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Thread: 5-6 week old with diarrhea

  1. #1
    atiffee Guest

    Post 5-6 week old with diarrhea

    This baby was given to me about a week ago after tree cutters found him at my apartment complex. I have taken care of baby squirrels before but am a little worried bout this one. I am giving him about 5-6 cc of puppy formula diluted with water about every 4-5 hours. He has began to nibble on some hard food but i have not given him just hard food as he is not old enough yet. But he is having slight diarrhea. I feel like every time he is picked up he poops this light brown not completely solid feces. I know they are supposed to be brown pellets and i am just confused and concerned why he is having this issue. Am i feeding too much and too often?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Re: 5-6 week old with diarrhea

    The amount babies should be fed is based upon their weight, 5% - 7%. I will attached a cheat sheet.

    Formula poop should be a golden color.

    All puppy formula are not the same and almost all of them will cause diarrhea. Esbilac puppy formula, the powdered version (the pre-mixed liquid is NOT the same), is the only puppy formula reliably suitable for squirrels. I am attaching a pic of that too.


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  3. #3
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    Default Re: 5-6 week old with diarrhea

    Like Spanky, I am going to urge you to change to powdered Esbilac puppy formula (as in the picture).
    You can get a 12oz can of it on Amazon for $10, which should be enough to feed a single squirrel all the way to release at 16 weeks old.

    Weigh the baby in grams.. and then feed it 5% of it's body weight per feeding. (Example: 100 grams = 5ml formula)
    As it gets older this will gradually increase up to 8%.

    How often you feed it depends on its' age. If the eyes are closed feed it every three hours.
    If the eyes are open.. it will be 4 to 6 hours... a picture and it's weight would be helpful in determining the age and how often.
    All of these measurements and calculations have to be in balance to get perfect poop without diarrhea or constipation.

    Feeding it 'diluted' puppy formula is probably why it has diarrhea. Normally you do not have to add extra water (unless the instructions say to). If you put too much water in.. you get watery poop out. And it will grow less than it should.
    Esbilac powdered formula is 1 part powder to 2 parts water.

    Feeding it formula that you have heated up more than once can also result in dark brown diarrhea.
    You want to mix just enough up for the day, pour out what you will use for a feeding, warm that up, and throw the leftovers away.
    I mix up a day's worth in a Tea Shaker bottle.. and keep that in the fridge.

    When you first get a baby it will poop black or brown as it gets rid of the mother's milk.
    As it transitions to Esbilac the poop will become a pale color and then shift to a golden yellow.

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