Skin peeling on baby squirrel

[sue.silber]

I have a couple of baby squirrels. One in particular has skin peeling off various parts of his body. What should I do? Use a human antibiotic cream? (I'm not sure if these attachments will work. If you can't see them I can email them.) Oops, it looks like the third photo is from an earlier post, the one with the large lesions, please disregard.

[Spanky]

I would suggest using some organic coconut oil 2 - 3 times a day on that dry skin that is peeling... And getting some humidity into their environment. They should be in plastic tubs, not cardboard boxes (which wick a surprising amount of moisture out of the air). Placing stout glass with a wet sponge inside into the tub can help introduce additional moisture.

[CritterMom]

I don't like the look of that second pic.

Get a bottle of Betadyne 10% povidone iodine (or the store brand equivalent) at the drug store. It looks like a squirt bottle full of blood. Mix 1/4 teaspoon of the betadyne with 1/4 cup water, warm it slightly, and using a cotton ball or similar, use it to gently wet down the area where all the sores are. Pop baby back in his enclosure to warm up and for it to dry. I would use the coconut oil on the peeling places but at least now, not on the angry sores that you have applied the betadyne to. Reapply a couple times a day. It is antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral so it will take care of any infection that is setting in, which is what this looks like. Might this baby have been on hot pavement? They look like burns.

Adter a few days of just the betadyne, you might want to start applying vaseline over the areas (after the betadyne has had time to dry) to help protect the new skin.

[sue.silber]

I have tried the organic coconut oil on my squirrels but it doesn't seem to be working. I have attached a picture of one which is getting worse - more peeling, red on peeled area. Any suggestions? human ointments like cortisone, fungal medication, antibacterial ointments or lotions? Thank you.

[supersquirrelgirl]

Did you apply betadine per CM comment or just coconut oil ??

Zooming in, it looks its circular with redness inside. Is that the same for all babies ?? Could this be some form of fungus like ringworm ??

Mr.SSG

[sue.silber]

I don't like the look of that second pic.

Get a bottle of Betadyne 10% povidone iodine (or the store brand equivalent) at the drug store. It looks like a squirt bottle full of blood. Mix 1/4 teaspoon of the betadyne with 1/4 cup water, warm it slightly, and using a cotton ball or similar, use it to gently wet down the area where all the sores are. Pop baby back in his enclosure to warm up and for it to dry. I would use the coconut oil on the peeling places but at least now, not on the angry sores that you have applied the betadyne to. Reapply a couple times a day. It is antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral so it will take care of any infection that is setting in, which is what this looks like. Might this baby have been on hot pavement? They look like burns.

Adter a few days of just the betadyne, you might want to start applying vaseline over the areas (after the betadyne has had time to dry) to help protect the new skin.

Reply: The third picture that looks really severe, was included by the Squirrel Board by mistake. My babies have only peeling skin. I will try the betadyne now to see if that works. Sorry for any confusion. Thank you for your reply.

[supersquirrelgirl]

Hi Sue,

My comment was not to the 3rd pic on original post. (Admin has remove 3rd pic today.)

Looking at yesterday's pic, there's a fringe boundary between normal fur and the redness. It seems to go around the infected area. Like ringworm fungus, it spreads out from the center with a boundary edge in circular fashion. I'm just guessing here.

Do your other babies have similar looking redness ??

Mr.SSG

[sue.silber]

Hi Sue,

My comment was not to the 3rd pic on original post. (Admin has remove 3rd pic today.)

Looking at yesterday's pic, there's a fringe boundary between normal fur and the redness. It seems to go around the infected area. Like ringworm fungus, it spreads out from the center with a boundary edge in circular fashion. I'm just guessing here.

Do your other babies have similar looking redness ??

Mr.SSG

None of the other babies have any redness. The one with the redness appears to be getting better with the betadyne and I can see some fur growing where I've applied it. The redness appears to be going away too. ;o)

[supersquirrelgirl]

Well this is good news. Power of Betadine over coconut oil. Keep it up and post pictures when you can.

[sue.silber]

Well this is good news. Power of Betadine over coconut oil. Keep it up and post pictures when you can.

Here is a picture of the squirrel with pretty good looking skin! It's a bit red because of the betadyne. Thanks for your help!

[supersquirrelgirl]

Looks good. Glad to help but really it was CritterMom who recommended the Betadine. I just followed up.

Yes - betadine turns everything red!