7 month old released squirrel diarrhea

[Cap70]

Hello squirrel board,

I have a F grey squirrel that has been released for over a month now and she comes back daily to visit. Lately however I noticed she’s smelling really bad due to getting poop stuck in her fur. I have cleaned her off a few times and today noticed a lot of the hair was missing from around her butt. She appears to be getting diarrhea and is also dragging her butt a lot. Once released she did come back with lice again which I’ve since treated (and understand I can’t really protect her against) but the only other thing I can think is maybe mites?

When she visits I still feed her some veggies 🥦 and the blocks which were recommended here and she eats plenty / stashes the rest around the yard. She drinks a lot of water I noticed also and since her release comes back daily with pine sap stuck in her fur and all around her mouth.

Is there anyway to determine what may be causing this? I cleaned out her nesting box (which was initially in a cage originally), and since cleaning it she doesn’t seem to want to go inside of it. I only used hot water and a tiny drop of dishsoap, rinsed and dried it good.

She is no longer on formula and has no interest it taking it from a bowl, also seems to be leaving at night to somewhere else since her box was cleaned. It’s beginning to get cold here and am also concerned about what may be too cold for her without a nest.

Any help is appreciated !

[Cap70]

Want to add she is acting completely normal and seems healthy besides this!

[Jenna]

I'm too new and not knoweldgeable enough to comment on the diarrhea, but pine sap in her fur and around her mouth is probably good, as it likely means she's in there playing and eating. (Now watch someone with more experience contradict me! LOL!)

Do you have any of her smelly bedding from her nest? I'd try putting that in there and then putting it back out. It's also possible she's found or made a new nest and so isn't coming back, but I'd have it out as an option as it gets cold. Otherwise, she's probably found somewhere else warm enough for her to rest overnight.

<3

Jenna