Bloated 4-5 week old Male Squirrel

[SquirrelyMan]

Hello everyone. I recently(3 or 4 days ago) rescued two squirrels that are about 4-5 weeks old. One is a boy and one is a girl. I am feeding them 4 parts water, 1 part powdered esbilac, about 5cc’s each 5 times a day. The girl is pooping and peeing fine, but the boy has a big hardish belly and poops much less than the girl even though he is larger than her. I have given him a little apple juice, massaged his belly and butt while bathing him in warm water up to his armpits. He eats about 6cc (a little more than the girl’s 5cc) per feeding. He pees just fine every time I feed him, but he poops only one very tiny pellet. He has pooped only 2 or 3 times since I found them. Should my next step be to get some infant gasx, or else what are my options? Is it normal for boys to have a relatively big belly that’s harder than a girls at this age? Am I feeding them enough or too much? His belly does not really deflate between feedings much.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Welcome to TheSquirrelBoard SquirrelyMan

No that’s not normal to have a hard belly. There is no difference between boys and girls in terms of digestion. By the way, if you have had them 3-4 days they should be on full strength formula which is 2 parts water to 1 part powdered puppy Esbilac. They will starve on 4:1. Actually, they aren’t getting enough nutrition to make a lot of poop. You are feeding mostly water. Make new formula and let it sit at least 4-6 hrs so that it goes into solution. I would do that right away. They need nutrition ASAP.

Yes to the GasX. Try to get the belly down and then go to full strength formula. The dilute formula might be the cause of the hard belly/gas/bloat. Be careful with that because bloat can cause death. Float him in the warm water to relax him and hopefully move some of the gas.

You need to get a scale that weighs in grams. The weight is how you determine the amount to feed. A guideline for the amount is 5-7% of the body weight per feeding. An example is a 100g baby would get between 5-7 ml per feeding.

https://www.henryspets.com/1-basic-setup/

[SquirrelyMan]

Thank you. I have given him some apple juice and he is now pooping more. He still has a bit of bloating going on, but I will give him a warm bath ASAP and float him. Today I am going to start the 2:1 formula, I gave them 3:1 this morning.