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Thread: Need some advice

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default Need some advice

    I値l get right to the point since I知 new at this. I知 raising a 4 month old male grey squirrel. I致e been letting him out on pretty days. When I checked on him today he was on the ground with his eyes closed. He had blood on mouth and nose and had a tooth missing. Everything else looked good. He was able to move all his limbs without hurting but all he wants to do is lay down in a ball with his eyes closed. I was able to feed him some pieces of watermelon earlier. I知 thinking he had a fall from the tree probably about 20 ft up. I知 just looking for some advice on what to do next. Thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Need some advice

    You definitely need to bring him in for a while to make sure he's OK. Listen to his breathing if you can and make sure he is well hydrated -- in a way, you're treating for shock. Squirrels can fall from amazing heights and not get seriously injured but in this case I would keep an eye on him to make sure he's ok.

    The biggest challenge here is that broken tooth. Because it's gone, the tooth opposite it is going to over -grow because there's nothing to grind it down. You will probably need to clip that tooth until the broken one grows back.
    Island Rehabber
    NY State Licensed
    Wildlife Rehabilitator


    "Ancora Imparo" (I am still learning)
    Michelangelo


    *
    If you can't afford the vet,
    You can't afford a pet.
    NEGLECT IS ABUSE.

    "Better one day in the trees, than a lifetime in a cage."

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  3. 3 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to island rehabber:

    Mel1959 (11-08-2020), PFont (11-12-2020), stepnstone (11-07-2020)

  4. #3
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    Default Re: Need some advice

    Update- He is back to his ole self. It took 3 days before he started to move around and another couple days I guess you can say to get his confidence back. He has a front tooth missing so I知 going to monitor the situation before I let him go outside again just in case he decides not to come back. I let him out about 10 times so far and he wanted back inside before dark each time. I値l all in for giving him a chance at being a normal squirrel and living in the trees but probably be happier if he decides to continue with the life he is living now. He has it made in the shade.

  5. #4
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    Default Re: Need some advice

    Yes, it will be good to monitor the tooth situation to be sure it grows in.

    I will share my experience with broken incisor teeth. I have a released female that has broken both top incisor teeth, twice. The first time I put her back into the release cage and took her to the vet. The X-ray showed they were broken right below the gum line. They grew back without a problem. So, the second time it happened, I didn稚 take her to the vet. I just provided soft food for her. She lives in a tree on the side of my house so I was able to monitor her. No problem with regrowth that time either.

    Another young released female took a major fall and had multiple injuries, one of which was a broken top incisor. I had her in the house for 6 weeks due to her other injuries and before releasing her I made another trip to the vet for her to be checked out. At that time it was determined that the tooth was dead and needed to be extracted. In that 6 week period her bottom teeth had not overgrown. The top teeth move when they chew so she was able to keep the bottom teeth from over growing as she chewed things. The vet removed the dead tooth and said she was releasable, which I was very surprised about.

    I think you should definitely keep him in till you see regrowth. If the injury is severe enough it can damage the tooth bed which will cause the tooth to die. If the tooth is dead and not removed it can cause an infection in the gum. The close proximity to the brain would make that very dangerous.

  6. 2 TSBers pass along the fuzzy thanks to Mel1959:

    island rehabber (11-12-2020), stepnstone (11-12-2020)

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