Fox squirrel baby slow development???

[FergieBoo]

Anyone have any experience with the development of fox squirrels? have a fox squirrel ( sub species: Bachman’s or Hill country) I believe he is 7 1/2 weeks. I got him at what I’m calling 4 weeks. His eyes were closed still. He was 98 grams then, now (as of yesterday morning before feeding) he is 270 grams. He gets around 21ml of FV with yogurt. Growing very well no problems with Bowels or aspirations. He seems like he is starving all the tim. I started him with rodent cubes after eyes opened and Henry protein cubes last week. He is getting water from the water bottle in his cage. He seems very slow developing though . Falls over a lot and acts drunk... is is starting to try to climb a bit. he broke his right hind leg when he fell from his nest. Had a vet check him and splint it. The vet removed the splint about 2 weeks ago. He only belly crawled and drug the cast around while it was on. After it came off was still very sleepy and not venturing out of his bed much. Recently, he has gotten more active, just in the last few days. I’ve been giving him a bit of supervised exercise time to rehab and gain strength back in that leg and foot. He seems very VERY clumsy... Is all the falling and incoordination normal, is he just a giant toddler or could he have some neurological things going on? My past squirrel experience has only been with grey squirrels and they were running around by his age... I’m putting a few pictures and will try to add a video ....

* I Made a new thread of this question from an old thread I replied to, not sure if that person is still on here. Maybe someone else has some experience that may give me some insight into what I think is a bit slow developing...

Fergus at what I guess to be about 4 weeks. The vet had just splinted his leg.

7-ish weeks, peeing on the blankets during play time😂

Practicing climbing





this shows his bad leg, the foot is a bit funny and he doesn’t have as good of a grip with it. I hope it will gain strength.

[FergieBoo]

After reading other threads I’m beginning to wonder about inner ear.... what are the symptoms...

[HRT4SQRLS]

The eyes are open now, right?

At this size and age, he should be climbing around in the cage. I realize they are larger than greys so the 270g is in line with a young Fox squirrel. In FL that would be a nearly grown squirrel based on the weight. I think it is quite possible he might have neurological issues. Only time will tell. The same fall that broke his leg might also have damaged his head as well.

We rarely see baby squirrels with ear issues. In older squirrels we often do see ear problems especially if they have mobility problems. Because the leg was casted, you might try rubbing the area behind the ears. He will enjoy it. We have noted that squirrels with hind end mobility issues often have ear problems. Keep in mind this is adults not babies. They can’t scratch their ears so we have wondered if the inability to scratch the ears is associated with ear infections. It is a theory and not proven BUT a member on this board made the observation and rubbing behind the ears did seem to help for a while.

Fergie just needs more time. If he continues to have coordination problems it is likely a neurological problem. Fox squirrels make good non releases because of their calm nature. Neuros can be especially loving.

[FergieBoo]

Thank you so much! He did try to scratch his ear with his little cast leg... I would help him it was so sad. I also think he needs more exercise. He hasn’t gotten around much and prefers sleep and snuggle. I think your right about the head. There was a really big fall. Were you able to see his foot in the last picture? It still looks odd...

[HRT4SQRLS]

Yes, I see it. He would probably overcome the foot limitations but if he has neurological issues, they might be permanent.