7 week old Pallas's squirrel. Decline in appetite, inconsistent eating.

[Joe]

Hello everyone!

Choocha is a garden squirrel as they call them in Thai which is a Pallas's squirrel.
He is around 7 week old. He opened his eyes on 27th of May and my wife found out that they generally open eyes at the age of 4 weeks.
His weight is 108 grams.

First, vet reccomended and sold us liquid Esbilac but it was causing diarrhea. So after some research we switched to Royal Canin Babydog formula that we stick with for about a month now.
Usually he takes 4-6 percents of his weight. When he begin eating less we space out his feedings more. Did this few times already.
Currently he is on 4 feedings per day but recently, when he became more active, he failed to eat enough in 1 go. He just squeeks few times when full and continues to his activities (which are running around, jumping and grooming himself).
It's like we have to feed twice within 1 feeding spaced by 30-60 minutes. Is that appropriate? This pattern emerged something like a week ago.


His last few days feedings:
Times: 6am, 11:30am, 5pm, 10:30pm
June 12, 104 grams
5.3ml, 5ml, 2ml, 5.6ml
June 13, 106 grams
6ml, 5ml, 3.5ml, 4.2ml
June 14, 109 grams
4.2ml, 4.1ml, 5.5ml, 2.1ml
All of these are double feedings like: 6am: feed 2ml, and then 6:40 2.2ml more. Total 4.2.
Today, May 15th he actually lost some weight at 108 grams and on morning feeding he again ate only 1.8ml (1 go) even after night and 4ml at 10am (1 go).

Between feedings we give 1cc water with a touch of honey for hydration.
No signs of bloating. Poop is not every time but he goes daily.
Lately became much more active: running, jumping, hanging upside down, wrestling with his hammock etc. Much harder to nurse him now. Little guy just doesn't want to stay still for a second. At least he starting to poop on his own. Did it few times already. Not sure about pee though - couldn't find any stains in bedding.
Licks some water from watet bottle (for fun I would say) but no interest in rodent blocks of 2 kinds we were able to get (Oxbow Adult Rat and Versele-Laga Complete Rat and Mouse). Just chew on them a little when given. Yesterday was able to finally bite few pieces off them (woohoo!)
Temperature in his room is usually between 28-29 (82-84) at night and 34-36 (93-97) at daytime. He has 2 warm pouches in his cage. Mostly he doesn't sleep next to or on them. Sometimes his paws are not much warm to the touch. Should I force warm him before feeding or he can regulate his temperature on his own at this age?

3 days ago he degloved an inch of his tail. Vet gave some painkiller, cut bone's leftover and applied bondage. First day he was not active and rather sleepy but starting day 2 he was "back on the track" with playing and hopping around. But it seems unrelated to the shift in his eating as it began before the accident.

Also my wife just read that "professional" squirrel shelter facebook group owner recommends main food for these squirrels are fruits and secondary are veggies. Could it be true for Pallas's squirrels?

To sum up my questions:
1. What could be a reason for appetite decline?
2. Correct feeding schedule?
3. Is it fine to do "double" feedings?
4. Should I force warm (direct to warmth) him before feedings or at all?
5. Pallas's squirrel's diet?

Also could anyone suggest Thailand's squirrel rehab?
https://www.wfft.org/ don't accept squirrels now and another facebook squirrel soft release group has been inactive for 2 years and no contacts whatsoever.

Sorry for a long read. Just trying to gather as full info as possible.

Some pics for cuteness:

[Chirps]

OMG He's adorable! And gorgeous too! Hopefully someone who knows about Pallas squirrels will respond. My only experience is with one grey, and have read a lot here. A grey would be started on a rodent block like you have been giving. At first it is just something to chew and shred, then they start to actually eat it. That sounds like the stage your boy is at now. After they are eating the block, veggies and later fruits are introduced. There's a squirrel food pyramid somewhere around here. BUT that may not be relevant or proper for your breed of squirrel.

