By Clarissa Summers
Sentinel drinking from the water can.
Copyright © Clarissa H. Summers 1992
Revisions: November 1999, March 2000, July 2000, June 2001, January 2002, April 2002,
October 2002, August 2003, July 2004, January 2005. May 2005, December 2005, April 2006, August 2006, April 2007, October 2007, April 2008, July 2008
Information in these pages has helped people in as many as 20 foreign countries as well as in the United States, not only to raise baby squirrels or heal the injured, but also to establish their own local squirrel rescue centers. I feel very honored to be able to help.
Periodically this web page is updated, thanks to questions from the public who help me fill in the gaps. The answers to most all questions are now on the web page. As is the case in all reference documents, this web page (or the printed version of it) is intended to be consulted any time a question arises.
It is recommended that you print a copy of this material to have before you at all times during each phase of the squirrel's growth.
| This web page should be considered an instruction manual, a natural, holistic guide to be followed explicitly, not to be mixed randomly with information from other sources since that will only lead to failure. Please do not act first and ask questions later. What I cannot teach, the squirrels will. Many times the lessons they teach can be bitter and heartbreaking. Unfortunately, several unethical people, finding the need to be competitive, have plagiarized information directly from my web page to theirs, presenting it falsely as having come from their own past experiences. Although it has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I am not flattered. The information on this web page is my own creation and always has been from its conception more than 20 years ago, not just when it was implemented on the Internet in 1999. Be not deceived. Only in this web page will you find the entire original and unadulterated Truth. |
| Note for those who are helping a young or injured squirrel for the first time: There basically are two so-called "schools" of thought on what formula is best for squirrels. We recommend the Scalded Milk Formula and have had tremendous success with it. Some other people (Poor babies!) obviously continue to feel quite threatened by our fantastically growing numbers and our wonderful success rates and very vocally recommend commercial formulas while scathingly criticizing the Scalded Milk Formula, although they have never tried it. A quotation I recently came across stated: "It takes an evolved person to appreciate new ideas and not feel threatened by them." So true! The Scalded Milk Formula has proven to be a successful formula based on my 20 years of rehabbing more than 2,500 squirrels. Thousands of others agree and have done so for years, as you'll see from the lovely signings from the public on my Guest Book. Once the newly-found baby gets past the first critical 24-72 hours when he comes into your care, the Scalded Milk Formula will provide excellent nutrition for his growth. (One Nutball daily is CRITICAL for these babies' health and well-being once they are older and have started eating solid foods.) Cow's milk is the basic ingredient of all commercial formulas. Defying logic, those recommending commercial formulas while criticizing Scalded milk are actually recommending formulas of highly processed and adulterated cow's milk. As basic Biology continues to teach and as is widely known, pure cow's milk builds strong bones and healthy teeth.
Our success rate speaks for itself.
And, besides that, the whole thing is just dumb and I wish they'd quit it. |
If you have comments or questions about squirrels after you have printed out and read this web page, you may email me at Clarissa -- I answer all emails quickly, so if you do not hear back from me, something may be wrong on your receiving end.
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| 1. Warm up baby on a heating pad on low in a small hamster-sized cage with several warm, woolly blankets to burrow under. (Baby should be kept constantly on heating pad!) 2. Feed Scalded Milk with a small syringe very slowly 4 times a day. 3. Stimulate with a tissue after every feeding to make him go to the bathroom. |
Upon Receiving a Baby Squirrel...
Baby Squirrel Formula (Scalded Milk Recipe)
Nut Balls/Squares(Ca1cium Information)
"But I don' wanna make those stupid Nutballs!"
Stupid list - Stupid things to NOT feed squirre1s and why
The Positive List --- things to "Yes" feed squirrels
Suggested Daily Schedule for Self-Feeding Squirrels
Nutritional Healing for Animals and Birds
For the past 25 years I have been working with nutrition in my own dogs and cats. birds and fish. The last 20 years have been devoted to extending this practical knowledge to squirrels, their care, nurture, and rehabiltation, toward releasing them back into nature. As all conscientious and dedicated rehabilitators know, it is difficult to write between feeding baby squirrels and injured adults, dealing with a "deprived" family, between licks and pats from dogs, mews from "starving" cats who have not eaten in 30 whole minutes (!), handling phone calls from people needing help feeding or understanding the habits and nature of squirrels or attempting to reunite a fallen baby with its mama.
As a wildlife rehabilitator, I continue to be amazed at how fast they heal when given proper nutrition. As of September, 2004, I have taken in well over 2,500 squirrels approximately three-fourths of whom have been babies. The first 24-hour period is the most critical. If I can get them through this time (dealing with their injuries)and the next 2-3 days none have ever died. My success rate from this 2-3 day point on until release at 6 to 9 months of age is 100%
Interestingly enough, nobody had a clue about squirrel nutrition until I came on the scene and now everybody and his dog is spouting the word, "nutrition" out there on those copy-cat and antagonistic web pages even though they STILL do not know the tiniest smick about it!
Contrary to "popular opinion", there is no such thing as "lactose intolerance" in squirrels. With the well over 2,500 squirrels taken in over the last 20 years I have NEVER found even one (young or old) who was "allergic" to
scalded milk. All mammal milk contains lactose. Also, I have NEVER found it necessary to do the "Pedialyte thing" with baby squirrels, even with those severely dehydrated who have been away from Mama for at least 6 days. Gatorade is awful! Do NOT feed it! It is not intended for wildlife and isn't good for people either because of the alien chemicals and preservatives in it. Yes, they do need fluids and nutrition, and Scalded Milk supplies both.
A squirrel's nature is basically shy and timid, sweet and gentle, when properly nourished and cared for. Each new arrival (baby or adult), I wrap in a blanket and cuddle, love, and pet, warming against my heart before they are put on a heating pad. They are all very responsive to a soothing touch which helps ease them past their recent traumas.. I do the same after each feeding to boost their immune systems and promote rapid healing. This extra loving attention at a critical time when they need it has nothing to do with "making a pet out of them"! The time comes, after babies and adults are weaned and healed that handling is no longer needed or wanted. However, IF you do not plan to release your squirrels (whether because of a permanent handicap or otherwise), and IF they will allow it, continued handling is perfectly fine since they're not "going anywhere" anyway!
**NONE of the above calcium/magnesium-deficient crises ever happens in squirrels raised on the Scalded Milk/Nut Ball program.
Of all the calls and email I receive from the public and other rehabilitators, the most common cause of death in squirrels is a severe calcium deficiency. I cannot stress enough the critical importance of calcium in the squirrels' diet. In captivity calcium, magnesium, and Vitamin D are supplied by Scalded Milk Formula when babies are young and by Nut Balls when they are older. Failure to meet these nutritional requirements can result in sudden, quot;unexplained" death at any time. Squirrels who have not been fed a proper diet can become quite nasty and vicious, a warning flag that they are getting ready to drop dead. (Other symptoms of a calcium deficiency can be found under "The Stupid List", although death is the most common.)
**Phases in the lives of squirrels
who are not being fed properly:
Besides my own observations of squirrels' needs, much of the information in these pages has come from Adelle Davis whose books on nutrition (Let's Have Healthy Children, Let's Eat Right to
Keep Fit, and Let's Get Well) are based on thousands of animal studies. She took from the animals and gave to the people, and I like to think I'm giving back to the animals.
Much of what is passed off as "new" in the scientific community today is actually "old" Adelle Davis. Universal Truth withstands the test of time.
