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Thread: Common Mistakes and fixes

  1. #21
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Underestimating the importance of probiotics.

    Probiotics are made up of the good bacteria that lives in all mammalian guts. This is a symbiotic relationship that is vital to the well being of all mammals. Probiotics play many roles - here are two - first they assist in the absorbtion of nutrients from food. There are nutrients the body needs that cannot be absorbed without a healthy gut flora. And 2 they check the growth of the "bad" stuff such as yeast. All mammal babies are born with a steril gut. The gut flora is built slowly over time and comes from the mother's milk. Our man made formulas do not contain probiotics.

    Easy fix - Add 1/3 to 1/2 part organic live cultured yogurt to your formula every feeding until weaned. You will see an increased growth rate, less digestive upset and a much healthier baby over all.

  2. #22
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Quote Originally Posted by Milo Man's Mom
    Alright 4S, that was my next post. You beat me to it.
    *insert high-five-ing smiley*
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  3. #23
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Quote Originally Posted by Mars
    Underestimating the importance of probiotics.

    Probiotics are made up of the good bacteria that lives in all mammalian guts. This is a symbiotic relationship that is vital to the well being of all mammals. Probiotics play many roles - here are two - first they assist in the absorbtion of nutrients from food. There are nutrients the body needs that cannot be absorbed without a healthy gut flora. And 2 they check the growth of the "bad" stuff such as yeast. All mammal babies are born with a steril gut. The gut flora is built slowly over time and comes from the mother's milk. Our man made formulas do not contain probiotics.

    Easy fix - Add 1/3 to 1/2 part organic live cultured yogurt to your formula every feeding until weaned. You will see an increased growth rate, less digestive upset and a much healthier baby over all.
    Go Mars!

    I was going to suggest that yogurt be part of the STANDARD formula for baby squirrels. (Instead of waiting for digestive problems to arise.)
    Henry's Healthy Pets
    Henry's Healthy Blocks, Fox Valley Formula, Fleecies Cage Gear and more

    The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations… ~Henry Beston, The Outermost House, 1928

  4. #24
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Quote Originally Posted by 4skwerlz
    Always mix formula with plain tap water or spring water. NEVER with Pedialyte or distilled water.

    Distilled water is PURE H2O. It is completely stripped of other molecules by the distillation proccess. This is not the natural state of water and is called "empty water". It does not like to being in this state and will work hard to get back to it's natural state by pulling molecules for the blood system. Drinking a 8 oz glass of distilled water has the same effect as taking 2 aspirin. It is a very good choice for a cleansing after a toxin, but not for use it in formula as it can't really tell good molecules from bad and pulls nutrients from the body as well as toxins. Spring water would be a better choice.

  5. #25
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Suggestions on heating up the formula? and where do you get Harlan Teklad? and if refrigerated how long should one keep a bag of rodent blocks?

  6. #26
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Quote Originally Posted by 4skwerlz
    Go Mars!

    I was going to suggest that yogurt be part of the STANDARD formula for baby squirrels. (Instead of waiting for digestive problems to arise.)

    Please do Just remember it cannot be frozen or you kill the good stuff.

  7. #27
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Quote Originally Posted by TinyPaws
    Suggestions on heating up the formula? and where do you get Harlan Teklad? and if refrigerated how long should one keep a bag of rodent blocks?

    The safest way to reheat formula is with a hot water bath. Place your formula in a cup and then into a larger one with hot water. I use a mug and then a candle warmer on the bottom to keep things warm.

    I believe rodent block can be store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

  8. #28
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Diluting liquid Esbilac

    Remember when we talk about mixing formulas such as Esbilac and it's one part formula to 2 parts water we are talking about the powdered form of Esbilac not the liquid. The liquid form is already mixed and should not be diluted for normal feedings. Please let us know you are using the liquid form to avoid confussion.

  9. #29
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    One more tonight and then I'm off to bed.

    Quote Originally Posted by 4skwerlz
    Always mix formula with plain tap water or spring water. NEVER with Pedialyte or distilled water.

    Mixing formulas using Pedialyte or other hydration fluids

    Can actually cause dehydration - just the opposite of what we want. This happens because the proper balance of salts is thrown off and the formula draws fluids from the body as it passes through the digestive tract. It is much safer to either add a mini feeding of plain fluids between normal feedings or to alternate feedings of formula with ones of just fluids.

  10. #30
    Mikey Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Dang this place is neat!

