Constipated Pinkie, need help

[yakook429]

I'm not entirely sure if this is life threatening, but I'm rather ignorant when it comes to raising squirrels. I figured I would be better off safe then sorry. I've had a newborn pinkie for around 3 days, ever since I found him near a sidewalk, dehydrated, and hot. I decided to do my best to take care of him whether that be until I could find someone whos more experienced then me, or until I could release it. I researched all I could, and eventually, was able to make a suitable environment to keep him warm and to feed him HGMF+. He now weighs about 14 grams and I feed him around mL every two hours, though its been somewhat difficult for me to feed him exactly on time consistently. Unfortunately, the one thing I did wrong for a few days was I had the misconception that stimulating only took a few seconds, and I never did it properly. He got constipated, and I believe that I mistook this for bloating, so I skipped a meal, gave him a bath & massage, and hydrated, but nothing seemed to work. By chance I came upon the proper method of stimulating on this forum, so I tried it out with my squirrel to no avail, I even went for 20 minutes or so. At first I thought it was dehydration, so I tried to hydrate him. I've tried baths, warm apple juice, water with honey and more in between meals both nothing seems to work well. While he still does poop, its only in smaller quantities much smaller quantities, but it does come out looking like its supposed to with the "nuggets" and the yellow/orange stuff for the most part, though sometimes it is a bit more solid/dark, indicating dehydration. He seems to do this on his own accord though, without me stimulating much. The constipation has gotten to the point where it swells quite a bit, and I've been concerned about it for awhile now, trying to find a solution... So, what can I do? Should I hydrate him, and if so, what with, how much, and how often? Is it that my technique is wrong for stimulating him? Although I've tried a cotton ball, cue tips, and my finger, I'm open to any suggestions if you guys have any others. Should I decrease or change my feed? One thing to mention about the feed I made is that I usually store it in my fridge and heat it by dunking it in a very hot coffee mug before serving it to him. I always toss it and remake a batch after 12 hours or so. Could this be the problem? If you guys have any other advice, whether its relevant to the question or not, I could really use it. Anything to help me keep this squirrel alive would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much, and have a nice day/night

[Spanky]

Just to be certain the formula should not be heat then placed back in the fridge. Most of us pull the formula into the feeding syringe and warm that in hot water as you suggest; that sounds like what you are doing but I wanted to make certain the formula is not being heated, placed back in the fridge and heated again.

Feeding amounts are by weight, 5% - 7% of body weight per feeding. A 14 gram squirrel would be fed a minimum of 0.7ml (5%) and up to 0.98ml (7%... 1 ml is close enough).

I'd suggest you get some Esbilac formula if he is having a hard time with the HMGF+. If you are including the egg, maybe drop the egg for now an see if things get better.

You can give him a small drop of simethicone (Infant's Gas Drops) to help with any bloat.

He does sound dehydrated. You can hydrate with plain water or water and a small (drops) amount of honey.

If you would share you area, we may be able to help you locate experienced help. A 14gram pinky is quite a tiny tot and a huge challenge for a first time around rehab. Babies this small are a challenge for even some of the most experienced.

If you can post pictures, that is always very helpful with our assessment of dehydration, bloat, etc.