Much information in these pages has come from the squirrels themselves who will tell what they need every step of the way to one who is attuned to them. One of my greatest teachers was my Mama Squirrel who came to me wild from the yard and thought she'd "get in on some of this food" I was doling out to those in captivity. She taught me a tremendous amount about squirrel motherhood for 5 years until a car took her life.
"Snatchy" at first, she evolved into the gentlest taker of tid-bits from my fingers. She had a sense of my work and purpose: The day after I released 13 youngsters (8 and 9 months old that I had wintered over), she installed herself and her spring babies in a nest box in the yard. To protect her own from the "new intruders", her defense was minimal -- chasing them only 2 feet away from her box -- or, once, only a well-directed defiant glare was sufficient. She could have run them totally out of the yard, as she later did to one of her own 6-month-olds, but was, with mine, quite gentle and understanding of their initial ineptitude and lack of street-wise ways.
I have also learned a great deal by observing squirrels in my yard after they have been released: How mothers will vigorously defend and protect their babies, sometimes losing the battle and leaving their own orphaned, the males who are so busy knocking each other out of the trees when they, themselves, are "in season" that the females are virtually ignored; and the wooing courtship of a male presenting his big bushy, gorgeous tail to the female rather than his face (because she will slap it!).
Since the scope of my yard is only a microcosm, the public has also taught me a great deal about the individual personalities of these little animals. It has only been up to me to listen in order to learn.
(Please take special notice of the last 8 paragraphs in this section before you do something rash like give your squirrel away or succumb to bullying or fear-mongering!)
Before you begin……
Do not feed a cold baby. So many of these babies are cold when they first come in. Warm up on your heart (skin to skin) until the heating pad is warmed up and then put him in a small hamster cage set on top of the heating pad, with small blankets for him to cuddle and snuggle under. (Small hamster cages are recommended since they are basically the size of the nests in the trees they've fallen from.) The heating pad should be set on low. He needs to warm there for at least 40-45 minutes. Buffer the heating pad with towels if heat is excessive. Heating pads should be monitored for the first two or three hours and the next two or three days and more towel buffers added if necessary. The temperature where the baby is should just be tepid. The outside of a baby may feel warm but internal organs still be cold; feeding a cold baby at this time will shut down the system: death follows, because a cold body cannot digest food.
Babies should be kept constantly warm, day and night, round the clock, on a heating pad set on low and never be allowed to get cold. Cold is one of the most damaging things that can happen to a baby squirrel, causing brain or neurological damage and death.
Heating pads may be set up on a grill or a small cake cooling rack on small wooden blocks -- this will not only help protect the surface they are placed on but will also allow cooler air to circulate underneath. Peeling skin, especially with the fur-less pinkies is caused by too hot a heating pad. Buffering with towels as explained above will correct this situation.
Baby squirrels need to be fed Scalded Milk (whole cow's milk) 4 times a day -- NEVER ever any kind of commercial formula, no matter WHAT the label says! (More on this under the Suggested Feeding Schedule and the Baby Formula section on this web page.)
Squirrels, as with all other types of rodents, are immaculate -- very clean little animals! If they come in with anything "suspect" on them, get it off!
Fly eggs must be removed immediately before they hatch into maggots. Use a flea comb, dry toothbrush or fingernails to remove eggs. Soaking large clumps of fly eggs in olive oil or salad oil for a few seconds helps w/flea-comb removal. Remove maggots with tweezers (if only a few). For larger areas, sprinkle with Sergeant's Cat Flea and Tick Powder or Adam's Flea Powder to smother them. These powders contain pyrethrins which are made from chrysanthemums and are non-toxic to squirrels.
Wash wound with warm water on cotton ball, dry thoroughly with a tissue, and put Desitin ointment on if you wish. Desitin is a wonderful wound healer because of the zinc in it. Only one or two applications should be necessary. Give Acerola Vit. C (15 - 24 mg. dissolved in ¼ to ½ c.c. of water)orally before each feeding for a day or two to help boost the immune system and promote healing from within.
Sugar is good for sprinkling on open wounds, especially those that are infected. Sugar reacts chemically with pus to neutralize it and only two or three applications should be necessary. Honey and Karo can also be used, but I think those are too messy. Even if the wound is a dried one, it can be moistened with a few drops of water to make the sugar granules stick. When sugar is used, no topical or oral antibiotics are necessary.
For ant bites or fleas, see Common Sense Squirrel Tips.
Although there are a minimal few cats who do harm baby squirrels, a cat-rescued baby squirrel does NOT need an anti-biotic, as birds do. Cats do NOT infect squirrels. I have never found it necessary to give a cat-caught baby squirrel antibiotics. Oftentimes, scratches and puncture wounds on babies are attributed to the "bad" cat when, in reality, they have been caused by hitting broken twigs on the branches of trees as the baby fell. Cats are some of our best rescuers and can find the babies where we can’t, such as under leaves and in tall grass.
Bloody noses are quickly and readily healed with Vitamin C, a natural antihistamine, which takes down swelling, and by the calcium in milk which is a wound healer. Head injuries are permanent and can take them in a month, a year and three months, or at the end of a long life with us. Any squirrel with a head injury cannot survive out in nature so should not be released. (More information on this and other incapacitating injuries is under the Common Sense section.)
Abscesses (rare in babies) are not caused by cats, but from a bite from another squirrel and will usually erupt in 10 days, although I did have one that began to fester on the third day. Again, no oral or systemic antibiotic is necessary: Manipulation, or scab picking (when the scab comes off easily), to drain the wound of pus is the preferred method or just leaving it alone to eventually erupt and heal all by itself.
Babies do need to be stimulated to go to the bathroom. You may lightly tickle their bottoms with Kleenex to encourage them to go (they'll wet the Kleenex). Failure to stimulate can cause uremic poisoning and death. Do stimulate them after every feeding 4 times a day.
Urine of all baby squirrels should be clear. As they mature and begin eating solid foods around 10 weeks or more of age, the urine may become more yellow (with the grays) or peach-colored or the color of cider vinegar (with the fox squirrels).
I continue to stimulate them to make them go to the bathroom as long as I'm taking them out to syringe-feed, whether they are really "going on their own" or not. It's one way I have of monitoring them and also helps to keep their blankets cleaner and drier.
Warm spit on a pointy place on the tissue helps get them started wetting when you tickle twinkies. Doodles will follow just by tickling them to make them wet, whether they are actively wetting or not. Tickle in quick little up and down strokes or round and round, back and forth, very gently -- no rubbing them raw. Babies may be dehydrated when they first come in and may
not have anything to wet out, or they may not be thrifty wetters in the beginning, but that will soon change as the body absorbs the formula.
If they are dehydrated, do NOT use Pedialyte, but feed Scalded Milk which supplies fluids as well as proper nutrition. When severely dehydrated, it may take as long as several feedings or 2 days for wet to come out. If totally empty, it may be 5 days before doodles come.
Babies often have the ability to doodle on their own, long before they have the muscle control to wet, so look in the bottom of their cages for doodles before panicking. There is no "set age" when they are capable of wetting on their own. All babies are different and gain muscle strength at different ages. When in doubt, continue to tickle as long as you are taking them out to syringe-feed. I have had several "Baby Hueys" who were not able to wet on their own even after they were mature enough to be on milk from a small water bottle.
Once babies are stabilized and eating well (usually within 2 feedings after arrival), you should be able to get them to wet after every feeding. However, they will not necessarily doodle every single time. Some will only doodle once a day, some twice, and some every other day -- babies are all different.
