4 babies came out of tree cutdown today - what to feed them overnight ?

[Stevelisa]

My sons friend is a tree cutter, they cut down a tree this afternoon, then 4 babies came crawling out of the nest hole half way up.
He brought them home not finding the mother nearby. I think they are grays by the size of them in his video and moving around alot. They look a good size, no fur yet but eyes are open now.

He has them in a box in the house for the night, next to a radiator heater. It is cold enough outside tonight, about 27 degF. The mother must be frantically looking for them if she's still alive. Shouldn't he try to find the mother again tomorrow ?

Any ideas what liquid he can give them tonight ? Nobody has esbilac at this time tonight.

[Stevelisa]

cn they survive until 10am to get some esbilac ?

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

cn they survive until 10am to get some esbilac ?

Have you been directly involved in the care of a baby Squirrel? From looking at the history of your posting on TSB it appears that you may have some experience! That would be advantageous!

Are there any Rehabbers nearby to transfer care of your babies if that is something you would consider? If so, I would recommend attempting to contact the Rehabbber now!

Can you post photos of the babies. If they are very young (eyes not open), they cannot regulate their body temperature or even urinate or defecate without stimulation. They literally totally dependent upon the mother. They should definitely receive hydration and nutrition (formula).

I am placing a link to Henry's Pets excellent information pages on Baby Squirrel Care. Please review it immediately! https://www.henryspets.com/1-baby-squirrel-care-guide/

It may be that Mom would claim the babies but currently her nest is destroyed. She would need to have located another home. She may have but I suspect not yet. I would not recommend putting these little ones outside in the cold tonight! I really don't know what the odds are that mom would claim these babies and the cold and loss of the home seems to me to be not so encouraging conditions for a successful reuniting with mom. For what it may be worth, I have also pasted a link to a one hour recording of a baby Squirrel calling for mom. It may attract Mother Squirrel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgXnLN9w5BA

Others on TSB may feel have some comments about reuniting under these conditions and about this general state of affairs with these babies.

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[Chirps]

Squirrels supposedly have backup nests, so hoping Mom is alive and you can reunite them. People report very mixed results in attempting reunification, but let's hope!

[Mel1959]

DEFINITELY TRY TO REUNITE!! It’s ALWAYS the best option. Here’s the link for the baby squirrel crying for mom audio. Play it on your phone as loud as you can. Keep the babies warm with a rice buddy while attempting to reunite, as well as a watchful eye over them.

https://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/...act-the-Mother

I have successfully reunited many babies. It definitely works.

[Stevelisa]

He just told us about mom, it turns out she didn't survive the tree fall
We were really hoping on that option.

He brought them to us this morning as he's not sure what to do and no time.
The 4 babies are indeed black squirrels, with short fur growth, eyes not open. photo will follow.

We raised Chippy then Coco, 2 red girls, they were each about 6-8 weeks. They had no problem urin/def on their own. These babies are younger, so its our first time to help with that.
Thank you ALL for the directions, Lisa is reading it all, confident she can do it.

They are now in a fleece blanket, on a heating pad on low, in a box (we're going to get a plastic container as in Henry's picture)
Lisa fed them some pedialyte this morning, slowly with a small syringe. Each of them sucked it up. We just got some Esbilac.

(Chippy and Coco will not like the smell of new intruders in their house )

[Stevelisa]

[Stevelisa]

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

[Stevelisa]

You can see in the photo their body skin looks wrinkly/folded... is that a sign of dehydration ?

[Spanky]

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

That syringe is way, way way too large. You need 1ml syringes for these small ones!

[Spanky]

You can see in the photo their body skin looks wrinkly/folded... is that a sign of dehydration ?

Yes. And always start with hydration for new intakes. Feeding a dehydrated baby is counter productive. Get them hydrated and peeing before starting formula.

[Stevelisa]

thank you Spanky, we'll follow that.

[Tashahaven]

When I rescued my girl, all I had or could get the first day, was a TOO big syringe… I had to literally go DROP by DROP, VERY slowly, cause even the drops are big. Even once she was grown, I never used bigger than 3cc. Even though it’s a lot easier than cleaning and using multiple per feeding. The volume increase between the different sizes is difficult to adjust to.

So until you get a 1cc syringe, go slow. even though I’m sure they are ravenous.

And yes, HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE first. Dehydrated or cold babies can’t digest the formula.

They are adorable! Keep us posted! And THANK YOU for taking them in! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[Stevelisa]

the 1ml syringes came in, much easier to go slow

They are taking the warm formula now. Urinatng & def ok with prodding.

[Tashahaven]

Yay! Thanks for caring for these littles!

🥰🥰

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hi Stevelisa:
How are your babies doing?
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[Stevelisa]

Good evening Sam,

3 girls, 1 boy....the boy is the runt. His skin appeared the most dehydrated the first day, but is looking better.
The girls are more ravenous, taking about 1.5ml per feeding. We're giving him about 1ml.
It seems they would all take more if we let them, should we be feeding them until they're full or how much?

Lisa is the mother rubbing their belly and feeding. They're urin/def well now before feeding. I just fetch and watch, they're too small for me too handle.

They sleep together all bunded up in one ball, in the fleece blanket. They're bodies are plenty warm enough now without the heating pad. will try to post a pic tomorrow.

SL

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Good evening Sam,

3 girls, 1 boy....the boy is the runt. His skin appeared the most dehydrated the first day, but is looking better.
The girls are more ravenous, taking about 1.5ml per feeding. We're giving him about 1ml.
It seems they would all take more if we let them, should we be feeding them until they're full or how much?

Lisa is the mother rubbing their belly and feeding. They're urin/def well now before feeding. I just fetch and watch, they're too small for me too handle.

They sleep together all bunded up in one ball, in the fleece blanket. They're bodies are plenty warm enough now without the heating pad. will try to post a pic tomorrow.

SL

Hi SL: Thanks! These Little Ones seem like they are doing very well in y'alls care!

In regard to the amount of formula and your question about whether or not to feed until satiation (until they stop eating); I would like to ask whether you are weighing the Squirrels first thing in the morning before their first meals of the day and then calculating the amount of formula to give each Squirrel with each feeding based upon that mornings weight? Next question would be whether your calculated amounts to give each each Squirrel is base upon the 5%-7% "rule. The rationale of this 5-7% rule is that this is generally considered be the normal filling capacity of the stomach for formula. Most people raising Baby Squirrels probably use the 5-7% rule consistently. Overfeeding has its risks and one of the potentially most serious is regurgitation of the formula into the breathing passages and lungs which could lead to an aspiration pneumonia (infection) or an aspiration pneumonitis (inflammation) and while the risk of aspiration can never be eliminated, the risk can be kept low by not exceeding the 5-7% rule.

Good job SL!!

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[Stevelisa]

Sam, Haven't weighed them yet, will let you know shortly.

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Sam, Haven't weighed them yet, will let you know shortly.

Hi SL:
How are things going with your Squirrels?
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel