Is this mange on an itchy squirrel?

[Nacho]

Hi! My backyard friend has been itchy for the past month and in the past 2-3 weeks he has been losing patches of fur. Could this be mange? I have a bottle of ivermectin from Squirrel Nutrition on hand that I just received in the mail.



Thanks!

[CritterMom]

What do his ears look like? The mites seem to love to hit the ears, and they will become all crinkly looking and the skin of them is covered with an almost silvery-looking stuff that is actually dead, dry skin. Since you have the ivermectin, especially if the edges of his ears are looking bad, I would go ahead an dose. It gets rid of other parasites as well.

I have easier dosing. Don't mix the ivermectin with peanut butter. Instead, get some pecan halves and apply the drops of ivermectin to the side of the pecan with the deep furrows in it, then set it aside and let it dry for a few hours. Then, apply a little blob of peanut butter over the top of it. If the nut bounces when you toss it to the squirrel, a lot of times the blob of peanut butter goes flying. This way it doesn't matter - the meds are on the nut itself - the peanut butter is just added taste and a protective cap.

[Nacho]

Oh that's an amazing tip!! Thank you!

The ears don't look bad, I don't remember if it's crusty, but there's a weird patch on the tip of one ear. One of his hands is losing fur and is pinkish. Above his eye and top of his nose has lost fur as well.

I'll take a look at him tomorrow, he already had his dinner and went to bed early 😄

What do his ears look like? The mites seem to love to hit the ears, and they will become all crinkly looking and the skin of them is covered with an almost silvery-looking stuff that is actually dead, dry skin. Since you have the ivermectin, especially if the edges of his ears are looking bad, I would go ahead an dose. It gets rid of other parasites as well.

I have easier dosing. Don't mix the ivermectin with peanut butter. Instead, get some pecan halves and apply the drops of ivermectin to the side of the pecan with the deep furrows in it, then set it aside and let it dry for a few hours. Then, apply a little blob of peanut butter over the top of it. If the nut bounces when you toss it to the squirrel, a lot of times the blob of peanut butter goes flying. This way it doesn't matter - the meds are on the nut itself - the peanut butter is just added taste and a protective cap.

[Nacho]

His ears look ok, but with all his itching I went ahead and gave him a dose. He was pretty excited for the peanut butter and ate it all haha.

It's been a day since then and he seems fine so far!