Doodles can be little bitty pellets, a long stringy thing, or the consistency of toothpaste out of a tube. Yellow smears on blankets or on the tissue indicate diarrhea which is caused by too much sugar or Karo in a formula, so omit the sugar which shouldn't have been put in the milk in the first place.
Diarrhea in baby squirrels is no big deal. It is messy and needs to be corrected (adding plain yogurt to their milk helps) simply because it is messy and can burn their little bottoms. (Applying Desitin to their little raw bottoms helps ease that soreness.) They usually doodle after bladders have emptied, so keep on tickling twinkies (in quick little up and down strokes or round and round) to make doodles come out. No need to obsess over this: 3 minutes or so is sufficient to get "results" if you're going to.
Chronic or long-term, hard-to-cure, very thin, watery diarrhea can be caused by some kind of bacterial intestinal organism like coccidiosis, giardia, or salmonella and in these rare cases, a drug is recommended. Babies can pick these up through their mothers' milk if she has drunk contaminated water, as in bird baths.
They are sexed like dogs and horses. If you are not sure what you have, you probably have a little girl.
I do not advocate physical therapy for the injured -- they know better than we do when they are hurt and when they feel better. As they heal, they will move around more and more as it suits them.
Common sense tells us that any who come in injured should be handled as little as possible in the beginning Excess handling only exacerbates injuries and can kill them quickly. We can love and soothe them and ease their fears by stroking their heads and down their backs for a time or two after feeding and then leave them alone to rest and sleep which is where all healing occurs. This justifies our putting them aside in a cage when they're first brought to us so they can rest or warm up for 30 or 45 minutes before we get around to feeding them. It also gives them time to adjust to their new surroundings, whether they are lucid or not. When we take them out to syringe-feed them 4 times a day, their little bodies should be well-supported by a small blanket to avoid further injury.
--
Steroids are never recommended. I have never found them to "take the swelling" down, as so many vets and rehabbers seem to believe, nor have I ever found them to be effective in the few times squirrels have been dosed with them before they came into my hands. They suppress the immune system and are NOT healers. It is only in an exceptionally rare case that a baby will need any kind of drug or antibiotic. All drugs have harmful and sometimes long-lasting side effects and all upset the natural chemical balance of the body. Too many babies have died unnecessarily from an overdose or from being given the wrong kind of drug. Injuries and wounds heal very quickly in squirrels when they are being fed properly.
Keep baby in a quiet place away from children. These are delicate and fragile little animals and are not playtoys for anyone, children or adult.
Babies do need to be stroked, petted, and cuddled when they've been taken out for a feeding session so they will know they are cherished, loved, and valued and will therefore thrive and grow. Excessive handling, though, is not recommended since they do need their uninterrupted and restful sleep between feedings.
Baby squirrels can dehydrate overnight when they're getting ready to die from internal injuries and their little systems are shutting down. The most usual place to look for signs of internal injuries are in the diaphragm area, under the rib cage, and all down in the soft-tissue tummy area. Any bruising or discoloration there is definitely a sign of internal injury or bruising or bleeding, and that is most often the telling thing when there's a death. Those places won't necessarily show up right away either but will right before death.
One particular pinkie I took in was doing fine, progressing nicely, until the 10th day. That morning when I got her out to feed, she was totally unresponsive, limp, listless and lethargic. I knew I was losing her, and she did pass an hour or so later. She had those dark places in her diaphragm area which never showed up until that morning. They most often just drift off or float away when its time for them to go, a very peaceful death. All we can do is take them as far as they will go and hope they recover from the damage (unseen and invisible sometimes) they sustained in their fall. Normally the first 24 hours and the next 2-3 days after they come in is the most critical, when they have sustained injuries.
Do NOT put babies outside! Squirrels should not go outside until right before time to release them -- when they are 5 and 1/2 months or 6 months old for the spring-born babies and 8-9 months for the fall-born babies who are wintered over in the house -- not wintered-over in cages outside. Babies and the young are far too vulnerable and fragile and are quite susceptible to getting colds or pneumonia from getting chilled or wet, no matter how "warm" the weather may seem to you.
People who echo that phrase simply don't know how to care for or raise squirrels, how to keep them alive and healthy on a short-term basis or even on a long-term one because they don't feed properly or haven't got the background experience of raising any squirrels at all.
Do be aware that all the misinformation and disinformation (deliberate lying with their little smear campaign) on those politically-motivated wildlife group web pages and chat rooms is intended to scare the daylights out of the public! Don't go there! I certainly don't!
Too much unnecessary killing is going on now in the world because of man -- pillaging, hacking down of trees and woodlands whimsically or for commercial purposes, not only destroying habitats but wiping out entire squirrel families in the process. Bureaucratic sanctioned and unsanctioned hunting, random shooting solely for target-practice, poisons (not only rodenticides, but fertilizers and pesticides as well), being hit by cars, electricity -- all are man-caused and all take their toll.
Fabrications against wildlife are created to justify the collection of bounty money or for culling or mass slaughtering (under the guise of so-called bureaucratic or governmental "Animal Management") -- viz. Prairie dogs, wolves, coyotes, raccoons, deer, squirrels.
So-called "shelters", whether for domestic animals or wildlife all over the United States and Canada (those Inhumane Societies), are nothing but dead ends in one way or another since most animals are immediately euthanized (murdered) whether healthy or not. The ASPCA admits it kills 9 million cats and dogs a year. Those are just some of the domestic animals they receive or confiscate. No telling how many others -- not just all forms of wildlife -- but other domestic animals such as bunnies, ferrets, hamsters, etc., are also destroyed since those are not included in their "count". Others are exploited in one way or another for donation money. So-called "Animal Rescue" programs on cable or Dish TV are nothing but Show Business. The reality is in what goes on behind the scenes that the public is never shown.
The hidden agenda of all those State and local agencies is NOT the conservation or preservation of animals but their destruction, their annihilation.
Those of us who are kind, compassionate, and caring -- the creators and healers in this world -- do need to lend a helping hand when needed in order to counterbalance the cruelties these little ones must endure. We certainly don't let "nature take its course" when a human baby has been abandoned or thrown into a dumpster!
A word of caution to any who are considering applying for a license or permit. Some of those manipulative, controlling, politically-motivated wildlife groups (whose primary concern is NOT the welfare of the animals) have conned and infiltrated at least 4 state Wildlife Departments that I am aware of, causing them to mandate that a certain commercial formula be fed to baby squirrels. (My, my! What a stir I've caused!) Interestingly enough, and a very "telling thing", is that other mammals and birds are so far "immune" to this ridiculous mandatory "policy". The government has no ethical or moral right to tell us what we can or cannot feed animals in our own homes. I see this as just another step up the ladder to controlling our personal freedom -- our right to privacy being taken away by governmental bureaucracy.
(More "baby stuff" is in the section on Common Sense Squirrel Tips)
Return toThe Beginning...
Do not feed a baby when you have first taken him in until you have warmed him on a heating pad set on low for at least 30-45 minutes. Babies should be kept constantly on a heating pad, day and night, round the clock. See Upon Receiving a Baby Squirrel...
I feel very strongly about NOT using egg yolk (unborn chicken) in baby squirrels' formulas, not only because of disastrous results from first-hand experience, but because I found repeated many times in a very helpful book long ago: "NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS, NEVER GIVE EGG YOLK TO BABY SQUIRRELS: THEY CANNOT TOLERATE IT
AND THEY WILL DIE!" I suspect even small amounts of egg given daily in commercial formulas will accumulate and eventually cause death. We do not lose babies on this plain Scalded Milk formula.
