I can add more details as needed. He is about 8-10 weeks old. Hard to tell, the normal benchmarks for age do not apply here. He is the runt of the litter on top of his deformities also making him smaller than he should be. He has "I am a wild squirrel" DNA in spades! He has always thought he was bigger than he is, ready for things he was not, and is an opiniated toddler dressed up as a squirrel. Tantrums and all. If he does not want it, does not want it that way, or differs from his plans he will have a full on temper tantrum. It literally looks like a little person chewing you out, loudly. Otherwise he will bury his face in the towel until the offending food disappears, or more recently, we are now anti-bottle and want it in a 'bowl.' Too big for it in his head I guess. I figured it was coming we he was showing signs of annoyance with it. He is so adamant about no bottles that he will go without food unless it is in the bowl. It is the same food.
Whatever happens yes or no on the releasability he is having an excellent life, he is being challenged in a safe way, and he has a unique set-up that allows him to be a squirrel while figuring out how to deal with his limitations. He is independent and driven enough he does the rest. I am fairly sure he is not releasable, just hoping to be wrong for his sake. He really has a strong will to live and wild squirrel DNA in abundance.
His Limitations:
He is missing all of the right foot past the ankle.
He is missing the second part of the toes and the claws on his left foot.
His right arm is 1/2 the size of the left arm. The left arm is his one perfect limb!
His right hand/paw is missing the 2nd part of the inner fingers and the claws. One of the full fingers has a non-working claw. It is to far down and on one side only.
His jaw does not have the pressure that it should. We are working on this as there is no obvious reason that this is like this. He is given soft nuts like walnuts that are out of the shell and broken into smaller pieces and veggies/fruits that are soft. He had little interest until this week. I set them on the ramps in his ceiling fort for him to try or chew on. He also chews on (cleaned) sticks and other toys to encourage him to bite and strengthen his jaw.
He has trouble grooming due to no foot and short leg, no claws on foot, and short arm. He does what he can and we have a quick grooming check-up when he comes down for his formula.
He cannot sit on his hind quarters for more than a few seconds. We are working on this, but it is slow going for him.
He had a fur thing, but that is resolved. Whatever was going on in the nest and directly after caused him to pull out what he could reach. A couple baths, daily grooming, and a stress free environment seemed to resolve this, but I am keeping watch. I caught him pulling it out the first week here, so I know he was doing it.
Thank you.