FOXIE, SQUIRREL BABY GIRL FOUND - VERY SMALL

[Trooper]

A coworker who know me and my squirrels adventures approached me at lunch time with a baby fox squirrel girl. She looked like she was already dead. My coworker unknowing, poured some cold ice water hoping it would revive. She was almost frozen to touch and unresponsive.

Immediately grabbed her and exhaled my breath on her while rushed to the bathroom where I would wet a terry cloth with hot water, wring it and cover her I the steam bath.

Did this for 15 to 20 minutes and I got a pulse and a small movement. Eyes were closed and earlobes pinned back, rat tail with little fur. It reminded me a chipmunk in size, very small. On my lab it weighed 51g. Made some emergency rehydrating solution and was able to push with a syringe about 0.3ml.

Rushed her home in a box cuddled against one of my vitamin bottles that was serving as warm bottle. She looked peaceful. Wasn't sure I was going to make the 19 miles drive home with her still alive but she made it. In the meantime I had my wife go a try to buy Pedyalite or CVS equivalent, but they all come flavored, contains zinc gluconate, which I thought was not good for squirrels, potassium acesulfame (Sunnet and Sweet One) and sucralose. SO I DID NOT GIVE HER ANY UNTIL SOMEONE ON THIS FORUM WITH MORE KNOWLEDGE CAN ASSURE ME IT IS O.K. I gave her my own emergency hydration formula of 3 Tbs sugar, 1/2 tsp sal and 1qt water. Took about 1.5ml in three doses and she is coming back to life again.

She is now with opened eyes, so it looks like she might be at least 5 weeks old, but at 51 grams, she is either a dwarf or very bad malnutrition. She is skin and bones though. After hydration for 24 hors, what regimen of FV shall I give her? Or should I give her FV 20/50 and Esbilac? It has been a while and I don't know what is the latest on milk replacements.

I called her FOXIE for now.

Any advise on the hydration/milk protocol will be appreciated.

Trooper'sa dad

[HRT4SQRLS]

This will get you started.
https://www.henryspets.com/1-basic-setup/

Is the baby a ground squirrel? The spots make me think it’s a ground squirrel.

[HRT4SQRLS]

We usually recommend starting them on powdered puppy Esbilac.
Some rehabbers transition to 50% Esbilac/ 50% FoxValley 20/50.

I would put the heating pad outside the container. The baby will chew the cord when she gets active.
We put it on LOW under half of the container. If you want her to be snuggled with warmth you could give her a rice buddy in addition to the heating pad.

[Chickenlegs]

Oh baby. I would start diluted esbilac. Be sure to follow the instructions on the can—make sure it’s the right Esbilac—powdered with pre and pro biotics—1 part powder to 2 parts very hot water. Mix well and then mix some more. Let it sit for several hours stirring frequently. Start by using your esbilac diluted with water—1 part esbilac to 4 parts water—three parts water—two parts water—until you are feeding the 2/1 Esbilac. She needs nourishment so I would start feeding every 3 hours until she begins to look less spikey. Hard to tell if your baby is a dwarf. Treat as if she is for the time being just in case. Check the sections for raising babies and also the section for dwarf squirrels under special needs. Keep your baby warm but not too warm and be sure to help your little one eliminate after feeding. I know smarter people than I am will chime in. Thank you for saving this sweetheart.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Here is a great link. It shows a baby Fox squirrel and a baby California Ground squirrel side by side. A CGS is much smaller than the Fox Squirrel.
http://www.wildliferescuerehab.com/squirrels.html

Other than the pics, I wouldn’t pay attention to the info at the bottom. Crazy ideas on formula.

[Trooper]

Thank you guys, great input. Ground squirrels was one of my thoughts, but all the pictures I have ever seen of ground squirrels did not have rusty, orange bellies, that's why I thought it was a Fox. However, having eyes open at 51 grams and fully furred and not able to tell gender (and I had both male and female eastern grays before as pinkies and their genitalia was very pronounced). This one I can't even tell if she is female. Definitely not a boy.

The pinned ears got me too into thinking she was young, but with the eyes open doesn't match the Eastern Grays pattern, the ears unpin at about 2 weeks or before and the eyes open at 5 weeks. The reason the ears are pinned and her tail is so short is because she is not a dwarf eastern gray, like the one being held by Dr. Alicia Emerson in FL back in March. The reason Foxie has a short tail, long face, full fur, open eyes and pinned ears plus the reason why I did not see any drens on the trees where she was found, but just dirt and a water levi by the side, is because Foxie is a Dirtie!, or a dirt type squirrel, you know, the ones that live in the ground.

So now I have to re-learn everything. I still need to know if Pedyalite with zinc and all the junk I listed above is O.K. to give her. Please advice. About feeding, I will have to read pronto about ground squirrels. Here are more pics and the rice filled Teddy bear that Trooper loved so much, Dirtie seems to have taken with too.

Thank you all for the counseling, but I will need more on ground squirrels. If there is an expert on them, please chime in or give me their name so I can PM them.