Commercial formulas are responsible for an unfortunate 50% mortality rate, according to a nationwide survey done 3 years ago by the National Wildlife Rehabitators group of their squirrel rehabbers all across the United States, all of whom conform to their recommended and so-called "conventional" commercial-formula regimen. (Some rehab manuals will admit to a 70% mortality rate in squirrels.) Excuses for their exceptionally high death rates range anywhere from "just another one of those 'squirrel viruses' going around" (no such thing!) to "a bad batch of squirrels" -- all pure nonsense!
Commercial formulas are also responsible for the sometimes admitted 80% mortality rate in bunnies. They cause consistent diarrhea in raccoons (all those sugars); cause puppies to have droopy, listless, and lackluster attitudes; and are why possums get rickets. All are lacking in sufficient magnesium for calcium absorption by the body, as well as being unbalanced in other ways. If truth be known they are probably composed of a good 70%-80% sugar once those various sugars are toted up.
Those politically-motivated, wildlife-group-sponsored web pages and people who advocate commercial formulas while denigrating Scalded Milk, any kind of cow's milk formula, and me with their little smear campaign (ho-hum), do NOT want the public to succeed in raising these babies. (Lots of lying, propaganda, and cover-ups going on out there!) If these people only knew how to read, they'd see skim milk listed as the second ingredient on the labels of those synthetic formulas they recommend, which causes me to wonder where they think "skim milk" comes from? Dandelions or rocks? O, tsk!
The last baby I took in who had been fed that stuff was hyper, wired, unfocused, and had a rapid heartbeat 3 times the normal rate (tachycardia). He also had stinky stool. (Squirrels' doodles are not supposed to smell.) He was one of those who would have died within another week of either seizuring or a heart attack, as delineated in the section near the beginning of this web page -- the unfortunate things that can happen to baby squirrels who haven't been fed Scalded Milk when they are young and given Nutballs when they are older. He would have been one of those who seizure or drop dead in the 8-9 week range (that so-called "tricky period" commercial-formula users talk about, IF they're being truthful, and which we never experience).
It took 3 feedings of Scalded Milk to calm him down so that his heartbeat and attitude were more like a normal baby squirrel. This is by no means the first or only instance of a baby I've taken in who has had these symptoms.
Another baby gray I once took in had been fed one of those awful kitten formulas recommended by the vet. She soon came down with raging diarrhea (of course) and the vet, without a clue what side effects that commercial formula had caused, prescribed 3 different types of antibiotics which that baby did NOT need! One was for the diarrhea and I can't remember what the other two were for, but all were totally unnecessary. The sad thing was that when that woman took that baby to school with her (she was a teacher) she probably had all that messy, staining diarrhea all over her fine clothes!
Anyway, when she brought that baby to me ten days later, her tummy was huge (!), bloated, and she was starving, gnashing at the air because she was so hungry (malnourished), in spite of that too-fat belly. (We do like little Tub Tummies, but not as fat or as distended as hers was!) I took her off those antibiotics, put her on Scalded Milk and within 3 feedings, she
was back to acting like a normal baby again -- not "starving to death" any more, no excessively bulging tummy, and no diarrhea!
Further testimonies to the disastrous effects of ALL those commercial formulas can be found on my Guest Book. As I often tell people, unlike those politically-motivated wildlife group people, the public never lies. They have no need to. That link is:
http://www.hal-pc.org/~jbsum/guestbook.html
Squirrels are not dogs, nor are they cats. They should NEVER be fed dog food or cat food (in the form of puppy or kitten formula) when they are young, nor should they be fed dry or canned dog or cat food or Rodent blocks or Monkey biscuit when older. (Squirrels are not monkeys either!). (See the negative part of the Stupid List for more on this.)
Scalded Milk WITHOUT egg yolk is recommended for ALL vegetarian animals, babies or adults (when needed),including deer, rabbits (See section about Rabbit Basics), mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, as well as all types of tree squirrels or ground squirrels including flying squirrels (see section about Flying Squirrels), prairie dogs, chipmunks, groundhogs, marmots, beaver, and nutria.
If you have been feeding one of those awful commercial formulas, you can switch over immediately to Scalded Milk -- no gradual weaning necessary. Since intestinal flora have been messed up and are unbalanced, a good bit of Dannon Plain Yogurt needs to be added to their milk feedings twice a day in alternate feedings because yogurt is rather filling. Put in the part you warm up to feed (not in the main portion you refrigerate since it'll only be lost in there), enough to coat the spoon or your finger when you stir it up or even a bit more. You should see a definite difference, not just in their doodles (no more bad odor), but in their attitude after 3 feedings of Scalded Milk. They are much calmer, more serene and much more at peace with themselves, but still healthily active.
Carnivorous animals, such as possums (see section about Possum Basics), raccoons, kittens, and puppies do well on Scalded Milk with one or more raw egg yolks added per cup of milk. The "rule of thumb" is to omit the egg yolk with vegetarian animals but to add it for carnivores. Whether or not to add Karo (white corn syrup) depends on the doodles of the animal. Most often, it should be completely omitted to prevent diarrhea from occurring. Dark Karo is never recommended since it has twice the laxative power of the white or clear kind.
Diarrhea in baby squirrels is no big deal. It is messy and needs to be corrected -- adding plain yogurt to their milk helps, although with plain Scalded Milk no such problem should occur. Diarrhea (caused by all those sugars) is messy and can burn their little bottoms which an application or two of Desitin ointment can soothe. Use a Q-tip to apply it with if you have a really tiny baby.
Chronic, hard-to-cure, very thin, watery diarrhea can be caused by some kind of bacterial intestinal organism like coccidiosis, giardia, or salmonella and in these rare cases, a drug is recommended. Babies can pick these up through their mothers' milk if she has drunk contaminated water, as in bird baths.
Commercial formulas are basically a negative rearrangement and chemical adulteration of cow's milk: The perfectly good animal fat has been removed and replaced with super-saturated coconut oil and/or other vegetable oils for monetary profit (selling skim milk at around the same price as whole milk and selling cream separately for top dollar). All
mammal milk contains animal fat. Whole milk alone contains plenty of vitamins and minerals, naturally occurring, and there is no need to add any supplements in an unbalanced and extraneous way as is done in commercial formulas. Preservatives, artificial chemicals and unnecessry by-products are also often added to commercial formulas.
Neither cream nor any trumped-up commercial substitute for cream (non-dairy) should EVER be added to the Scalded Milk Formula, which already contains sufficient fat. Cream or any so-called "cream substitute" is too difficult for baby squirrels to digest, stops up the system, causes bloat, and quickly leads to death. Regardless of arguments against "too little fat in cow's milk" (all nonsense!), commercial "cream substitutes" have a known history of killing baby squirrels quickly. Textbook knowledge, "conventional lore", and "scientific studies" often run contrary to (or are contradictory to) hands-on experience.
There are basically two methods for scalding milk -- in the microwave or on top of the stove. Microwaving is by far the quickest and easiest method.
"To scald" means to heat until just before the milk comes to a boiling point. The reason for scalding milk is to kill the enzymes that can be very upsetting to a squirrel's stomach. For this same reason cheese should never be given because of the enzymes it contains.)
The stove-top method is to heat in a pan or double boiler on medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until milk becomes frothy. Let cool, stir skin back down into milk, put in a fastidiously clean jar, and add 200 I.U. Vitamin E to formula. Since Vitamin E tends to float on top, shake container well several times to mix. Store in refrigerator and take out a small amount each time to rewarm at each feeding time.
