9-10 week old squirrel Injured leg

[Cjcraig]

Hey all,

I have been taking care of a fox squirrel since she was About 2-3 days old. She however jumped off my shoulder and got outside and ran off yesterday and I couldn’t find her. A few hours later she was back in the back yard and I went out and called for her and she came running back to me. Her nose was bleeding and she isn’t putting any weight on her back right leg. She was very active prior to this climbing around becoming more explorative and brave but it has been a day now and she is still basically just sleeping and waking up to eat and pee and back to sleep. How long should I wait to take her to a vet? She has been a little more active today but not her normal self. Her nose has stopped bleeding. I was planning on watching her today to see if she begins to try and put weight on her leg but so far she isn’t and I don’t want to wait to long being the vet I use isn’t open over the weekend but I also don’t want to rush her to the vet and pay a huge vet bill if she maybe just hurt it and it’s sore and will recover on its own. There was a male squirrel above her along the fence line that may have been messing with her.. got pretty close to me while I was on the ground holding her after she ran up to me.. I don’t see any bite marks but maybe they got into a fight or maybe she was in the tree and fell from the other squirrel chasing her off!? I’m not sure what happened but just want to know how long i should wait or how long is to long to have her checked out ? Appreciate any responses I get in advance ! Also, If her leg was broken wouldn’t she be in more pain or making more cry noises maybe? And how do squirrels and vets go about if it is broken? She doesn’t really make any noses like she’s in awful pain or anything but sometimes she will make like a chirp noise if I pick her up the wrong way…

[CritterMom]

Well, the best time to set and cast a broken bone is as soon after it happens as possible. If it is a compound fracture where the ends of the bone are no longer together, the tendons and ligaments will quickly tighten things down so it can't rally be pulled into position without complex bone surgery, which I doubt any vet will do.

Will she let you examine it? Very, very gently palpate to see if you have any obvious lumps or swelling (compare to the other leg)?

Infant ibuprophen would make her feel better but that is a two edged sword because without the discomfort, she could further injure it. Eating and sleeping would be my hope for an injured squirrel in order to prevent that.

[Cjcraig]

I have felt around on both legs to try and compare the two and I can’t feel anything different or out of place. I will give my vet a call tomorrow morning and see what he wants to do. He’s not a “wild” animal expert vet I’ve taken other past squirrels to him for things like an abscess that he was able to drain and things but never a physical injury so I’m not sure if he will take on a leg injury but will see! This is the same squirrel you helped me with weeks ago and she has been so wonderful and healthy since you last helped me! I’m so sad something more has happened to her-she’s had a rough go of things darn it!!! And sooooo close to her release date 😭!

Well, the best time to set and cast a broken bone is as soon after it happens as possible. If it is a compound fracture where the ends of the bone are no longer together, the tendons and ligaments will quickly tighten things down so it can't rally be pulled into position without complex bone surgery, which I doubt any vet will do.

Will she let you examine it? Very, very gently palpate to see if you have any obvious lumps or swelling (compare to the other leg)?

Infant ibuprophen would make her feel better but that is a two edged sword because without the discomfort, she could further injure it. Eating and sleeping would be my hope for an injured squirrel in order to prevent that.

[applecrisped]

Hello,

One of my girls broke her back leg last fall, and I had the same "is this broken or sprained? Vet or no?" problem. She was not putting weight on it at all, and when she tried to scratch her face or behind her ear her foot just sort of flopped. She wouldn't move her toes at all either. All clues that it was a break and not a sprain.
In her case the leg was very swollen for the first day or so; as that went down I was able to feel a hard bump from the displaced bone.

They have incredible pain tolerance, in the wild it's in their best interest to not appear wounded. My girl only grumped a couple times when jostled wrong. She spent some time puffed up and hunched over... but she also wanted to play. I also thought "surely if it was broken she'd act like she was in more pain." I was wrong.

It took a week to get her to the vet, and another day to get the splint put on. She recovered fine but there was some concern about it not healing because it had been so long. That was a displaced fracture tho - e.i. the broken bits were not touching.
Still, sooner is better than later.

If your vet has done an xray and a splint on any small mammal (hamster, rat) he should be able to do it for a squirrel.
My vet was concerned about the squirrel chewing the splint off. She wrapped a layer of heavy tape over the splint (Johnson & Johnson Elastikon tape - its tan with a red line down the middle). Between that and my constant supervision the splint survived. <- jsyk, incase your vet has the same concern.

