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Thread: excessive grooming

  1. #1
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    Default excessive grooming

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    Hi everyone this is my first time posting I have two six to seven week old female siblings I have been feeding them fox formula and having a few little problems One is they don't seem to want to eat regular food I have a squirrel mix that has corn sunflower seeds protein pellets and whatnot and then I also ordered Harry's picky blocks which they don't seem very interested in either. they still want to be bottle-fed constantly one of the two don't seem to be getting very much bigger yet the other has doubled in size. And the bigger of the two likes to excessively clean her little sister inappropriately it seems that every time she's up she goes straight to cleaning the other ones girly areas. it is a constant thing and it sounds like she is nursing on her sister. is that normal as well I've never had multiple babies I did have a single female for a while that passed away That was almost 2 years ago now when she passed any help with either of these problems and any advice would be appreciated thank you.

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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    here they are
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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    Quote Originally Posted by SquirrelMommy83 View Post
    here they are
    Well if they are 6 weeks old, then they will and could be on formula for at least another 10 weeks. Which fox valley are you feeding them the 20/50? How much do they weigh? A baby of that size and age should be eating 5-7% of its body weight. You should never feed your baby the outdoor squirrel mixture. Right now they need formula and blocks. Do you have a water bottle, they should have that in their cage with them when their eyes open. As far as the suckling, please separate them until you can get that under control. Usually the suckling is because they are hungry, from what I have read and studied. I am sure there is a more experienced rehabbber that will chime in shortly and help you with this. My first suggestion would to be get a scale. Weigh your babies. Separate your babies. Offer them water. DO NOT feed them the squirrel mixture stuff ever again as long as they are in your care. Keep offering the Henry’s blocks, they will eat it eventually. Keep feeding them formula. They ween themselves at about 14-16 weeks.

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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    Hi, and thank you for caring for these littles! How long have you had them? Did you just get them or have you had them a while, like longer than a week?

    If you click the link in my sig (at the bottom of my post) it will take you to the care guide for baby squirrels. When you want to go to the next page click where it says "next" at the top right side of each page. Read that, find out from it what you need to change, and go from there. Tuff is right, it sounds like they are hungry. After you read all the info ask any questions you may still have, and one of the experts will respond asap.

    EDIT: And yes PLEASE ditch the "squirrel mix"! It's actually a blessing they are too young to have discovered it yet.
    "I hope everyone got or gets their Baby Love today"~Shewhosweptforest

    https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

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    Tuff (03-29-2021)

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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    Quote Originally Posted by Chirps View Post
    Hi, and thank you for caring for these littles! How long have you had them? Did you just get them or have you had them a while, like longer than a week?

    If you click the link in my sig (at the bottom of my post) it will take you to the care guide for baby squirrels. When you want to go to the next page click where it says "next" at the top right side of each page. Read that, find out from it what you need to change, and go from there. Tuff is right, it sounds like they are hungry. After you read all the info ask any questions you may still have, and one of the experts will respond asap.

    EDIT: And yes PLEASE ditch the "squirrel mix"! It's actually a blessing they are too young to have discovered it yet.
    Chirps you made that sound warm and fuzzy...we had that conversation at work this week about me. They said I was tactful but very to the point, never ever any warm and fuzzies from me. I need to work on that I do believe..

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    Rock Monkey (03-31-2021)

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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    Great advice! How often are you feeding and how much do they eat at each feeding? How are you mixing the formula? One part powder to two parts hot water? The suckling is a big problem, and as was said, usually the result of being underfed.

    Right now as they are growing so rapidly they need the nutrients in the formula. The block helps them get used to food coming in a solid form. If they aren’t taking to the block very well you can divide the block in half so each one has a half and put a drop of formula on the block. It might encourage them to eat it.

    Do you have a heating pad set to low under 1/2 of the bin they’re in?

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    Tuff (03-29-2021)

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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    Quote Originally Posted by Tuff View Post
    Chirps you made that sound warm and fuzzy...we had that conversation at work this week about me. They said I was tactful but very to the point, never ever any warm and fuzzies from me. I need to work on that I do believe..
    I think it depends on the situation. Maybe you've worked with certain people long enough to know that with them anything other than "to the point" is a waste of time.
    "I hope everyone got or gets their Baby Love today"~Shewhosweptforest

    https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    one weighs 216g and she is fed 11mL of formula 4times a day and the other is 163g and is fed 8mL of formula 4 times a day. they have a water bottle. why is the squirrel mix bad? says it had vitamins and supplements for the squirrels and it's actually the only thing they've touched besides their bottles. well syringes. and why would I need to separate them? they play together and sleep together and kinda whine and cry when ones is gone from the other. we just want to do what's best for them so all your help is greatly appreciated. and the fox formula is the 20/50