If you don't have the Vitamin E right now, don't worry about it, but when you do get it, get the liquid kind (not the capsules) since that's what you'll use later on in the Nutballs. -- Do be aware that there are types of liquid Vitamin E that are not intended for human consumption, that are only meant for cosmetic purposes, external use only, so make sure the label says something like "pure enough to eat". Don't be thrown by the amount on the bottle label -- that can be anywhere from 14,000 I.U.s to 28,000 I.U.s or more -- all that is is the amount in the whole bottle and you will only be using a few drops in the milk.
One of the gentlest ways of reheating already-scalded milk is to boil a small amount of water in a Pyrex custard cup in a microwave oven or in a pan on top of the stove and set the small amount of milk formula (in a baby food jar) in the hot water for a few seconds or so until it is at room temperature. Throw away any of this unused formula (or give it to the dog!).
For only one or two baby squirrels, cut the recipe in half or thirds. This should keep for 2 to 3 days in refrigerator. Make up a fresh batch after that period of time.
This Scalded Milk Formula can also be used for baby opossums except that for them a raw egg yolk can (or doesn't have to) be added to 1 cup of the milk after it has been scalded and cooled. (See section on Possum Basics elsewhere on this web page.) ** If you are feeding both infant squirrels and infant opossums label your
refrigerated formulas in the containers so you won't feed your baby the wrong food.
Baby squirrels, when they first come in and are dehydrated or have been without mama for some time will not necessarily wet or doodle until they have had several feedings, so please don't mistake this lack of doodling as a sign of constipation. It takes a good 3 feedings for what we put in to come out. Elsewhere on this web page, I have also mentioned that if they are severely dehydrated, it may take a good 2 days for wet to come out and if totally empty, up to 5 days for doodles to come. Dark Karo should never be used since it has twice the laxative power of the light (clear).
If you have been feeding one of those awful commercial formulas, you can switch over immediately to Scalded Milk -- no gradual weaning necessary. Since intestinal flora have been messed up and are unbalanced, a good bit of Dannon plain yogurt needs to be added to their milk feedings twice a day in alternate feedings because yogurt is rather filling. Put enough in the part you warm up to feed (not in the main portion you refrigerate since it'll only be lost in there) to just coat the spoon or your finger when you stir it up. You should see a definite difference, not just in their doodles, but in their attitude after 3 feedings of Scalded Milk. They are much calmer, more serene, and much more at peace with themselves, but still healthily active.
Another old formula good only for short-term emergency feeding is canned Pet or Carnation Evaporated milk mixed half-and-half with water. (Scalding is not necessary since it as already been done in the canning process.) Vitamin E amount stays the same. On a long-term basis this type of canned milk is not satisfactory for babies because of synthetic or chemical additives, especially carageenan, which can cause colon problems.
Goat’s milk is NOT recommended. After 2 days on it, baby squirrels start smelling bad (like a goat?). Squirrels are NOT supposed to have an odor. More days on it and they will get chronic diarrhea.
Fat babies are not necessarily "bloated". They’re just fat and chunky. A baby should look rather thinnish before a feeding and then full in the stomach (or fatter) after having been fed. Once they quit growing "up", after a growth spurt, they begin to grow "out" and will have naturally tubby tummies even before feedings.
*** Pet Nursers are deadly to infant squirrels. Do NOT use them. Do NOT use any syringe larger than a 3 c.c. one, no matter how many times you have to refill it. Large syringes and Pet Nursers cause bubbling through the nose, aspiration into the lungs, pneumonia, and death. A 3 c.c. O-ring syringe and Catac nipple on the end are recommended for feeding purposes. I used a small syringe alone with the first two babies I raised since I didn't know about the Catac nipples, and they did just fine.
Use a 1 c.c. (same as a 1 ml size) syringe for tiny babies or pinkies until they are taking well over 5 c.c.'s of formula at one feeding. At this time you may change to a 3 c. c. syringe but go VERY slowly, to prevent bubbling through the nose: The flow force sharply increases
between a 1 c.c. (same as a 1 ml size) and a 3 c.c. syringe because the syringe tube size has increased. With really minuscule babies such as baby rats or hamsters, a 3/10ths of a c.c. syringe or a 1/2 c.c. one is best to use. (Many people aren't even aware that these teeny tiny sizes of syringes exist, but they do!) No eye droppers, please!
Feeding too fast with a Pet Nurser (baby animal bottle) or with too large a syringe can cause "foreign body pneumonia"(fluid going into the lungs) for which there is no cure. They will refuse to eat or swallow and are restless and uncomfortable for 2 days until they finally die. Drowning has the same causes, but doesn't have to be instant and can take them in 18 hours. With drowning, they will continue to swallow although appetite is very poor, will have a rapid heartbeat, just as with pneumonia, but they will also have a terrible snorkeling or wheezing rale when they breathe. Prevention is the best cure by feeding slowly and correctly from the beginning.
Lubricate rubber part of the plunger of O-ring syringe (or those disposable ones) with 100% Food Pure Silicone Grease (from Scuba Diving shop) or with Pure Glycerin (from the drug store) to keep syringes free-flowing and prevent accidents. (With either one of these "lubricants", all it takes is the barest smear -- not a "dunking" by any means!) Punch holes in Catac nipple with sharp point of utility blade and test nipple on end of full syringe. Tiny streams or a single drop of liquid should come out. (Do NOT use scissors to cut the tippy end with as some of those awful instructions in the packages say -- pinkies will drown with such a big hole.) Feed very slowly -- a drop at a time -- until you learn the technical skill and have a feel for your baby's pace. Too fast can cause drowning or pneumonia or bubbling through the nose, all of which we do want to avoid. I raised my first two squirrels using just a small syringe alone since I didn't know about the Catac nipples, and they did just fine without.
If you do have a Catac or very long thin nipple jammed on the end of a syringe, only put about 1/4th inch or so of the tip in your baby's mouth since that's about how long mama's "ninny" is. Later when babies have grown and snouts are longer, you can let them take more into their mouths. They may like to "impale" themselves on it at this time, but we can still block it off with two fingers and hold it securely onto the syringe as I've shown on the Photo Gallery web page. ****WARNING! -- If you do decide to order Catac nipples off the Internet, be sure holes have NOT already been punched into them first. Saboteurs out there do NOT want you all to succeed! Nipples with holes too large will cause aspiration and death from pneumonia and drowning as will syringes that are too big. Luer-Lock syringes are NOT recommended. -- Be wary of syringes that come with nipples already attached -- someone has maliciously been fiddling or tampering with them since this is NOT how they come from the manufacturers.
Flush nipple and syringe after feeding with cool water only. Let air dry with plunger still in the syringe tube. No sterilizing is needed and is NOT recommended!
Mouth-gagging when feeding is caused by humans. This is a trance-like state where the baby is not being allowed to suck because milk flow is coming too fast. You can be sure they never pulled this "trick" with their mothers or they'd never have gotten a drop to eat! Mother squirrels do not squirt their milk as do dolphins and whales, but expect their babies to suck. Humans must do the same when syringe-feeding and allow the babies to suck, in order to not create this bad habit, difficult to break once the baby has learned it. Sometimes it helps to change the feeding position and/or to hold the baby's mouth closed to encourage him to suck by keeping your thumb tucked under his lower lip or encircling his little snout with your thumb and forefinger which keeps his tongue girded around the nipple and encourages sucking. Don't push on the plunger of the syringe, or only do so gently, until you feel him sucking.
Some grays like to smack on the nipple during feeding and aren't sucking at that time, so don't push on the plunger of the syringe when they are only playing with it like this. And, even then, only inch the plunger down a tiny bit at a time. They also like to break away as if going in search of another ninny. This does not necessaarily mean they are full, so line them up again, get them back into a normal feeding position, and offer more milk. Baby squirrels will quit eating when they are full so there is never any danger of over-feeding them. Let them have all they want at every feeding. They will stop or push away when they are full.
