First Time Squirrel Mom - 5 Week Old Squirrel

[Tristad]

Hi everyone!

I have acquired a 5 week old squirrel. When I first found her, she was only 3 weeks old… my dog found her on the ground. She was dehydrated, emaciated, cold, and had fly eggs in her mouth. I gave her first aid and rehabilitated her the first 24 hours. Contacted all rehabbers in my area, but all were filled up with squirrels and couldn’t take her. So, here I am! Being an unexpected squirrel mom! And I’ve fallen completely in love with her

I’ve searched and searched the internet, and all I can mainly find is info about initial care until you can get the squirrel to a rehabber. Considering that wasn’t possible, I’m needing help on continued care for this young little lady!

My biggest questions, now that eyes are open, she’s crawling around more, and slowly becoming a whole big girl squirrel… how do I keep her happy and entertained? And what do I give her to chew on at this young age? She’s been chewing on her sweet tiny hands. Sometimes she chews on my finger, but then she starts chewing too hard. So what is safe for me to give her to chew on at this young age? And when do I start introducing solid foods?

[Spanky]

At five weeks, when their eyes open, is the time to introduce solids. The first and ONLY solids should be a high quality rodent block. That can be a staple block like Envigo or Mazuri or a supplement block like Henry's Healthy Block (HHB).

If you go staple, that will need to be about 80% of her diet. With the Henry's, older kids and adults get 2 blocks a day and the rest of their diet can be healthy veggies and a little bit of fruit.

I go the Henry's route,and if you choose that route I suggest getting the Picky and / or Wild versions.

https://henryspets.com/squirrel-blocks/

Singletons are more challenging since they have no playmates or anyone to be released with when the time comes. You can provide a small stuff toy for her to wrestle with by make sure it does not have any buttons or beads (hard things she may choke on) and not a bean filled toys. Soft, plushy ones work well.

Does she have a name? What type of formula are you feeding her? Also, we love it when folks share squirrel pictures!

[Tristad]

I’d love to upload a picture but my only pictures of her are on my iPhone and I can’t figure out how to upload on here! lol but her name WAS Wilson until we found out she’s a girl. So my daughter renamed her LILY! I feed her esbilac puppy formula. She has a tendency to overeat and cause diarrhea sometimes. She can be a little piggy lol she gets so mad when I take the syringe away haha such a sassy personality already!

At five weeks, when their eyes open, is the time to introduce solids. The first and ONLY solids should be a high quality rodent block. That can be a staple block like Envigo or Mazuri or a supplement block like Henry's Healthy Block (HHB).

If you go staple, that will need to be about 80% of her diet. With the Henry's, older kids and adults get 2 blocks a day and the rest of their diet can be healthy veggies and a little bit of fruit.

I go the Henry's route,and if you choose that route I suggest getting the Picky and / or Wild versions.

https://henryspets.com/squirrel-blocks/

Singletons are more challenging since they have no playmates or anyone to be released with when the time comes. You can provide a small stuff toy for her to wrestle with by make sure it does not have any buttons or beads (hard things she may choke on) and not a bean filled toys. Soft, plushy ones work well.

Does she have a name? What type of formula are you feeding her? Also, we love it when folks share squirrel pictures!

[Spanky]

[QUOTE=Tristad;1367174I feed her esbilac puppy formula.[/QUOTE]

Esbilac is good, just make sure it is the powdered version because the liquid one is very different and results in frequent diarrhea.

Be sure to store the opened powder in the freezer.. or the fridge minimally. Don't believe the label about keeping at room temp, we see it goes rancid in a few days (maybe a variation of "room temps" or humidity, but regardless... never goes rancid in the freezer (well maybe after a few years?)!

Maybe an iPhone user might have some helpful hints on loading pics...