Squirrel weighing smaller than should be

[apendino]

Hi all. this is my first time rehabbing a squirrel that I found the day after Hurricane Milton wrecked my hometown. We found the sweet girl in the brush. The nest was on the ground empty and mom never came back for her. She was about 2 weeks old when we found her and had a horrible abscess on her chest that opened up about a week later and now is a distant memory. Still a little pink but did have some grey fur coming in. Her eyes opened on 10/29. I am feeding her the Fox Valley formula. We started on puppy formula until the first bag of Fox Valley came in, then switched to the Fox Valley for 4 weeks and older when she was about 4.5 weeks old. I started her on Squirrel blocks a little after her eyes opened and just this weekend she has started actually eating a whole block. I am guesstimating her to be about 8 weeks. She eats formula every 4-5 hrs and I feed her 7% of her body weight. She does get a little salad every day of lettuce (whatever type I have that day but mainly romaine) mushroom/cauliflower/grape tomato/summer squash/carrot. I have not done any fruit yet as she has just started showing interest in the salad and dont want her chowing down on sweet fruit until she realizes veggies are her friend. She is honestly doing GREAT but I am concerned that she is sooooo small compared to what the suggested weight charts say, I am seeing that she should be close to 200 or more grams now and just this morning she only weighed in at 134 grams. Am I doing something wrong? I want to be able to release her when the time comes but I don't feel she will be ready if she is so small.

[Spanky]

She is honestly doing GREAT but I am concerned that she is sooooo small compared to what the suggested weight charts say, I am seeing that she should be close to 200 or more grams now and just this morning she only weighed in at 134 grams. Am I doing something wrong?

Generally speaking average healthy squirrel size varies from North to South, with the largest being up north... and the smallest ones live in Florida. I am hesitant to weigh in with a definitive comment since that would be more reliable coming from a fellow Floridian in regards to Florida squirrel sizes.

Having said that, I have taken in underweight squirrels many times over the years and generally they have done well and were successfully released back into the wild. Continue the formula, it is the single best thing she can be eating. I'd suggest adding in a healthy amount of avocado as a great source of healthy fats.

[Charley Chuckles]

I'm sorry I'd have to do the math🙄 about how old is she now?
I think she will be fine, Florida squirrels range in size but for sure never seen them as large as the charts say ( unless they are non releasable kept squirrels then then can really pork out)
Thanks for rescuing and doing such a wonderful job 👍