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Thread: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

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    Default Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Hello, I have a female grey squirrel that is approx 6 years old, i resued as a baby when a buch of teens tried to drown her when she fell in a pool.. She has been extremely active and healthy all her life, o issues with her ever but suddenly this past week she is barely moving. She almost doesnt leave her room or bed. She only comes to me when i go in and offer her food, she doesnt come out when i call her to get it as usual. She has been eating perfectly, no issues there but has not wanted to go outside hich she does everyday, not far only on the porch on the grass and bushes or even roam around the house like she has every day in the last 6 years. Is it the hot weather? It never bothered her before. Or is it the mating season? She is not injured, does not appear to have any injuries and does respond by lifting her head and looking at me when i call her and talk to her but will not leave her bed. She is not pregnant. And has bitten me when i tried to pick her up. Ladt time she did that was 4 years ago, and i think she was wilding up then. Is she wilding up again??? After 6 years?? Please advise. I am so worried. Thank you.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Welcome Lola,
    I’m a little confused. Is she a pet that lives inside or is she a released rehab that returns from the outside? Sorry, I couldn’t quite understand. What does she eat?

    Edit... after reading your post again, she is a 6 year old pet squirrel, right?

    That makes the diet question even more important.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by HRT4SQRLS View Post
    Welcome Lola,
    I’m a little confused. Is she a pet that lives inside or is she a released rehab that returns from the outside? Sorry, I couldn’t quite understand. What does she eat?

    Edit... after reading your post again, she is a 6 year old pet squirrel, right?

    That makes the diet question even more important.
    Hi thanks for responding yes pet. We tried to release when she was little as suggested, but she never left. She has her nest, made by her in a seperate room and she roams the house and the front yard, under supervision, but never leaves or goes any further.

    She eats alot of fruits like cherries and apples and some blue berries. She eats veggies like cucombers mushrooms avocados lettuce and zuccini. She eats the occasional cookie and peanut. Overall very good diet. I was instructed on diet when she was verry little and she has had a very healthy life. Even now, she is eating and has an apetit but she is not active.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Just to clarify, she is an inside squirrel. She does not venture further than the yard and only on the grass. She is rarely very far from me. I am worried as to why suddenly this week, she has no interest in leaving her bed/nest. She hasnt been normal in 4 days. Only moving enough to reach my fingers when i come to offer her food.apetite is not an issue. Lol

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Does she eat any type of rodent block?

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by HRT4SQRLS View Post
    Does she eat any type of rodent block?
    Yes. She has various salt blocks
    .

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    She also munches on egg shells from time to time

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    A salt block isn’t the same as a rodent block. A rodent block is a block that provides minerals/vitamins and a foundation for a rodent diet. Most were created for lab rats or pet rats. There is one that was specifically designed for squirrels. Without a block, squirrels don’t get enough calcium from the veggies we feed. I suspect that your girl is probably calcium deficient. It is the number one problem we see on this board. She might also be diabetic from the fruits she gets. We limit fruits due to high sugar. We also limit nuts to a treat (1-2per day) but it doesn’t sound like you are feeding an abundance of nuts. That’s good... that’s VERY good.

    Low calcium can lead to a condition called Metabolic Bone Disease. In its later stages it causes hind end paralysis, seizures and then death.

    Your diet is not terrible but the block is needed to maintain health.

    Here is what you can do to see if she is calcium deficient. Crush a fruit flavored Tums and mix it with a little water. Over the next 24hrs give her the solution. If you see improvement I would do a modified MBD treatment to get her calcium levels up. If it’s not calcium deficiency, it won’t hurt her. If she is calcium deficient you should see a fairly rapid improvement. Full blown MBD takes weeks/months to turn around as brittle bones have to be restored to health.

    I’m posting a link for the treatment but again, I don’t think this is full blown MBD but might indeed be calcium deficiency. This link gives the treatment and helpful information.
    https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...-MBD-Treatment

    I’m going to make another post with the healthy diet.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    This is the link to the healthy diet.
    https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...-Pet-Squirrels

    Egg shells are very good as a source of calcium.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    The commercial rodent blocks that are the best are Envigo (Harlan) Teklad 2018, Mazuri rodent block and Oxbow Essentials. The problem with these is that they are not well received by adult squirrels. If they are given as a first solid food to babies they will eat them but adults don’t like them. It is unlikely that you could get a 6 year old to eat these.