From what you wrote it sounds like he is right on track with starting to eat blocks. As he eats more food, he'll drink less formula. Hoping the blocks are appropriate for his species as a main part of the diet, but even if they aren't, they have good nutrients he should be able to use.

If he doesn't want to nurse so much, maybe he can learn to drink his formula from a dish or bowl. You could put some on a flat dish or shallow bowl. The idea would be that he can't put his nose in deep enough to breathe any in. Licking it off a dish or from the bottom of a bowl will quickly progress to drinking/lapping slightly deeper amounts until he becomes a pro. Someone here has video of a bunch of their babies sloppily slurping. Maybe they'll see this and post the link.

This is my baby after a couple of days learning to drink from bowl.

https://youtu.be/TyfeOr6zyB0

[Chirps]

According to Wikipedia, "Pallas's squirrels are primarily herbivorous. They eat a wide range of different foods, and have differing diets in different parts of their broad range. However, primary foodstuffs include leaves, flowers, seeds and fruit. They also eat small quantities of insects, as well as occasional bird eggs."

The experts who have raised zillions of squirrels can tell you how normal it is for their eating patterns to change. He looks great. Maybe the weight loss is a fluke, like he just went potty before you weighed him that time?
And it's only one gram.

I'm concerned how he degloved his tail. Did he catch it in something? Could he also catch a finger or toe in whatever it was if he did? Can he be kept away from it?


Ah well, have to charge machine and get to bed. Best wishes for you and your precious boy!

[Joe]

By nursing I meant rubbing his private parts to help him go sorry for confusion.
In fact he is very eager to eat until he is full which happens too soon in my understanding

And about feeding from a bowl. Wouldn't milk lose temperature too quickly? As I understand it should be warm at all times until they wean themselves? Or is it fine for them to consume somewhat cooler milk when they grow up? At what age/weight approximately?

Thank you for info and suggestion

PS. Sure, his cage was fixed to prevent any future accidents.
PPS. Thanks for wishes and good night!

[island rehabber]

I am in love with that red tummy!! What a beautiful boy!

At 7 weeks old, a squirrel his size is close to weaning age (8-10 weeks) and in my opinion 4 formula feedings per day is too many. Mine are at 3 feedings per day, usually, for the 7-10 week period and then taper off to 2 and then one feeding per day before they finally, voluntarily, give it up. Give him a chance to get hungry. It will increase his willingness to explore more solid foods. Try this, and let us know if helps!

[Joe]

I am in love with that red tummy!! What a beautiful boy!

At 7 weeks old, a squirrel his size is close to weaning age (8-10 weeks) and in my opinion 4 formula feedings per day is too many. Mine are at 3 feedings per day, usually, for the 7-10 week period and then taper off to 2 and then one feeding per day before they finally, voluntarily, give it up. Give him a chance to get hungry. It will increase his willingness to explore more solid foods. Try this, and let us know if helps!

I was thinking about this but hesitated because he was eating small amount in 1 go even on morning feeding.
Well, we will try tomorrow. (Despite wife being terrified. She doesn't like the idea to restrict in food our babyboy. She wants him to be fat and strong )
Today we decided to feed 5 times but only 1 feeding at a time
He ate: 1.8ml, 4ml, 5ml, 3ml.
One more feeding to go.

By the way I wanted to ask regarding formula. Currently we are feeding RC babydog. In less than 1 month we have used about 150 grams. 250 grams left. I guess he will finish it and will require more formula?
Does it make sense to switch him to FV 20/50 or better to stick to RC?

Thanks for your help!

[island rehabber]

If you can get FV 20/50 where you are, I would definitely recommend it. If you can get the FV product UltraBoost I would order some of that as well, in case you see your little boy losing weight. I typically feed all my rehab squirrels 20/50 PLUS Ultra Boost, 3 parts to 1 part, after their eyes open which in North American grey squirrels is 5 weeks old. This helps me to not have "gangly teenagers" -- that period when 8-12 week olds start to back off from formula and suddenly get skinny.