New squirrel mom… have many questions (non life threatening)
Hello! I finally figured out how to make a post asking questions, I sent a message somewhere here asking for info on how to do so before I figured it out so I apologize for that to whoever it was sent to!
Please understand I have browsed and learned much through past threads and the information on this website. I know absolutely nothing other than what I have learned in the past few days on here about having a baby squirrel so I am only posting now because I have some more questions and I am not finding the answers but please do not judge us we are doing our best to make a life for this baby. So here is our story.
We found our little baby one evening a month ago today outside our chicken coop. I literally almost stepped on her and she looked about half dead when we found her. We kept her outside in a box the following day around where we found her and mom never came back. We are pretty sure the hawks we have stalking our chickens got her mama. We honestly did not expect her to survive but we were going to try our best. So that commenced us feeding the baby. We have only used esbilac puppy formula while feeding her. She was fully furred and eyes open when we found her and took to google. We made the mistake of giving her veggies before blocks and rodent food. I only recently learned about how serious their diet is so then I took back to Amazon and got everything I could find that I found on this website. I have mazuri, oxbow, and Henry’s, I have an order in for teklad 2018 as well. I just started her yesterday on the kibble and blocks. I took everything else she had stashed away out of her cage. Up until yesterday she seemed to be eating and she was still taking formula however now she wants to lap the formula instead of me feed her. Today she did not take a complete feeding of formula though I offered it many times. I still have to order a scale so that I can weigh her. There’s many things I don’t have and I need to make sure I get.
Feeding: My biggest concern today is she’s not eating as much as she has been and she acted like she was starving earlier today. Out of the foods I have ordered is there a particular one she should be eating? She was eating the oxbow kibble great yesterday, today she was not a fan. Today she ate the mazuri blocks some and ate total maybe one whole Henry’s block. I need advice on how to get her on a good feeding plan. At what point of her turning her nose up to the healthy foods do I give her veggies so she has something. Her veggies were kale, arugula, broccoli, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and carrots. She also had apple slices and pecans. I know now that we have messed up with her feeding plan but I need to fix it now and get it right, I just need a good suggestion or starting point.
Pine cones: we do not have any pine cones on the ground that are unopened/not ruined. There are still some green pine cones in the trees but I would literally have to shoot them to get them down they are all so high. Can she still use these to chew on?
Chewing: I don’t really have a problem in this area she has lots of sticks and limbs in her cage to climb and chew. I have a few lava blocks in there and an antler as well.
Keeping her inside: We do plan to release her if possible but we may have to keep her inside until spring. Our weather is crappy and she is too small to be out by herself. If I release her she will not survive long due to all of the odds outside. We live right off a busy Highway, there are dogs loose all the time that come in our yard. And the chicken hawks. The chicken hawks seem to have made a home in our backyard (the ideal place to release her furthest from the road). I cannot release her in my front yard because we have four dogs as well.. she will not differentiate between when we come outside and whenthe dogs are with us. I cannot release her close to where they are. I am off work for the time being for a broken wrist but I will have to return within the next month or two to work. So I plan to move her to our downstairs empty room to be her room for the duration of her being an inside squirrel. She will get sunlight there some of the day, I have a huge cat tree ordered, and her cage is six feet tall by two feet wide. My only worry is will I have enough things brought in to keep her entertained while I am at work. I’ll bring her tree branches and other things in as well to give her choices. She is very attached to me as I am to her. So I just want her to be as taken care of as I can. At first my wife wanted to get her a companion animal but as we have read that is not a good idea so we decided against that.
I am sorry for the long post, and again I want to do everything I can to make sure she survives. I just need a little guidance at the moment. So any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Reply With Quote
