Found two baby squirrels in the barn. Mom is dead of rat poison. I got some puppy Esbilac at the feed store. They have had one feeding.
Now, the web says I should have re-hydrated with Pedialyte first! What to do now? Help??!! TIA
Locate a state licensed rehabber. Put them in a small dark closed box. Do not feed or handle. They are insanely easy to aspirate and cause pneumonia, and can die from cage related stress quite easily too. It is usually not legal to raise them at home anyway.
I don’t think Esbilac will “hurt” them and not feeding them certainly will. Make sure to keep them on their chests to feed them, never upside down and if using a syringe feed very slowly. Those longish skinny “kitten” nipples should work for bottle feeding if you can get them to suck.
If you can find a rehabber, great. But I would do what you have done, try to save their lives.
[QUOTE=NoDQhere;8081403]
I don’t think Esbilac will “hurt” them and not feeding them certainly will. Make sure to keep them on their chests to feed them, never upside down and if using a syringe feed very slowly. Those longish skinny “kitten” nipples should work for bottle feeding if you can get them to suck.
If you can find a rehabber, great. But I would do what you have done, try to save their lives.[/QUOTE]
Or try a makeup sponge, soaked in formula. They may suck on that better
They do make nipples for baby squirrels…found they worked better for kittens than the nipples that came on the bottles. Softer rubber, sort of cone shaped.
Friend fosters them occasionally for a rescue…will have bathtub full of straw,
rags and squirrels :).
I think you did a kind thing.
I know nothing in the ways of raising them but well done for taking on the challenge.
Bless you for taking care of them.
(that said, I consider the American Squirrel to be a pest, on the very same step as a rat!)
Good luck with your project.
We raised baby squirrels (ground and tree) for YEARS and never lost a single one. We fed them baby rice cereal and lactaid (or something like that, it’s been awhile). They were insanely easy to raise. We used rubber nipples on syringes, which worked really well!
You can give them to a wildlife rehabber, or try to raise them yourself (which is usually illegal). Once they start eating “real” food, try not to interact with them much and let them go asap. They get pretty wild once sexual maturity hits, but if kept too long, they will still go to people looking for food.
Thanks for all the help and encouragement. The wild life rehabber can’t get them until the weekend. I will try to get the better feeding equipment in town, tomorrow.
They were much more perky for their latest feed, I found a formula for home made Pedialyte substitute,( 1/2tsp salt+1/2Tbs sugar+ 2 cups water) and gave them 50% that 50% puppy Esbilac.
I, too, consider you kind and a respecter of all life:) we rescued 3 who, had been blown from a nest! with the love of our mother and 3 10 year old children; they flourished and grew to be beautiful healthy adults:); they may burrow in side your clothing looking for body heat; as adults they came over when we went outside:) providing us with very happy:yes: memories; and we them with love and lives as adult. wild squirrels.with friends of their own species:yes:
They are still doing well, Carol, you sound like you really enjoyed your squirrels. A neighbor would like one for a pet, I said I don’t think they make good pets. But, can they be wild squirrels if raised by a human.
My sister has rescued a few in the past and released. They remained kind of friendly and would come over to you when we sat on the porch. Be careful though, they have very sharp claws. One of them jumped up on the porch railing when I was coming home from work one day. He then decided he wanted to jump on me and climbed up the front of me to the top of my head and jumped off. He scratched my face in several places. It was lucky that I had my glasses on versus contacts. I don’t think they would be good pets.
My daughter got a wildlife rehabber license when she was in high school. We had lots of opossums and a squirrel. Talk with the wildlife rehabber about when you can stop the Pedialyte and just give Esbilac. If you are going to have them for a while, find out when to start solids.
Baby squirrels are fun, even though they do bite and scratch.
Steps for baby squirrels:
- warm
- pedialyte to rehydrate
- use the esbilac or puppy formula. Never cat formula. not enough protein and they will starve
If the baby squirrels are cold and/dehydrate they cannot absorb anything from the formula. They cannot warm themselves and will die of hypothermia even on a warm sunny day.
Once their eyes are open, they are fully furred and getting active you can start introducing fruit and veggies, they like grapes, watermelon and broccoli and cauliflower.
Nice that you are taking care of them - and you are doing a great job.
[QUOTE=NoDQhere;8081403]
I don’t think Esbilac will “hurt” them and not feeding them certainly will. Make sure to keep them on their chests to feed them, never upside down and if using a syringe feed very slowly. Those longish skinny “kitten” nipples should work for bottle feeding if you can get them to suck.
If you can find a rehabber, great. But I would do what you have done, try to save their lives.[/QUOTE]
You are wrong. the incorrect formula can kill them. A licensed rehabber will have the correct mix formula.
It’s great when they climb up your leg while you’re wearing shorts. Or hang on the screen door…and pee into the kitchen. Or grow up, have sex, get pregnant, and bring their babies back to hang around.
Good luck, and good for you for doing this. Just be glad it’s not raccoons.
An oldie, but goodie.
http://stories.endurance.net/1998/01/beet-pulp-hazards-susan-garlinghouse.html
How are they doing?
Thanks for asking about them Bells. They are doing very well, starting to really eat solid food. They love pecans, peanuts, youpon berries, dandelions, plantain spikes, rye grass seed spikes, and the neighbors all think I’m nuts for gathering these things!
I turned them over to the wildlife rehabber this afternoon. They should be released in a couple of weeks.