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hello,

One of my girls broke her back leg last fall, and I had the same "is this broken or sprained? Vet or no?" problem. She was not putting weight on it at all, and when she tried to scratch her face or behind her ear her foot just sort of flopped. She wouldn't move her toes at all either. All clues that it was a break and not a sprain.
In her case the leg was very swollen for the first day or so; as that went down I was able to feel a hard bump from the displaced bone.

They have incredible pain tolerance, in the wild it's in their best interest to not appear wounded. My girl only grumped a couple times when jostled wrong. She spent some time puffed up and hunched over... but she also wanted to play. I also thought "surely if it was broken she'd act like she was in more pain." I was wrong.

It took a week to get her to the vet, and another day to get the splint put on. She recovered fine but there was some concern about it not healing because it had been so long. That was a displaced fracture tho - e.i. the broken bits were not touching.
Still, sooner is better than later.

If your vet has done an xray and a splint on any small mammal (hamster, rat) he should be able to do it for a squirrel.
My vet was concerned about the squirrel chewing the splint off. She wrapped a layer of heavy tape over the splint (Johnson & Johnson Elastikon tape - its tan with a red line down the middle). Between that and my constant supervision the splint survived. <- jsyk, incase your vet has the same concern.

Thank you Applecrisped! Your thread was what that came to my small mind moments ago when I read CJCraigs post.

HI CJ: This is a link to the thread about Applecrisped's Squirrel who did very well with a fracture. (https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...foot-ankle-leg) In light of coming up on a weekend, I would like to encourage you to bring your Squirrel to the Vet tomorrow for an x-ray. Satisfactory immobilization of a fracture can very often be accomplished externally (Casting, splints, etc) without the need for surgery. A negative x-ray (no fracture or significant abnormality) is just as important and finding out about a fracture but in in reverse. It would be good to find out if there is a fracture because it should be immobilized but it is equally important to find out if there is no fracture which in itself of course, is good news as with that normal x-ray, you can often expect that your Squirrel will be walking normally very soon. That's not always true however as there may have been a significant injuries even though there is no fracture. These include sprains (stretching or even tearing of ligaments which are the structures that hold the bones in alignment), bruising, torn muscles or a host of other problems. If there is a no fracture seen on the x-ray films it does not mean everything is OK but it is certainly encouraging. Also, not every fracture will be evident on x-rays due to the size of the fracture, its location and the particular views obtained on the x-ray study. With all of that in mind, I would once again like to encourage you to have an x-ray study done on you little Squirrel as soon as possible. Hopefully you know that your Vet is Squirrel friendly and that you Squirrel will not be confiscated or euthanized. This is very important for you to determine before you take your Squirrel to anyone; a Vet, a Rehabber, a Nature facility or to anyone!

This is a post from Applecrisped's thread regarding bones and fractures:

"Many people view bones as being "dead mineral" but that is far from true! Bone is a living tissue and has a vast and plentiful blood supply along with capabilities of undergoing remarkable changes during healing! Your vet is absolutely correct in that at this time, there is no reason to worry or to be other than optimistic! Following the development of callus (new bone formation around the fracture site) which is already progressing well at least at the Tibia; the bones at the fracture region will further undergo what is called remodeling where some bone is resorbed by specialized cells called osteoclasts while other bone substance is formed (also by specialized cells called osteoblasts). The healing process along with remodeling often takes months but eventually, an amazing transformation can take place in the structure and functionality of the early healing fracture and this remodeling process can also improve appearance at the fracture site by improving both alignment and displacement of the bones which again, will benefit functionality."

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[Cjcraig]

Yes so my squirrel tries to itch her ear to and has the function of lifting her leg but no movement in her ankle/toes! I have an apt for a X-ray Monday was the soonest he was able to see her! He is worried about if he will be able to cast it with such tiny bones and if she will chew the cast but we will try if it needs it!

Hello,

One of my girls broke her back leg last fall, and I had the same "is this broken or sprained? Vet or no?" problem. She was not putting weight on it at all, and when she tried to scratch her face or behind her ear her foot just sort of flopped. She wouldn't move her toes at all either. All clues that it was a break and not a sprain.
In her case the leg was very swollen for the first day or so; as that went down I was able to feel a hard bump from the displaced bone.

They have incredible pain tolerance, in the wild it's in their best interest to not appear wounded. My girl only grumped a couple times when jostled wrong. She spent some time puffed up and hunched over... but she also wanted to play. I also thought "surely if it was broken she'd act like she was in more pain." I was wrong.

