Hurt leg

[AverageJoe]

We raised 2 pinkies (siblings) earlier this year with a successful release. Recently a friend had storm damage with trees down. While cleaning up debris, he found a little fox squirrel approximately 4-5 weeks old (eyes were not open), unharmed, and a sibling that wasn't so lucky. He tried to reunite it with mom, but no luck. He had it for a couple of weeks and decided that it would be best for someone to raise it, due to him having young kids. We have had Sonny for a week and he is thriving!

This morning, a guy from work called me and asked if I would be willing to take care of another squirrel. Seems his dog brought it in the house and dropped it in the floor. A little gray, about 5 weeks old, maybe a week and a half younger than Sonny. Weight is about 70g less.

The little gray is eating well, going to the bathroom on his own, and has no visible signs of puncture wounds from the dog. However, he is favoring his right hind leg. A physical exams reveals no swelling, no wound, and while palpating it, I can't feel a difference between the right and left, nor does he wince when I touch or gently manipulate it. He can move it, but sometimes it's like he drags it just a bit, or could be described like a limp. I don't know if the injury came from a fall from a tree, or if the dog caused it. We are keeping the gray separate from Sonny until we are sure he is not at further risk. Hopefully it's just a sprain.

Now for a couple of questions...
1. Is anyone aware of any other thing I could do to help diagnose what's going on (of course a vet visit may be necessary) and help the little guy heal?
2. Anything we should look out for that would indicate a worsening situation?
3. Will fox and grays get along? I have seen conflicting information from reputable sources. Perhaps it's a regional thing, but we have no fox squirrels in our area. I would like to release Sonny in our yard (surrounded by some woods), but we may take him back to the area he was found.
4. Am I correct in assuming that these late summer babies should be raised until spring as release time for these guys will be around the November/December time frame?

[AverageJoe]

Getting responses from this board seems to be more and more difficult. However, the younger male's leg appears to be better and I believe it's going to be fine.

They don't quite get along, so we are keeping them separate until they do. The fox is gaining weight very well, but the younger is eating well, but not putting on weight at anywhere near the pace the fox was at the same weight a week earlier. The gray is eating 6-7% of weight at 630am, noon! 5pm, and 10pm. Perhaps we should add another feed in for him.

Feedings are esbilac and fox valley, 75-25 ratio. They take half a rodent block in morning and evening as well as adding some vegetables to the diet.

Any suggestions and answers to the original post are still welcome and appreciated

[island rehabber]

Hi Average Joe. Sorry you haven't gotten any answers yet but it's the height of fall baby season and many of us are up to our necks in babies. I just finished feeding my gang so let me try:

1. A vet visit and x-ray of the little Gray's leg would be top of my list. You want to be sure that it's a sprain or even mild nerve damage versus a contusion or anything more serious. Sometimes a steroids like prednisolone can work wonders on these types of injuries.
2. Of course you want to watch for swelling or the squirrel favoring that leg more than he did before. Also beware of him biting at it for any reason, as this can become serious.
3. Can't help you with that question as there are no fox squirrels near me a couple hundred miles in any direction.
4. What are your winters like? I rarely if ever overwinter as it is extremely stressful for both humans and squirrels. If you have some leaf cover in your area you can release up until November and even early December, which I've done regularly in this part of Southeast New York State. Since you are releasing on your property you will be able to supplement the kids with healthy foods and fresh water all winter so they should not have a problem.

Hope this helps!

[AverageJoe]

Hi Average Joe. Sorry you haven't gotten any answers yet but it's the height of fall baby season and many of us are up to our necks in babies. I just finished feeding my gang so let me try:

1. A vet visit and x-ray of the little Gray's leg would be top of my list. You want to be sure that it's a sprain or even mild nerve damage versus a contusion or anything more serious. Sometimes a steroids like prednisolone can work wonders on these types of injuries.
2. Of course you want to watch for swelling or the squirrel favoring that leg more than he did before. Also beware of him biting at it for any reason, as this can become serious.
3. Can't help you with that question as there are no fox squirrels near me a couple hundred miles in any direction.
4. What are your winters like? I rarely if ever overwinter as it is extremely stressful for both humans and squirrels. If you have some leaf cover in your area you can release up until November and even early December, which I've done regularly in this part of Southeast New York State. Since you are releasing on your property you will be able to supplement the kids with healthy foods and fresh water all winter so they should not have a problem.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your reply.

Our winters are mild (usually) in NW Arkansas. Leaves will be changing in mid-October and trees will be bare shortly thereafter. These are hardwood and not evergreen...plenty of oak and hickory. We can get an occasional good snowfall of 8-10", with usually just a few snow events of a few inches. The temps can get downright frigid at times, but typically not for long.

The leg appears to be a non issue now. He is climbing all over and does not seem to favor it. He does have some tremors on occasion. Wouldn't call em seizures, but we do wonder if there could be a concussion.

As it stands now and the progress the are making, I would be more comfortable with the fox being released, especially back near his home (about 30 minutes south of us), but the gray is just a bit behind and that's the one I would worry about. As I stated in the earlier post, his weight gain is not what I was expecting. We've had him since Saturday. He gained almost 20g the first day, but only 2g each of the next 2. He has eaten at least 8cc at 4 meals/day. He appears healthy and active.

Thanks again