  11. #31
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Feeding with too large of a syringe

    Babies under 50 grams are best fed with a 0.5cc syringe. from 50 to 100 grams I use a 1cc syringe. Over 100 grams a 3cc syringe works. And if you have a baby still nursing at over 200 grams a 5cc syringe is okay. If you think about it the diffierence in one tap on a 1cc syringe vs a 0.5cc is twice the volume and since it's coming through the same size hole comes through with twice the force. The difference between a 3cc and a 1cc syringe is 3 fold the volume and 3 times the force. Aspiration is a real danger if baby gets way to much in it's mouth at once to swallow properly.

  12. #32
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    another add on Never feed cows milk.
    Life is not measured by how many breaths we take
    But by the Moments that take our breath away
    They Call me….Miss Ellie MaeJ



    Simba as a baby
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  13. #33
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Quote Originally Posted by witt1189
    another add on Never feed cows milk.

    Exactly Never feed babies cows milk or human baby formulas

    30 years ago this was all we had. The success rate over all back then with that formula was very poor. Cow's milk has natural growth hormones in it to support a critter that will weight nearly a 1000 pounds in a very short period of time. And today's milk (unless you have your own cows) is not the milk of thirty years ago. Now, above and beyond the natural hormones, there are chemical hormones and antibiotics in the milk. It has been homgenized and pasturized and vitmined D and diluted and somehow given a much longer shelf life than real milk. It has been played with so much the calcium is no longer has it's natural bio availablity. Which means the body has a very hard time absorbing it. Today milk is more just a fancy junk food.

    Formulas made from cow's milk kills babies or leaves them sick with MBD.

  14. #34
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Sorry I'm late Mars -- great thread!!

    Never Underestimate the Important of Supplemental Heating -- ESPECIALLY WITH PINKIES (newborns, neonates) !!!!
    Neonates and eyes-closed baby squirrels need to burrow under warm bedding and have heat under at least half of their container. DO NOT PUT THE BABIES ON TOP OF THE HEATING PAD (I have seen this more than once ) !! Put the heating pad UNDER the container the babies are in. And yes, they can breathe when you cover them up completely with blankets -- they prefer it that way. In the wild they are deep in a nest with a whole lot of leaves and bedding on top of them!
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  15. #35
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Another one:

    Never Underestimate the Importance of Regular, Frequent Feedings.....especially with very young babies, frequent feedings may mean the difference between thriving and dehydration/death. It also makes them less likely to suck on each other, which is not a good thing! If you feed them through the night during their first two weeks of life, trust me they will be far more likely to live and be healthy. And you will not die if you only have to do it for a couple of weeks.
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    You can't afford a pet.
    NEGLECT IS ABUSE.

    "Better one day in the trees, than a lifetime in a cage."

    '...and the greatest of these, is Love. '

  16. Serious fuzzy thank you's to island rehabber from:

    Candyanne2019 (09-14-2019)

  17. #36
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    About how old should they be before we can stop the night time feedings?

    You last comment made me think that maybe I have deprived myself of sleep when I could have slacked a little during the night.

    I would appreciate the info.

  18. #37
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    I feed them every 2.5 hrs thru the night for the first two weeks....then I'll let them go 3.5-4hrs during the night in the third week -- for example, feed them at 11pm, then at 3am, then I can sleep till 6:30am - So you're really only getting up once, instead of twice as you do during the first 2 weeks.
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    If you can't afford the vet,
    You can't afford a pet.
    NEGLECT IS ABUSE.

    "Better one day in the trees, than a lifetime in a cage."

    '...and the greatest of these, is Love. '

  19. #38
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Thanks.

    I have done the every 2 hour thing. When I had 3 babies, it was wake up, get up and make milk, feed for 20-30 min, sleep two hours, wake up and do it all again. Then I fed them through the day too.

    I thought I was going to die.

    I got them at about 2 weeks old and did that till they were almost 4 weeks. So that was 2 weeks of no sleep for me.


  20. #39
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    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Air bubbles in your syringe...

    Fix...

    Fill your syringe with formula, plunge the formula back out, then refill your syringe. Gets all the bubbles out! I discovered it by accident but I follow it to this day. Errr.. not that my six month old squirrel still likes a taste of formula before bed or anything... that would be crazy.. who the heck would spoil a baby like that??!!

  21. #40
    Mars Guest

    Default Re: Common Mistakes and fixes

    Long term use of pedilyte or hydration fluids can kill

    Hydration fluids such as pedilyte were never meant to be used over a longer period than 48 hours. They are designed for rehydration. You can overdose your baby on toxic levels of salt.

    Fix - plain water ( not disstilled ) either spring or from the tap. If you have this problem post to the emergency thread and we will assist you.

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