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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    I reread through the squirrel care guide on Harry's and if they're supposed to be up to 7% body weight I may barely be under feeding them because like I said the one that weighs 216 grams gets 11 ml of formula and the other is 163 g and it's hard to get her to take the full 8 ml sometimes and the other would drink 20 ml if I'd let her. And it says that I can place a bandage on them to help stop the suckling I would rather do that than have to separate them unless there's other reasons they need to be separated because they love each other very much and like I said they play and sleep together and get along quite well. And is it normal that the smaller of the two does tend to sleep quite a bit more than the other are they still at the young enough age that they will be sleeping a lot of the time

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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    Quote Originally Posted by SquirrelMommy83 View Post
    one weighs 216g and she is fed 11mL of formula 4times a day and the other is 163g and is fed 8mL of formula 4 times a day. they have a water bottle. why is the squirrel mix bad? says it had vitamins and supplements for the squirrels and it's actually the only thing they've touched besides their bottles. well syringes. and why would I need to separate them? they play together and sleep together and kinda whine and cry when ones is gone from the other. we just want to do what's best for them so all your help is greatly appreciated. and the fox formula is the 20/50

    First, I’ll address the suckling. If you can be sure there is no suckling going on when they are together, then they can be left together. It will require diligence on your part to be sure it’s not happening. Excessive suckling can damage the girls vulva and cause a small scab that can close over her urethra opening. If this happens she will not be able to urinate. This is why it’s imperative that there be no suckling going on. If a scab forms you must soak it off with some warm water and see that she is able to urinate.

    We give the 5-7% feeding amount rule as a guide. It’s especially important for little pinkies and baby, baby squirrels. When squirrels get older and weigh more, as yours do, they will want more than 7% at a feeding. This is ok as long as the increases in formula are done gradually....meaning an extra cc or 2 at a time. Gradual increases allow their systems time to adapt to the new volume of food. Increasing formula too quickly will cause diarrhea. So if you’re feeding less than 7% she probably is still hungry. Gradually give her more at her next feeding. Many squirrels will end up taking more than 10% of their weight if they stay on formula long enough.

    It’s very important that the first solid food be rodent block, like Henrys or Harlan Teklad. These blocks have the nutrients they need as they wean themselves off formula. After they are eating the block really well, and not just shredding it, you can add veggies from the healthy squirrel diet. https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...5&d=1391033425

    I know you think the squirrel mix you have is nutritious and good for them because it has supplements in the pellets. I guarantee that if this mixture has corn and sunflower seeds your guys are eating either of those and not touching the supplemented protein pellets. Here lies the problem....corn and sunflower seeds (and nuts) are very high in phosphorous. Squirrels bodies must maintain a proper calcium to phosphorous ratio. When they consume items high in phosphorous and don’t have enough calcium circulating in their systems their bodies will pull the calcium from their bones to maintain that balance. This creates a condition known as Metabolic Bone Disease. MBD weakens bones and initially causes rear end paralysis, seizures and finally death if it’s not treated with extra calcium to replenish their system and bones. It’s for this reason we say that nuts must be very limited in a squirrels diet when in captivity. Once they’re out and free in the trees they can balance their diets by eating native foods, leaves, roots, dirt and chewing on bones. When they rely on us for food they don’t have that luxury.

    Has the smaller on ever aspirated formula where it came out her nose? When you hold her up to your ear like a phone do you hear any clicking with each breath? Are there any other symptoms that you can identify? I’m trying to figure out if she is sleeping because she doesn’t feel well or if its her normal. If she has aspiration pneumonia she will have to be treated with antibiotics or she will die, so it’s important to rule that out.

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  17. #11
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    Default Re: excessive grooming

    Quote Originally Posted by SquirrelMommy83 View Post
    I reread through the squirrel care guide on Harry's and if they're supposed to be up to 7% body weight I may barely be under feeding them because like I said the one that weighs 216 grams gets 11 ml of formula and the other is 163 g and it's hard to get her to take the full 8 ml sometimes and the other would drink 20 ml if I'd let her. And it says that I can place a bandage on them to help stop the suckling I would rather do that than have to separate them unless there's other reasons they need to be separated because they love each other very much and like I said they play and sleep together and get along quite well. And is it normal that the smaller of the two does tend to sleep quite a bit more than the other are they still at the young enough age that they will be sleeping a lot of the time
    I just did the math on these amounts that are being fed and you are feeding the larger one at 5%. She is undoubtedly still hungry and that is why she’s nursing on her sister.

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