Loose stools or diarrhea can be corrected by completely omitting Karo if any has been added, or by adding plain yogurt, baby acidophilus, or a very small amount of pureed baby banana (found in jars in the baby food section at the grocery store). Too much sugar causes diarrhea. Yogurt is made from Scalded Milk and is perfectly safe for squirrels. It will take 3 milk feedings before what you "put in" to come out, so don't expect instant results. Once the diarrhea has been stopped, don't panic and feel that he's constipated for the next day or so. He's not. You've just stopped the diarrhea!
Diarrhea in baby squirrels is no big deal, but it is messy and needs to be corrected (adding plain yogurt to their milk helps) simply because it is messy and can burn their little bottoms.
As has been mentioned elsewhere in this web page, chronic, hard-to-cure, very thin watery diarrhea can be caused by some kind of bacterial intestinal organism like coccidiosis, giardia, or salmonella and in these extemely rare cases, a drug is recommended. Babies can pick these up through their mothers' milk if she has drunk contaminated water, as in bird baths.
Do NOT use the new yogurts containing aspartame: It is deadly to squirrels and other rodents. (It's toxic to people, too!) Aspartame is also found in Pedialyte and caused convulsions and death within an hour to squirrels of a rehabilitator who verified its toxicity with Texas A&M. Dannon Vanilla yogurt (or Dannon Plain yogurt) is the only brand recommended at this time because it is free of artificial preservatives, and chemical additives.
*** Doodles (the stool) of milk formula should be dark yellow or orange. Any color change toward very pale yellow is a warning sign: Food may not be digesting properly. The next phase could be white doodles and death is imminent, because the baby has become more and more listless and lethargic due to depleted intestinal flora. At the first sign of doodles that are too-white, add a small amount of baby acidophilus or a good hefty dollop of plain yogurt. You may also add, if you wish, a small amount of pureed baby banana (in the jars from the baby food section in the grocery store) for flavor. Don't overdo the baby banana because too much fructose can also cause diarrhea -- just enough for taste is sufficient.
Any baby who has been fed one of those alien commercial formulas, needs a good dollop of Dannon plain yogurt in his milk twice a day because intestinal flora are out of balance. It takes 3 feedings for what we put in to come out.
A balanced feeding schedule is critically important! Feedings that are too close together are deadly: Milk fed on top of old milk sours in the stomach, the digestive system
shuts down and bloat and death occur from overload and toxicity. Skipping feedings is detrimental to babies and also can cause death. You cannot skip a feeding and try to catch up later. Baby squirrels are very difficult to raise and very easy to kill. If you cannot feed on a balanced, regulated schedule, find someone who can, preferably (above all!) someone who follows the Scalded Milk and Nutball regimen). Many a baby has died needlessly because of the thought, "big enough to be eating on his own," when he is not. I have taken in many an adult injured squirrel who was "big enough to be eating on his own" - and wasn't -- so had to be syringe-fed until he felt better. When in doubt, formula feed!
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No middle-of-the-night feedings are necessary if baby is well and stabilized. Rehydrating works just fine with Scalded Milk Formula which not only provides fluid but also nutrition. I have NEVER found it necessary to do the "Pedialyte thing" with baby squirrels and, in fact, I strongly advise against it since it is totally non-nutritious.
Amounts to feed: This is a general guide, not necessarily intended to be rigidly adhered to since sizes of squirrels and appetites vary, but is intended to help you avoid the "2-3 drops per feeding" syndrome that people have inadvertently done and literally starved a baby to death. Squirrels stop eating when they are full. They eat increasingly more as
they grow and get larger, obviously.
A general rule here is that babies will take as many c.c.'s as they are weeks old: For example, 3 c.c.'s at 3 weeks, 4 c.c.'s at 4 weeks, etc. until at 6 weeks when their appetites
surge. Recommended feeding times are around 7 a.m., 12 noon, 5 p.m., and 10 p.m.. Exceptions to this "rule" are the smaller breeds of squirrels, such as the little Douglas reds, flying squirrels (see section on Flying Squirrels elsewhere in this web page), chipmunks, and some of the ground squirrels who are naturally going to take less since their bodies and tummies are smaller. Let them, too, have all they want at every feeding. They will also stop eating or push away when they are full.
they wean themselves
All baby squirrels want to do is eat and sleep and grow. Allow them to do so by limiting your handling of them to feeding times. They do need to feel loved and cherished and valued so they will thrive and grow, all of which you can do when they've been taken out to be fed. They become more active as they grow older and once eyes have opened. Keep them on heating pad (outside of cage) on low heat with buffering towels (do not over-heat) until quite well furred-out. If you are not sure when, at that time, to take them off the heating pad, put the cage half on and half off the pad. They will seek the most comfortable zone to sleep in.
Babies need to be stimulated to go to the bathroom. If desired, you may use a warm damp cotton ball for very tiny babies or tickle bottoms with Kleenex (they wet the Kleenex).
Failure to stimulate can cause uremic poisoning and death. Stimulate after every feeding to get out both urine and doodles until they are able to go on their own.
Baby should be held in the palm of your hand in a semi-upright position, sort of leaning back, but never, ever lying on his back. See my Photo Gallery web page for how to hold smaller and older (eyes-open) babies when feeding. That link is: http://www.hal-pc.org/~jbsum/Squrl_Images/photogal.html -- or return to the beginning of the web page and poke the PHOTOS box.
I've found that sometimes when their feedings are interrupted, they lose their momentum, so it's best to just keep on keeping on while you've got the baby in hand, even if the baby does get "impatient" that you are "taking too long" to refill that syringe. To mine when they try to tell me, "'Other mother' never needed to stop and refill," I'd just say back to them, "Yeah, well, you'd never have taken 18-24 c.c.s or more from 'other mother' in just one feeding, otherwise she'd have been a prune!"
We don't start them on solid foods until way after their eyes have opened. Some will be more ready at an earlier age than others. Some can start when they are 8 weeks old, others when they are quite a bit older, since squirrels are different and can develop at different rates.
If I hear sounds of chewing on the cage, I know they're ready to start with a pecan half or two in the cage after the morning milk and the 5 o'clock one. It's best to hold off on fruits and vegetables for a while since they can very easily strangle or choke to death on slimy fruits or food that has been accidentally left in there overnight uneaten.
Another method I use is to wait until they are taking a good 15-18 c.c.s of milk per feeding since they are old enough at that time to eat a little more efficiently. They do have to learn how to eat, and will do a lot of crumbling in the beginning, moreso than if you wait until they're up to the 15-18 c.c.s per-feeding stage.
Chewing on the nipple or syringe is another sign they are ready to begin solid foods.
There is a time when their diet will consist of mainly Scalded Milk and pecans twice a day, which is just fine. The variety in foods that they will accept does not come until much later, so do not expect them to eat the gamut in the very beginning. Taste buds are not developed until much later. Strong flavors or difficult-to-eat foods such as corn and broccoli will not be well-received until a later age. Squirrels also have different likes and dislikes in food, just as humans do, so it is not the end of the world if they do not like cantaloupe or grapes, etc.
Avoid slimy fruits in the beginning, such as peach, plum, cantaloupe, grapes, etc., and stick to the crisper ones such as peeled apple, pear, or Zucchini squash until chewing abilities are better developed. As I have mentioned elsewhere in this web page, nobody ever choked or strangled to death on pecans as they can do with the slimy fruits.