Trooper's and Dirtie's Dad

[Nancy in New York]

So now I have to re-learn everything. I still need to know if Pedyalite with zinc and all the junk I listed above is O.K. to give her. Please advice. About feeding, I will have to read pronto about ground squirrels. Here are more pics and the rice filled Teddy bear that Trooper loved so much, Dirtie seems to have taken with too.

This was written a while back, prior to the addition of zinc, by Annette,
a well known and respected rehabber who owns and operates Wild Heart Rescue in Oklahoma.
These are her and her "brilliant DVM with a double masters in nutrition" findings
pertaining to pedialyte.

Bless you for helping this little one. Without you, she wouldn't be here.

"Ive been doing this a long time and have found out some things by necropsy, and some by a brilliant DVM with a double masters in nutrition. She has always picked my methods apart, and then told me "why". Today recovering dehydrated and emaciated animals is one of my specialties along with wounds and bone breaks. Ive got this down and I hope my experiences will help you to master these methods.
In small mammals as small as squirrels, you are always better off to re hydrate with glucose or sugar water than pedialyte when the animal is dehydrated from lack of fluids or milk. Theres a few reasons, but mainly the preservatives that are used in the commercial electrolytes for human consumption. In a human sized kidney, or even a large breed puppy, not a big deal, but in the kidneys of a tiny squirrel, you have these little filters the size of half to a whole pea, and they are battling to keep the impurities out of the blood which is now thickened and concentrated, in a body that cannot afford to flush them out because it cant afford the fluid loss to make urine. The kidneys are already in trouble. Those chemicals are immediately caught in the kidneys because the body cannot use them for anything. Pedialyte often contains dye and flavoring which should never be used, but the preservatives alone can cause problems you wont even see. In cross section
necropsies of kidneys for other rehabbers, I have found crystals, inflammation and blockage from Pedialyte and Gatorade. The Gatorade is just insane. I wont even drink it after seeing how the kidneys are affected. I have necropsied HUGE BLUE Gatorade kidneys! When the body is dehydrated and the kidneys are that small, we must only give the system things it can break down and use. There is no room for added chemicals. We have to stay as pure as possible.

I think most folks make their own rehydration fluid so skip that part unless pedialyte is part of the arsenal


In dehydration from starvation, just go with 1 tsp per cup warm water, infant glucose water or dextrose and water. The body can use that sugar. It makes a world of difference in stabilizing your baby and getting them back up. You can feed only the sugar water or glucose for a day, day and a half, and start adding your protein (formula) to the glucose or sugar water in reduced amounts, keeping them on the sugar until they rehydrate and their weight is back up. The BONUS to this is that they burn the sugar as energy which causes the body to store the protein, which brings weight up more effectively. The ADDED BONUS is that you can mix your protein and your rehydration fluid. You CANNOT MIX ELECTROLYTES AND PROTEIN. You cancel them both out by doing this. You will starve your baby of all help by doing this. Never never mix.
In an animal dehydrated from starvation or lack of fluids, they havent lost electrolytes as they would have from a case of diarrhea, to which an electrolyte can be used. Since sugar can actually cause diarrhea (which it will NOT do in a dehydrated animal), in an animal dehydrated from diarrhea, I recommend unflavored Pedialyte given BETWEEN protein feedings, or alternate with a starch like rice cereal water. I still use the infant glucose for this, and if I have to give an electrolyte, I use reconstituted mammal electrolyte powder.
Often protein can cause diarrhea if its an alien source, so pulling the protein and adding a starch will often do the trick. Remember, starch converts to sugar. Starch actually IS a long chain sugar, so no need to ad sugar when using a starch. Its amazing how the two are so similarly used by the body, but produce the opposite result in therapy!
Anyway, I hope something here helps!
Annette
Wild Heart Ranch

This may not help at all but those babies really are skinny--starving. Get better babies

[HRT4SQRLS]

Dirtie... That’s going to stick.

Yes, we do use Pedialyte for rehydration if it’s available. I wasn’t aware of the ‘bad’ things in it. I usually use the homemade type as they seem to like it better. I actually tasted the Pedialyte and I have to admit it is pretty nasty. The type I had was flavored and that made it worse.

She sure is a cute little thing.

[Trooper]

Heart 4 squirrels; yes Dirtie is going to stick with me, but someone at my home does not like it. I talked to Teddy Flory who is 120 miles from me and she has rehabbed California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi), also known as the Beechey ground squirrel, and is going to give me a hand on my questions.

About Pedyalite, it now has Zinc Gluconate in it, where before it did not. I remember reading of squirrels dying from Zinc poisoning from Desitin creams used on their bums when they had diarrhea, and those who died from chewing on cage wire mesh that were zinc plated, so when I saw Zinc on all the brands of pediatric rehydrating solutions, it gave me pause. Tomorrow Dirtie will be out of the woods for dehydration and I'll start her on FV 20/50 plus sprouts, apple, broccoli and grapes.