    A block created specifically for squirrels is made by Henry’s Healthy Pets. They are a supplement block packed with vitamins and minerals. They have pecans or hazelnuts as a base so that squirrels will eat them. Here is the link to 2 blocks that your girl would probably eat. You could try it if you would like.

    https://www.henryspets.com/picky-blo...ers-rats-mice/

    https://www.henryspets.com/hazelnut-blocks/

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by HRT4SQRLS View Post
    The commercial rodent blocks that are the best are Envigo (Harlan) Teklad 2018, Mazuri rodent block and Oxbow Essentials. The problem with these is that they are not well received by adult squirrels. If they are given as a first solid food to babies they will eat them but adults don’t like them. It is unlikely that you could get a 6 year old to eat these.

    A block created specifically for squirrels is made by Henry’s Healthy Pets. They are a supplement block packed with vitamins and minerals. They have pecans or hazelnuts as a base so that squirrels will eat them. Here is the link to 2 blocks that your girl would probably eat. You could try it if you would like.

    https://www.henryspets.com/picky-blo...ers-rats-mice/

    https://www.henryspets.com/hazelnut-blocks/
    Thank you so very very much for all the information and links. I will order the squirrel block asap. I have already crushed the tums and added it to her water to see if this helps. I will reduce her fruit intake, she does like her cherries and apples.

    Could the weather be an issue? Or could it be emotional? Honestly, I have never seen her so lazy in her entire 6 years. My hubby says she is mad at me, lol could that be? Or is she in heat?

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    One thing I would like to mention. On a forum we have very little diagnostic abilities. If there are issues with the diet we can definitely make recommendations. If there are obvious symptoms of Metabolic Bone Disease, injuries, infection, etc we can also make recommendations but beyond that we are limited.

    6 is not terribly old for a pet squirrel. We have many healthy 10 year olds on this board. We have some that are 15 but often those are quite elderly and are afflicted with issues associated with old age just like people. There was one documented to be over 20 but that is like a 120 year old human. Not many of those around.

    The reason I said that is because your girl isn’t really old but squirrels are subject to any and all of the diseases or organ failures that humans do. Kidneys fail, livers fail, hearts fail, etc. We can’t do anything for those type of issues.

    I do think your girl is probably calcium deficient and that’s easy enough to correct. I would try it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by lola View Post
    Thank you so very very much for all the information and links. I will order the squirrel block asap. I have already crushed the tums and added it to her water to see if this helps. I will reduce her fruit intake, she does like her cherries and apples.

    Could the weather be an issue? Or could it be emotional? Honestly, I have never seen her so lazy in her entire 6 years. My hubby says she is mad at me, lol could that be? Or is she in heat?
    I wouldn’t add the Tums to the water. I would force feed her the Tums in small amounts for the next 24 hrs. Do you have a syringe? Don’t aspirate her. Also, be careful with her. If she is calcium deficient she could have brittle bones, subject to fractures.

    Is it extremely hot where you are? Do you have AC? She could overheat but not likely in the house.
    Usually heat/estrus is associated with the ‘crazies’ and aggression and not lethargy.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by HRT4SQRLS View Post
    I wouldn’t add the Tums to the water. I would force feed her the Tums in small amounts for the next 24 hrs. Do you have a syringe? Don’t aspirate her. Also, be careful with her. If she is calcium deficient she could have brittle bones, subject to fractures.

    Is it extremely hot where you are? Do you have AC? She could overheat but not likely in the house.
    Usually heat/estrus is associated with the ‘crazies’ and aggression and not lethargy.

    Perfect. Understood. Good to know 6 is not old. I love her so much and want her around a long time.

    I offered her the tums and she happily took it and is eating one as we speak.

    Thank you for all your great advice. What a great forum!