Gray babies will occasionally try to quit taking their milk cold turkey -- that "opinionated wretch" stage! Get them out in the morning and they'll keep mouth politely closed. Or only take a few c.c.s when before they'd been making pigs of themselves. This is when I start cutting their milk back to 3 feedings a day, and sometimes very quickly to 2, just depending on how "stubborn" or opinionated they think they're going to be!
Water is not necessary for them to drink while they are still on Scalded Milk 2-3 times a day. They do get plenty of fluid in their milk, as is evident from the profuse amount of wet produced! Some squirrels will drink a lot of water later on, a sip or two here and there, just as a "thing to do" while others will only drink a small amount each day. Others will bounce it out of the water bottle once they start getting more active or doing flips in their cages. They often take in sufficient fluids from the fruits and vegetables we give them so they may not need or want much water.
It is also around this time that they are getting difficult to handle, going through the "imaginary danger" stage, tending to bolt or trying to explore and be adventuresome. They may try to yank the nipple off the syringe. Time for handling them to be over. At this time, I will either syringe-feed them through the bars of the cage or will put them on milk from a small water bottle hung from the side of their cage for no longer than 15 minutes at a time twice a day -- for the morning and 5 p.m. feeding. Solid food follows after these milk feedings. It helps to put a titch of Dannon Vanilla yogurt in the milk at this time to entice them to drink their milk from the small water bottle. Putting them on a milk bottle too early can cause problems, so it's best to wait until they know how to handle the flow and can lap proficiently. Practice with a water bottle hung on the cage several days before helps them with their lapping ability.
It's after the 2 milk feedings (morning and the 5 o'clock one) that they get their solid foods, since the milk is still the most important thing, especially when they're going through these early growth spurts. We cannot estimate an age when they will begin to wean themselves or start solid foods, since all squirrels are different. If you are attuned to their behaviour and let them tell you when they are ready for the next step, they will be more than glad to do so.
Squabbles over food are normal. They will often steal food from each others' mouths, which is what they do with their mothers out in nature, I suspect. The mentality of a squirrel is often, "I'll bury mine and we'll share yours!" which does not go over well with the sharer!
Squirrels do not mate in captivity. Oftentimes the hugging in play may be mistaken for mating behaviour when it's actually an invitation to come play and wrestle when another is trying to climb the side of the cage. Much whining, sniveling, squealing and squawking can happen during this scenario but it only means: "I want to go there and he won't let me! *snivel* *snivel*!"
When babies are old enough that they are eating solid foods efficiently and have cut themselves back to 2 milk feedings a day, it's time to start them on Nutballs. Nutballs provide vitamins and minerals and, especially, dolomite which keeps temperaments on an even keel, prevents seizures, convulsions, and death (from "phosphorus overload"), prevents rickets and going down in back legs, and promotes heathy bone and muscle growth. They are the critical key to keeping squirrels uncrippled and alive and healthy on a long-term basis.
(More on baby stuff, doodles, and stimulating is under the Scalded Milk Recipe.)
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Eyes open: 5-7 weeks (usually at 6 weeks of age for fox
squirrels, flying squirrels, and the little Douglas reds) and 7 weeks for the greys (cat) squirrels. Some (a very minute few) will open eyes prematurely because of the trauma of the fall or because they are precocious. Just because they have bottom teeth (before eyes open or even after) does NOT mean they're ready yet to eat solid food. When the top teeth come in, I suspect the molars are erupting as well -- they can't chew their food without those molars.
At around 12 to 14 weeks of age, baby squirrels will go through an "imaginary danger" period just before they start to wean themselves from the syringe. Increased awareness of their surroundings causes them to startle or to bolt at the least little noise or even at "ghosts". Since they are using their toenails more and more at this time, hands and arms of caretakers can become quite scratched up as babies get more and more difficult to handle.
It is at this time that I quit handling, leave them in their cages, and let them begin to feed themselves from milk from a small water bottle (usually twice a day at this point), leaving it up only 15 minutes at a time morning and at the 5 o'clock feeding.
Healthy baby squirrels can also be quite wiggly, so much so that we wonder how any of them ever stay in their nests! I'm thinking that people are mistaking this for "twitching" which they can sometimes do when they're dreaming, just as our cats and dogs do.
When they begin to mature, young squirrels will reach a point where they do not want to be handled (clutched), since they are prey animals and anything that is touching them is either going to take their food or eat them. They may become quite defensive about their food and their cage (their territory), and we need to respect their wishes. Their increased awareness of danger and alertness settles down to not quite such an exaggerated state as they mature.
As they mature, squirrels will become one-person animals, preferring their main caretaker to other humans. When they begin to go into this phase, they will often aggressively lunge at (while still in the cage) or bite one who is "NOT the mama"! Best that the "not-the-mama" person keep his or her distance (don't push it!) and not take personally any of this perfectly normal behaviour!
A tremendous growth spurt occurs between 6-9 weeks of age (foxes) and 7-10 weeks (grays), during which time their size will triple. Rehabilitators are more aware of this growth spurt because of the varying ages of babies received during baby season twice a year. Another growth spurt is between 4 months of age (when they are one-third grown) and 6 months of age (when half grown).
A normal healthy, well-filled-out fox squirrel should weigh l5-l6 ounces (about 1 lb.) when 6 months old, and l and l/2 to 2 pounds when full grown at l year of age. Grays will weigh 2/3 lb. to l lb. or more when fully matured. There is no such thing as "runtism" in baby squirrels. Best not to get too caught up in exactly how much bitty babies weigh. They are all different and go through growth spurts at different times. Also, we can tell by looking and feeling if they are growing, thriving and gaining weight. Observation is one of our very best diagnostic tools!
A major factor in preparing a squirrel for release is to no longer handle him after he has been weaned. Letting a squirrel climb or run up and down on people after he has been weaned from the syringe to milk from a small water bottle only teaches him that people are nice and are to be climbed or jumped on when released. Most people do not understand what a tame or friendly squirrel is and think they are being attacked. Unfortunate events can happen in homes as well where squirrels are allowed the run of the house. They can unexpectedly bite someone who is not the primary caretaker, be flung across the room and die of head trauma or internal injuries. For this reason, confinement to a cage is for the protection of the squirrel from other animals as well as from people.
It is wise not to give a baby squirrel too much space too soon. Cages that are too large for them can result in injury and death because of a fall even from a height of only 2 feet. (One person put her 8-week-old baby in a 2' x 2' cage and went in one morning to find him dead of a broken neck. Another put her 10-week-old baby in a 6-foot-tall cage, found him with a broken back from a fall, legs dangling and useless, and he was dead within 24 hours. When they seem to outgrow their baby-sized or hamster cages, mid-sized ones (half the size of a 2' x 2' -- the size of small carrying cages) are recommended until babies are a good 3 and 1/2 or 4 months old, when they are more sure-footed and coordinated and can handle a 2' x 2' cage. Larger cages can be used later if desired, usually just before release is planned. (More information on caging can be found under the Common Sense section.)
Excess exercise is not necessary -- to the point of letting them get out of their cages and run around the house, climb on curtains and people. They get plenty of exercise in their cages. The flips that so many grays and a few fox squirrels will do are all part of their in-cage "exercise regimen". Before release, a larger pre-release cage provides ample space for exercise in leaping, climbing, and movement when they most need it.
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Babies are started on Nutballs when they have cut themselves back to 2 milk meals a day (morning and 5 p.m.), have been eating some solid foods well (not necessarily the whole gamut) for a good while, and are taking their milk from a small water bottle.
