Hi again guys it's me asking for help with now 18 week old Elliot!
I posted a couple weeks ago asking about him still wanting formula and his desire has not decreased at all! He still happily drinks his FV every day from a bowl!
Backstory! When we found Elliot he had fallen from his nest and momma never came back for him. He was alone and I have baby fever so I took care of him. After warming him up I went to give pedialite and noticed his lower lip was torn and bleeding so I cleaned it and applied Saline and antibiotic ointment. It healed fine but he has been a VERY messy eater since the start even when I was feeding him one drop at a time!
My new question is this: how much "shredding" is normal when a squirrel his age eats? Everything I feed him, veggies, blocks, fruits, nuts etc is shredded and he does not come back to clean up the small pieces, he eats what he wants of one piece and goes for another. If I leave the shredded pieces In his cage, he will not eventually eat them when he gets hungry, he will cry for more food lol
That's fine, I have plenty of salad and broccoli plus blocks for him!!
I worry this extreme shredding is because he cannot chew well. I noticed he eats every bite of softer foods so I began to steam his broccoli, cauliflower and carrots but he still shreds the blocks and will not eat them at all if they're wet.
He also seems to have issues drinking from a shallow bowl or even a plate with water or milk ( he drinks water just fine from the hanging cage bottle)
He keeps his mouth level with the surface of the liquid but there is still a lot of sneezing and sometimes sqeaking when he drinks. I cannot continue to give him milk with the miracle nipple/syringe because he chewed it to shreds and choked on a piece of the nipple at like 13 weeks. I gave him his milk from an XS size hanging water bottle for awhile but it got so messy and he ended up licking it off the plate he ate on anyway so we switched to a bowl.
He continues to gain weight and act like a normal spoiled squirrel. (He is being overwinter in the house and I plan to release in spring)
Is this behavior normal for a squirrel his age? Am I freaking out about nothing? What have you seen that's similar to this? Thank you all so much for your wonderful forum and helpful, encouraging comments 😊
I love this group!!