Flying Squirrel losing weight

[HRT4SQRLS]

It’s really odd. The last 2 pics look a little like a Northern Flying Squirrel instead of the more common Southern Flying Squirrel. Can you look at the belly fur? Is the fur white or cream all the way to the base or does the belly fur have gray roots? A Northern has gray roots and they are larger than Southerns. Size wise I would say Southern though. By the way, at 34grams your baby is extremely underweight. We have a weight vs age chart. Let me find the link.

I’m not sure if it’s just the pic but he doesn’t look well in the last pic. The pinched ears are often a sign of pain or agitation. I am very concerned about his bones. I really think he needs the formula. He just won’t get enough calcium from veggies. When you get the calcium carbonate from Henry’s we need to talk about supplementing with calcium.

Do you have a syringe? You can offer the goat milk/yogurt with a syringe. Often they lick it off of the tip.

[HRT4SQRLS]

This is the link for the age vs weight. Post number one has the data. The graph below is the data in a graph.

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...-and-age/page3

[HRT4SQRLS]

The more I look at the last pic the more concerned I am. Those squinty eyes and pinched ears (and the weight loss) are signs of trouble. A healthy flyer would have the huge, bulbous dark eyes. I think you need to start the MBD protocol and not wait for the calcium carbonate. The fact that he didn’t have formula and he has been eating too many nuts are a recipe for serious problems. By the way, employees in pet stores know nothing about squirrels and even less about flying squirrels. We routinely have to correct their misinformation. Your little one should definitely have been on formula.

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...-MBD-Treatment

I am including the link to the MBD treatment so that you can get an idea of what you need to do. We will not follow this exactly as some of the amounts are for grey squirrels.

I think you should get some Tums. I don’t think you should start dumping calcium into him. This needs to be SLOW!!! I have seen young squirrels with nutritional deficiencies fail rapidly when you start throwing massive nutrition at them suddenly. There is a syndrome called Refeeding Syndrome. Because of this syndrome you have to be careful trying to do too much too fast. I think you should crush a Tums and give tiny amounts with the feedings. When you get the calcium carbonate from Henry’s we will get more specific but I would give small amounts of crushed Tums now.

[Kierstennace4]

ok, I just started with the tums. I changed my order with Henry's so he will have all of that. I am following the instructions for MBD. Thank you.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Go slow with the Tums. He is very small so we don’t want to overwhelm him with too much calcium.
Slow and consistent.