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    That’s awesome. Some squirrels love them. I know of a rehabber that gives her non-releases one Tums per week. They will nibble on them as they like. Let us know if you see any improvement tomorrow. The results are usually pretty fast.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by HRT4SQRLS View Post
    That’s awesome. Some squirrels love them. I know of a rehabber that gives her non-releases one Tums per week. They will nibble on them as they like. Let us know if you see any improvement tomorrow. The results are usually pretty fast.
    Will do. Thank you very very much.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    One other comment regarding the block. Some have mentioned that shipping to Canada makes the Henry’s blocks too expensive. This is a suggestion if that’s the case. You could order the Envigo Teklad block online. More than likely Amazon CA has them. They are sold in large bags (33 lbs) so resellers portion them out and sell smaller quantities on Amazon. The Envigo blocks or Mazuri can be used as a base to make a palatable squirrel block. You would grind them into powder in a food processor or coffee grinder. Add apple sauce to the powder. Add an egg as a binder. Grind a handful of pecans. Mix all this together and bake it. There are MANY different recipes on TSB for making blocks that squirrels will eat from the commercial rodent block. They are called Boo Balls after a squirrel named Boo. His mom made blocks for him. There are dozens of different variations. I just wanted to throw this out as an option if the shipping costs are ridiculous.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by HRT4SQRLS View Post
    One other comment regarding the block. Some have mentioned that shipping to Canada makes the Henry’s blocks too expensive. This is a suggestion if that’s the case. You could order the Envigo Teklad block online. More than likely Amazon CA has them. They are sold in large bags (33 lbs) so resellers portion them out and sell smaller quantities on Amazon. The Envigo blocks or Mazuri can be used as a base to make a palatable squirrel block. You would grind them into powder in a food processor or coffee grinder. Add apple sauce to the powder. Add an egg as a binder. Grind a handful of pecans. Mix all this together and bake it. There are MANY different recipes on TSB for making blocks that squirrels will eat from the commercial rodent block. They are called Boo Balls after a squirrel named Boo. His mom made blocks for him. There are dozens of different variations. I just wanted to throw this out as an option if the shipping costs are ridiculous.
    Ahh yes, the shipping costs for most things coming here are indeed rediculous and takes forever. . Your suggestion sounds great and I love making things for all my fur babies including my squirrel. Thanks for the advice. Will check out Amazon. She has now eaten her tums and cucomber and gone to bed. Its pretty humid here today but her room is quite cool. She still has no interest yet in going outside. Hopefully the tums will help.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by lola View Post
    Ahh yes, the shipping costs for most things coming here are indeed rediculous and takes forever. . Your suggestion sounds great and I love making things for all my fur babies including my squirrel. Thanks for the advice. Will check out Amazon. She has now eaten her tums and cucomber and gone to bed. Its pretty humid here today but her room is quite cool. She still has no interest yet in going outside. Hopefully the tums will help.
    UPDATE: not sure if it was the tums she ate, she ate at least 1 and maybe she has mild Mbd or not, but she is outside as we speak. She came out of her room a few minutes ago and sat in front of the door asking to go out.
    I am so happy. Thanks guys very much for all you do here.

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    Default Re: Adult female grey squirrel suddenly inactive and acting strange

    Quote Originally Posted by lola View Post
    UPDATE: not sure if it was the tums she ate, she ate at least 1 and maybe she has mild Mbd or not, but she is outside as we speak. She came out of her room a few minutes ago and sat in front of the door asking to go out.
    I am so happy. Thanks guys very much for all you do here.
    Thrilled to hear that. It is very possible the calcium. We see squirrels with full blown MBD that are paralyzed regain mobility in a day or two. Of course, they aren’t cured but they are headed in the right direction. It takes time to rebuild bone.

    I would give her a Tums every day for a week. Split up the doses. Don’t give it to her all at once or she could get constipated with excess calcium. You might see the poop turn white. That’s OK and normal while megadosing calcium. When the poop is white you can back off the amount of calcium. By splitting up the doses over 24 hrs, it keeps the blood calcium level up over time.

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