Hair loss and how to help them

[jen0740]

Hello,
I just started feeding the squirrels and over the last few weeks I noticed one is missing a lot of fur. Today I saw another missing a patch of fur also, but not as bad as the one. It’s really cold where we are and I’m worried if their fur doesn’t grow back, they might not make it. Any idea what the problem might be or how to help them?

[Chirps]

Hi! I'm your neighbor in SE PA.

Looks like mange to me. Do you have any feed stores near you that sell horse wormer? Maybe Tractor Supply? If they aren't sold out, you can get a tube of 1.87% Ivermectin. There are different brands, but you want one that is ONLY 1.87% Ivermectin, with no other active ingredients. It usually comes in a plastic syringe inside a cardboard box, but maybe some brands are just the plastic syringe, no box.

Anyway one tube is enough to treat every squirrel you will ever meet in your lifetime and then some. Put as much as will fit inside this O in the groove of a pecan half. Are your guys tame enough that you can target individuals for dosing? You don't want to overdose them. Do they let you close enough to toss them treats? That would make it easier. You also don't want a dominant squirrel to get his/her dose and then bully a subordinate away from the one you may have just tossed to him/her. If you know their "schedules" and how they interact and can recognize individuals it would make it easier. If you can, dose everybody who's losing fur. A week later, repeat. A week later, one more time.

Also, it wouldn't hurt anybody who's NOT currently losing fur to get a dose. If they're sharing sleeping quarters to stay warm, it's likely a matter of time before it spreads to more of them, so some who look okay just now may be in beginning stages of it. The main concern is to be able to know for sure who got dosed, so if you can't tell individuals apart err on the side of caution. The upside is the ones who NEED it look pretty unique.

Good luck and thanks for caring!

[Spanky]

You can use plain Revolution (selamectin) orally as well. Revolution is a safer alternative to Ivermectin but requires a prescription; Ivermectin is cheaper and available at places like Tractor Supply but be careful about dosing.

Other brand names of selamectin include Revolt, Senergy, Selerid. Just one drop on nut will do the job per squirrel. If someone gets an extra dose, it is much less of a danger / risk.

I thought I'd suggest this in the event you might already have this on hand for a cat or dog pet.

[jen0740]

Thank you everyone. I was hoping it wasn’t mange but sort of thought it might be. So far 2 of them have some hair loss, but the one is 50%+. I will try the pecan trick as they aren’t friendly enough to stick around when I’m outside lol! I have two Irish setters that roam around the same yard as the squirrels and the deck, should I be worried the dogs might catch it? Wasn’t sure if I should relocate their feeder