Possible Abcesses

[SquirrelysFamily]

Hello! This is my first post and I am hoping to get some guidance. I have an approximately 1 year old male squirrel, Squirrely Squeaks, that I rehabbed for several months after finding he and his brother at roughtly 6 weeks of age. Squirrely now lives in the wild but is very friendly and social. He comes back to see us multiple times a day and is definitely still part of the family. We hadn't seen him for about 2 days (very unusual) and today he came when called for breakfast and I noticed he has 2 wounds that look infected and possibly have abcesses. He didn't seem to have any issues with mobility and doesn't seem to be in any pain but i am worried about infection. Our local vet wont see him (and I would have a heck of a time catching him) and at last check the wildlife centers werent taking squirrels (again I don't know that I could catch him) any suggestions? I've been looking at old posts and wondering if i should try collodial silver (not sure of dosing or how to administer) or if they could possibly be bots (?) but im not sure what they look like. I do have pictures but im not sure how to post them on here or if thats allowed. Thank you for any suggestions!

[TubeDriver]

You can post up photos, that would be very helpful. Many people here use a photo hosting site like Smugmug for example, and paste the link here in their posts. Can you see a "breathing" hole on these two masses?

If these are bots, you don't wan't to use collodial silver, you don't wan't to kill the bots because that can lead to infections. Let the bots alone and they should exit on their own in a week or two. If the bot becomes infected and/or dies or these are abscesses, you can use ABs to help eliminate the infection.

Hello! This is my first post and I am hoping to get some guidance. I have an approximately 1 year old male squirrel, Squirrely Squeaks, that I rehabbed for several months after finding he and his brother at roughtly 6 weeks of age. Squirrely now lives in the wild but is very friendly and social. He comes back to see us multiple times a day and is definitely still part of the family. We hadn't seen him for about 2 days (very unusual) and today he came when called for breakfast and I noticed he has 2 wounds that look infected and possibly have abcesses. He didn't seem to have any issues with mobility and doesn't seem to be in any pain but i am worried about infection. Our local vet wont see him (and I would have a heck of a time catching him) and at last check the wildlife centers werent taking squirrels (again I don't know that I could catch him) any suggestions? I've been looking at old posts and wondering if i should try collodial silver (not sure of dosing or how to administer) or if they could possibly be bots (?) but im not sure what they look like. I do have pictures but im not sure how to post them on here or if thats allowed. Thank you for any suggestions!

[HRT4SQRLS]

A pic would be great. Down below your text box you will see in bold Attachments and next to it Manage Attachments. Click this and then to ADD FILES at the top and you will be given the option to find the pic in your Photos on your computer or phone. Find it, upload it and attach. It sorta walks your through the process. It might be a bot. I thought it was too late in the year for bots but people are still finding a few.

[SquirrelysFamily]

A pic would be great. Down below your text box you will see in bold Attachments and next to it Manage Attachments. Click this and then to ADD FILES at the top and you will be given the option to find the pic in your Photos on your computer or phone. Find it, upload it and attach. It sorta walks your through the process. It might be a bot. I thought it was too late in the year for bots but people are still finding a few.

I am not seeing anything like that below my text box, all i can see (which looks so different than what youre talking about) is an insert image option at the top on the same line that gives me the bold/italics/underline/center options. Let me keep looking. Could it possibly be because im a junior member?

[SquirrelysFamily]

https://katharinemacaluso.smugmug.co...el/i-h3HSwWW/A

https://katharinemacaluso.smugmug.co...el/i-VN4Zwb6/A

heres hoping i did it right

[TubeDriver]

I can see the photos. Looks a lot like two bots. I would just watch them closely for the next couple days.

https://katharinemacaluso.smugmug.co...el/i-h3HSwWW/A

https://katharinemacaluso.smugmug.co...el/i-VN4Zwb6/A

heres hoping i did it right

[SquirrelysFamily]

Out of curiosity how can you tell they're bots? And what are bots? Is there anything I need to do to help him or prevent them from coming back? Do they usually come out at the same time? It looks like another one of my furry visitors has a similar cut (?) on its neck as well. I frequently tell my children he is my favorite child so i just want to make sure I am doing the best I can for him. I'm a but worried about his survival skills to be honest, he's so friendly and inquisitive around humans.

[CritterMom]

Out of curiosity how can you tell they're bots? And what are bots? Is there anything I need to do to help him or prevent them from coming back? Do they usually come out at the same time? It looks like another one of my furry visitors has a similar cut (?) on its neck as well. I frequently tell my children he is my favorite child so i just want to make sure I am doing the best I can for him. I'm a but worried about his survival skills to be honest, he's so friendly and inquisitive around humans.

They are disgusting larvae of a fly called the bot fly that burrow into the skin to mature before finally exiting the animal. Google for gnarly photos...

[HRT4SQRLS]

Actually, from what I can see, this is your lucky day. Those look like where a bot larvae has freshly emerged. The one on the shoulder I am 100% sure that one emerged this morning. The opening is still rather large. It will close up by tomorrow mostly and will heal in a few days. I believe the one on the back is gone also but it’s not quite as clear.

There really isn’t anything you can do to prevent them. It is a natural phenomenon (a rather gross disgusting one) that is seasonal. Squirrels can get bots every summer. The squirrel is one stage in the life cycle of the disgusting creature. The larvae emerges from the squirrel, drops to the ground and remains in the soil many months until the thing transforms into a bot fly. They lay eggs and the cycle starts again. Vial, vial, disgusting, mega- gross.

We leave them alone if they have just a few. The problem is when they have many bot warbles. They can die from that. I had to save my girl 2 seasons in a row. I might be wrong but I think Susie might hold the record for the number of bot warbles and to actually survive. She has 24 warbles. That’s the stuff legends are many of. I pulled as many as I could but wound up at the vet twice with her. $400 later she was good as new. Can you believe people spend that kind of money on squirrels.

On second look at the pic, I believe the one on the back is gone also. It should heal in a few days.

[CritterMom]

Here is a lovely factoid - there is a variety that lives in Costa Rica that uses the human as it's "carrier." I was watching a "medical mysteries" show (if you ever want to end up hiding in your home wrapped in Saran Wrap, watch one of those) and one poor guy had one in his scrotum.

All the men on the board are gagging and crossing their legs right now. You're welcome!

[SquirrelysFamily]

Here is a lovely factoid - there is a variety that lives in Costa Rica that uses the human as it's "carrier." I was watching a "medical mysteries" show (if you ever want to end up hiding in your home wrapped in Saran Wrap, watch one of those) and one poor guy had one in his scrotum.

All the men on the board are gagging and crossing their legs right now. You're welcome!

I told my 12 year old son this last night and he nearly died. Definitely a fantastic fact. I haven't seen Squirrely today yet so im curious to see how he looks.