Don't know what's going on need help!!

[Kisbell17]

Oh and I'm in flint/burton michigan

[SammysMom]

Carefree litter is what i use. It is actually sold as bedding I think. It's where the hamster stuff is in petco etc. Or I buy it on amazon.

[Kisbell17]

Oh awesome ohkay I'll have to get some next time I'm out!

[Mommaluvy]

I will keep you guys updated. And is there any safe vets any where in michigan? And I got her at 3/4 weeks. I got her and her brother but he ended up dying of an unknown cause I think maybe pneumonia. Theyre eyes werent onpen when i got them. At the time my boyfriend worked in the tree service and when they were cutting up the trees they ended up cutting her tail off and it burned it it instantly so it didn't bleed. They picked the log up to move it and they fell out. They didn't know they were in there. He sat them where the tree was all day to see if the mom would come back and get them and she didn't so he brought them home and I bottle fed them and bandaged up her tail. It never seemed to hurt her for us to touch it and mess with it. She ended up being super healthy and active until now. She is very clumsy though she fallspice every now and then. She also throws herself all over the bottom of the cage with her toys so she could've hurt herself. Here's a picture of how big they were when I got them. You can really only see the boy as she liked to sleep under everything in a ball

I have seen a case like that. Almost exactly what happened to some a friend of mine got last year. It turned out ok.
Hmm.. Just wondering if the motion of the chain saw could have cause some minor twisting of the spine to make it present like that. Probably not. Just brainstorming.

I know some say that their tails are SUPER important with balance. And others, not so much. I have personally seen two.. One of which I know made it in the wild. ( Bobby as I called him was born wild.. No idea why he had a bunny like tail. Bird? Cat? ) he seemed to have no problem .

But he was a grey and this is a foxer so the tail loss could cause the instability. That said MBD defiantly does.

Is she on the MBD protocol yet?
I also ditto the cedar shavings removal. Not good for the rodent lungs.

Any chance of a video of her displaying instability or clumsiness ?
Yes please keep us posted.. Good or bad.

[Kisbell17]

And her backs never looked like this before so i dont think its any old injury but you never know. She does good most times but I can try and get a video of her and yeah I've seen a couple wild squirrels with no tail and they seemed to be doing great but they were smaller one was a gray and the other was a red. I don't think she has much of a balance problem she just misses her steps sometimes when she gets to excited but she does lose ballance sometimes I'll try and get a video of her running around her cage and show you what I'm talking about.

[Kisbell17]

And yes I started her on the MBD protocol last night

[Kisbell17]

Update! She is acting more like her usual self! She's throwing her self all over the bottom of her cage and playing with everything including her food bowl. So she must be feeling a bit better!

[SammysMom]

Excellent!!! Just be sure that she can't fall or hurt herself. With MBD, they can feel better long before their bones actually are better and get injured more easily. However, her feeling better is an awesome first step! Keep up the good work!

[Kisbell17]

Another update.
She is very active and happy but her spine and side are standing up more. I think she's making her hair stand up and it's only standing up in those places cause when I pet it. It squishespecially down back down to normal. And doesn't feel odd she feels normal everywhere. What could be causing her hair to stand up only in these places? Could her skin be irritated she's been itching a little more than usual. I don't know I'm just brainstorming as its still super odd.

[CritterMom]

She may be growing her winter coat. Often the hairs don't grow at the same rate, resulting in some very unusual hairdos - mohawks, etc. If this is fur and not her backbone protruding, which would really be more indicative of malnutrition, I bet that is what it is. When the other hair gets the same length it won't look like it is standing up anymore - she will just be uniformly fuzzy.

[Kisbell17]

Ohkay! That makes me feel so much better because it doesn't feel like her back bone is sticking out or anything so that's probably what it it. That makes me feel so relieved. I will still continue to MBD stuff as I think she could still use it as she has seemed to be in a better mood since I have started it!

[Rexie]

just a thought here, Is she cold? When my boy gets cold his fur on his back stands up kinda like that. The first time I found him like that I thought he was a different squirrel , It looks like static electricity fur standing up. Maybe the cold by a window could be the cause. Just a thought, Lisa

[SammysMom]

Well winter coat looks like its from the Rhodesian Ridgeback collection. All the rage this season...
an otherwise totally normal looking squirrel! Good call on winterizing Crittermom! Makes perfect sense.