It took a week to get her to the vet, and another day to get the splint put on. She recovered fine but there was some concern about it not healing because it had been so long. That was a displaced fracture tho - e.i. the broken bits were not touching.
Still, sooner is better than later.

If your vet has done an xray and a splint on any small mammal (hamster, rat) he should be able to do it for a squirrel.
My vet was concerned about the squirrel chewing the splint off. She wrapped a layer of heavy tape over the splint (Johnson & Johnson Elastikon tape - its tan with a red line down the middle). Between that and my constant supervision the splint survived. <- jsyk, incase your vet has the same concern.

[applecrisped]

Yes so my squirrel tries to itch her ear to and has the function of lifting her leg but no movement in her ankle/toes! I have an apt for a X-ray Monday was the soonest he was able to see her! He is worried about if he will be able to cast it with such tiny bones and if she will chew the cast but we will try if it needs it!

I'm glad you got an appointment!
In the meantime, keep her as calm and quiet as possible (easier said than done, I know, hopefully she's still sleeping a lot for you), and scratch her itches for her

Here is a very short video of the floppy foot, if you want to compare.

[Cjcraig]

Yes it’s very similar to when she tries to itch but I don’t jabs a video of it. However here is a video of my squirrel climbing to the top of her cage to get to the bed up top. Normally I’d have her in a way bigger cage to prepare her for release but I figured with her being injured I would keep her in her smaller cage to avoid further injury. She use to climb to the top with ease and move around the bars easily to but now it’s just sad to watch 😭

https://youtube.com/shorts/XAdHpun43E4?feature=share

I'm glad you got an appointment!
In the meantime, keep her as calm and quiet as possible (easier said than done, I know, hopefully she's still sleeping a lot for you), and scratch her itches for her

Here is a very short video of the floppy foot, if you want to compare.

[applecrisped]

Yes it’s very similar to when she tries to itch but I don’t jabs a video of it. However here is a video of my squirrel climbing to the top of her cage to get to the bed up top. Normally I’d have her in a way bigger cage to prepare her for release but I figured with her being injured I would keep her in her smaller cage to avoid further injury. She use to climb to the top with ease and move around the bars easily to but now it’s just sad to watch 😭

https://youtube.com/shorts/XAdHpun43E4?feature=share

Oh poor baby T_T That is about how Sweetie was moving when she was hurt, so I'm doubly glad you're set to get an xray on Monday.
You said you can't feel anything different or out of place in her leg, so I'm hopeful that whatever her injury is, it's less severe than Sweetie's was.

And yes, definitely a good idea to keep her in the smaller cage for now.

[Cjcraig]

The vet said it would be around $200 to sedate her and x ray her. how much did you have to pay for everything in total if you don’t mind me asking?

Oh poor baby T_T That is about how Sweetie was moving when she was hurt, so I'm doubly glad you're set to get an xray on Monday.
You said you can't feel anything different or out of place in her leg, so I'm hopeful that whatever her injury is, it's less severe than Sweetie's was.

And yes, definitely a good idea to keep her in the smaller cage for now.

[applecrisped]

The vet said it would be around $200 to sedate her and x ray her. how much did you have to pay for everything in total if you don’t mind me asking?

I figure prices will vary depending on the vet and location and such, so it's hard to say how similar the costs will be...
I don't have all my receipts on hand but I think the total was between $450 and $500. The initial appt - sedation and xray - was 200. The splint application the next day* was 180, and we had four check ups that were 15‐25 each.
*the splint should have been done in the first appointment, but my vet didn't have what she needed to make one. She may've charged more bc it was a separate appt.

[Cjcraig]

Man the things I do for squirrels lol thanks for the advice and input on price though kinda wanted an idea how much I’ll be putting on my credit card lol🙈 she’s been a stinker. I’m pregnant and due sept 6 and she was suppose to be released on sept 3 would have put her at the right age but now with this I’ll have her and a newborn to tend to 🙈🙈

I figure prices will vary depending on the vet and location and such, so it's hard to say how similar the costs will be...
I don't have all my receipts on hand but I think the total was between $450 and $500. The initial appt - sedation and xray - was 200. The splint application the next day* was 180, and we had four check ups that were 15‐25 each.
*the splint should have been done in the first appointment, but my vet didn't have what she needed to make one. She may've charged more bc it was a separate appt.

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hi CJ:
How is your little Squirrel doing?
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel