wild squirrel constantly sneezing

[TheSquirrel]

This squirrel I have known for a year, since he was a juvenile, and he has been a daily visitor until 2 days ago when he did not appear.

Yesterday morning he appeared with a swollen nose and was constantly sneezing.

He ate a couple of walnut halves and then left, and has not returned since. He was able to eat quickly and move fine, but sneezed non-stop.(I have a horrible feeling he won't return, that he may not have survived)

Could this have killed him? Has anyone experienced this with wilds and had any known outcome?

[TheSquirrel]

QUICK UDATE
Thankfully he has just shown up and is much better, much to my surprise and relief - still sneezing but a lot less than he was yesterday, and less swollen now. He had some food here and left with a fat walnut in shell!

I think he must have experienced an injury- a fall or knock of some kind on his nose. That must have been causing the constant sneezing (and it was literally non-stop sneezing yesterday which was why I was worried). But hopefully he will be ok and will continue to heal.

[Diggie's Friend]

Glad to hear that his nose is healing.

The English Walnut is arguably the best nutritional nut source there is for tree squirrels; higher in protein than pecans, and just a bit lower in fat content. On a University campus in the State of Maine, an observational study was done to see which nut was preferred most by the gray squirrels that frequent the grounds. The English walnut was the first to be removed from the feeding tray of nuts and seeds offered. It is interesting that though the walnuts were removed first, the squirrels didn't often eat them first, but absconded with them to bury them to eat them later.

[TheSquirrel]

Thank you, Diggie's Friend.

That's very interesting, I hadn't realised that. I've always fed them hazels as the main nut, the walnuts and pecans were more like extra treats from time to time, although more recently I have had a supply of walnuts in shell here most of the time (they used to be more expensive but now there are some much cheaper suppliers I can get them from), and that is the current favorite!

There is a cute little female squirrel who visits each day whose favorite used to be walnuts in their shell but now seems to favor shelled blanched hazelnuts and blanched almonds!

[TheSquirrel]

Sorry but I need to post again, my relief yesterday may have been a bit premature as this morning my little friend showed up first thing sneezing more continuously again. I am sure yesterday evening he was better with less sneezing and quieter sneezes too.

Although he has been eating and seems normal when he eats, I have not seen him crack a nut in shell since he has been like this. He took a walnut in shell away with him yesterday. Today he ate a bit and left without taking anything with him, but I have only seen him eating shelled nuts since has has had these sneezes. He has not wanted the nuts in shell, apart from yesterday when he took the walnut away with him. I put it down to the fact that he was poorly so probably just wanted to eat and go. He has only visited once briefly each day.

So I am now worried that the injury may have caused his teeth to become misaligned (having looked up sneezing in squirrels). His favorite nuts always used to be in the shell and I have known him for a year and so I know his teeth were not misaligned prior to this. Therefore if they are then they will not be overgrown yet.

I have had experience with malocclusion in squirrels before, although I have not heard them sneeze.

What causes sneezing in malocclusion? Is it the overgrown teeth that cause the sneezing, or is it the misalignment of the teeth?