feedings per day
6 weeks (4->5 hours) 5 feedings
7 weeks (6 hours) 4 feedings
8 weeks (12 hours) 2 - 3 feedings
9 weeks (12 hours) 2 feedings
10+ offer once per day until release
(The more Calcium they take with them the better!)

[TamiKakes]

So I shouldn't go by this? This is the like that is posted all over this board.....

[Javarat]

I normally go with the rule of
white fur on belly, and the eyes open...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY... you are 5 weeks old today!
Then I arrange my feeding schedule based on that.

[Javarat]

If she was already passing yellow pellets you could go up to 6 hours at night.
But she is still in transition.. which is where we lose the most squirrels to bloat.
This is the period when she needs the most attention and very frequent feedings.
After she poops yellow pellets 3 to 4 times you could do a longer period at night.
But I would still not go more than 5 or 6 hours.
And a schedule of evenly distributed feeds is even better, if you can afford to lose the sleep.

[TamiKakes]

I know this is a bad pic, she ddoesnt like being on her back at all....this is her belly.

[Javarat]

From the picture.. she still has a little pink on her thighs, but is mostly grown in.
She should open her eyes any day now!

[Spanky]

She looks like a fox squirrel and she is gorgeous! She'll be a bit larger than the more common grey squirrels.

Thank you for helping her and to TSB.

Javarat's advise about feeding overnight is good advice since she is not yet adjusted to formula. The dark poos are from mom's milk and once on Esbilac will turn to a golden color. Once she is pooping gold (LoL) regularly you can consider 7 or even 8 hours overnight. With eyes closed she is not quite 5 weeks old and Henry's "overnight" advice is assumed for a stable baby... yours will be stable once she has transitioned to Esbilac and pooing gold (could not help myself from saying that twice!).

You are using the powdered Esbilac and not the pre-mixed liquid?

[TamiKakes]

Yes I am using powdered, will start the transition to Fox when I get it in a couple days.

[TamiKakes]

And yes she is a fox squirrel. This is who I believe is her momma (there are 2 families that live in the tree)
I call her sweet pea. She comes right up to us and eats shelled walnuts and peanuts (unrolled, natural) from our hand.
I have a pic of the other female I call skitty....she gets just so close to eating from out hand but then runs away and crawls back.

[TamiKakes]

This is skitty. The other female

[TamiKakes]

She looks like a fox squirrel and she is gorgeous! She'll be a bit larger than the more common grey squirrels.

Thank you for helping her and to TSB.

Javarat's advise about feeding overnight is good advice since she is not yet adjusted to formula. The dark poos are form mom's milk and once on Esbilac will turn to a golden color. Once she is pooping gold (LoL) regularly you can consider 7 or even 8 hours overnight. With eyes closed she is not quite 5 weeks old and Henry's "overnight" advice is assumed for a stable baby... yours will be stable once she has transitioned to Esbilac and pooing gold (could not help myself from saying that twice!).

You are using the powdered Esbilac and not the pre-mixed liquid?

Lol. I kinda laugh when I hear "more common grey squirrel" there are a few cities around here that have some grey squirrels, and even black, but around here it's all fox squirrels and they are my most favorite adorable creatures ever.

[TamiKakes]

We have Poop! I did a couple warm water "dunks" of her lower half, tad bit of apple juice diluted in water (after reading to do that, then read not to.
Today I massaged her belly with a warm washcloth and got this nugget out of her.
She does not appear to be bloated at all.
I think I want letting the milk sit long enough after making it and feeding her.
Is this a healthy looking poo?

[Spanky]

Lol. I kinda laugh when I hear "more common grey squirrel" there are a few cities around here that have some grey squirrels, and even black, but around here it's all fox squirrels and they are my most favorite adorable creatures ever.

I only meant that Grey squirrels are more populous in general and live across a wider geographical area. Those "black" squirrels are likely the same grey squirrel species... there are areas where they are white (not albino). And down here along the coasts of Carolinas, Georgia and Florida Fox Squirrels have banded eyes like raccoons and almost resemble monkeys at a quick glance.

We have Poop! I did a couple warm water "dunks" of her lower half, tad bit of apple juice diluted in water (after reading to do that, then read not to.
Today I massaged her belly with a warm washcloth and got this nugget out of her.
She does not appear to be bloated at all.
I think I want letting the milk sit long enough after making it and feeding her.
Is this a healthy looking poo?

Are you keeping the formula in the fridge and discarding any formula that is warmed for feeding but not used?

[TamiKakes]

Are you keeping the formula in the fridge and discarding any formula that is warmed for feeding but not used?[/QUOTE]

Yes I am. I want mixing 6-8 hours before hand at first, (rof the first couple days) am i safe to assume this could have caused some back up? I believe i read that somewhere. I just got my fox valley tonight in the mail so i have that mixed 25% FV 75%esbilac for tomorrows feedings the already measured the dry formula for wednesdays (50/50) and Thursdays (75/25)

Here is a pic i just snapped of her sleeping on her back. (Shes usually in a lil ball) it's about the only way I can get a belly shot cause as soon as I put her on her back in any way she twists and runs up my arm or goes into fetal position.

[TamiKakes]

Are you keeping the formula in the fridge and discarding any formula that is warmed for feeding but not used?[/QUOTE]

Wasn't waiting he 6-8 hrs I meant to say....
Anything not used is tossed.

I have had to nurse puppies in the past so I am familiar with formula ediquite. Just not squirrels.