These Nut Balls/Squares are CRITICALLY IMPORTANT in the diet of all types of squirrels who are no longer on their baby formula of Scalded Milk and are eating solid foods. They supply the vitamins and minerals necessary to prevent squirrels from dropping dead of sudden "heart attacks" which can occur after only a few days of a severe calcium/magnesium deficiency. Adult squirrels need them, too, to ensure healthy longevity!
Nut Balls/Squares prevent rickets, convulsions, seizures, malnutrition, tooth problems, brittle bones and broken bones that do not heal properly. Any excessive crabbiness, hyperactivity, biting, nastiness, attacking can be caused by too much phosphorus and insufficient
calcium/magnesium in the diet: These symptoms should be a warning flag because the next step is sudden death. All can be prevented by giving one simple little Nut Ball/Square daily in conjunction with the proper natural foods - their nuts, fruits, and vegetables.
There is no existing commercial vitamin/mineral preparation for squirrels or other rodents that can be substituted for or used in place of these Nut Balls/Squares. All of them block or prevent calcium absorption. Cuttle bones are for birds, NOT squirrels. They are not a substitute for Nut Balls since they contain NO magnesium or Vitamin D, and calcium, therefore, cannot be assimilated by the body. (For more about this see the section called, "But I don' wanna make those stupid Nutballs".) Raising squirrels is not easy or cheap: They are very difficult to raise and very easy to kill. If you cannot afford to make Nut Balls/Squares or do not have the time, give your squirrels to someone who can. It will show you care about giving then a life free of totally unnecessary suffering or a needless death.
Love is no substitute for labor: The two go hand in hand. Many a loved animal has suffered and died because his caretaker would not put forth the effort to feed the proper diet.
*** A word on "meddling": This is a balanced recipe. Do NOT omit, add to, or substitute for anything in this recipe (unless the ingredient is earmarked as "optional") because counter-action, blocking, or destruction of key ingredients
can result, throwing the whole balance of vitamins and minerals out of kilter.
Omitting the dolomite in the Nutball recipe completely defeats its purpose.
Most of these ingredients can be found in health food, grocery, and discount retail stores such as Wal-Mart (some in tablet form which you'll need to crush up into powders, using the same amounts as the recipe calls for). If you have difficulty locating dolomite or any other of the ingredients, they may be ordered from almost any vitamin supply house on the Internet. Or you can do a Google search on KAL Dolomite Powder and compare prices at the different health food sites. Watch those outrageous shipping fees, though!
Plain old refrigeration is not recommended, because, no matter how "air tight" the jar or bag, moisture gets in and oils in the Nutballs will start to turn rancid after 10 days or so. There is no need to "thaw them out" before serving.
When baby Squirrels begin to cut back on their Scalded Milk Formula at 9-10 weeks of age or older to start on solid foods, they continue to need the calcium formerly supplied by milk. These Nut Balls are not only a complete source of vitamins, minerals (especially calcium), and amino adds, but also of fat, Vitamin D, magnesium, phosphorus, and Vitamin C vitally necessary for the assimilation of calcium.
Benefits of calcium are that it is a relaxer-- a calmative (fixes hissy emperaments) -- as well as a pain reliever. Since it is also a natural sleep inducer, I like to give my babies their Nut Balls/Squares before their evening meal to help them sleep better. Calcium prevents convulsions, seizures, and death from "phosphorus overload". (Too much phosphorus can cause nervousness.) Danger signs are when squirrels squabble unnecessarily
or are too "wild", skittish, or nervous acting.
Blockers: Spinach, turnip greens, broccoli,cauliflower,cabbage, green beans. whole grains such as oats or oatmeal, whole wheat flour or breads. wheat germ, bran, and corn
or cornmeal can prevent calcium absorption. Grapes and all berries, including strawberries, blueberries, blackberries have oxalic arid in them and also block calcium. Therefore, don't give any of these at the same meal with Nut Balls/Squares. If squirrels won't eat their Nutballs at the designated time, you are either giving too much food or allowing them to have stash. (See the section on "But I don' wanna make those Stupid Nutballs")
Avoid all artificial chemicals and preservatives and strive for their natural diet of nuts, fruits, vegetables, and occasional seeds in combination with one Nut Ball/Square daily.
You will have exceedingly healthy squirrels who will live to be released
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A question often asked is, "Where, out in nature, do squirrels get their calcium and magnesium?" The question is a good one, but one I hate to hear, since the motivation behind it always is: "I'm not going to waste my time and money making those stupid nutballs."
The answer is that we simply do not know where they get their calcium out in nature. When I've put this question forth to others, I've gotten different answers -- from "dirt" to "grass and leaves" and "bark", none of which I can tell people, not only because, to me, these aren't satisfactory answers, and then, too, people would be going out and gathering up a bunch of dirt, grass and leaves, and bark for "supper"! And they'd still end up with a dead squirrel.
What we do know is that ALL squirrels in captivity, no matter what their age, MUST have their daily calcium/magnesium/Vitamin D in order to stay healthy, uncrippled, and alive on both a short-term and a long-term basis. One Nutball daily supplies this need.
"Clever" methods people have used to avoid making the Nutballs have already been tried. All have failed. Some of these methods are: cuttlebones from the pet shop (don't work), deer antlers (don't work), or dog bones (don't work either). Nor does Neo-Calgluconate from the vet. All these so-called "substitutes" are the equivalent of bone meal and other commercial calcium supplements. Magnesium is the key ingredient always missing in those supplements and the one most critical for muscle control and preventing seizures or sudden, unexplained death. It is necessary for the assimilation of calcium by the body (along with Vit. D), as all Biology and Nutrition courses teach (not dietician courses). Without magnesium, calcium just cannot be absorbed.
Putting squirrels out in the sunshine for Vitamin D does NOT work either. One person who tried this ended up with a chronically ill squirrel while the other turned into a vicious attacker of people.
There is some calcium in nuts, but only in insufficient amounts and to rely on them as a source of calcium/magnesium is a mistake and will NOT prevent problems. Almonds are highly touted by the media as containing calcium, but what they don't tell you because they don't know any better, is that the oxalic acid they also contain blocks calcium absorption. The same is also true with many fruits and vegetables, such as broccoli and spinach and others I've mentioned on the web page. Calcium combines with oxalic acid within to form calcium oxalate, which in high amounts becomes a poison and is probably the main cause of kidney stones in people. In fruits (mostly the berries), it's the phytic acid that blocks calcium.
When I first started rehabbing squirrels 20 or so years ago, I was fortunate enough to find the Scalded Milk recipe. Once my two babies started trying to wean themselves, I realized (because of my nutrition background), that I could not leave them high and dry from that point on with no calcium or magnesium, so I developed the Nutball recipe. As time went on, and I took in more and more squirrels, I heard the problems other rehabbers were having, none of which were happening to mine. So I knew I was "on to" something good! I didn't start speaking out about it until I'd rehabbed a good 275 squirrels.
Interestingly enough, nobody had a clue about squirrel nutrition until I came on the scene years ago and now everybody and his dog is spouting the word, "nutrition" out there on those copy-cat and antagonistic web pages even though they STILL do not know a smick about it!
There are a few squirrels out there who have managed to survive without having been raised on Nutballs, but there's always the risk of losing 50% or many, many more of them to "unexplained death" or "phosphorus overload" (another term for a calcium deficiency). As with people, too much phosphorus makes squirrels extremely hyperactive, nervous, and prone to dropping dead suddenly.
To paraphrase the old adage: "I can lead a horse to water, but I cannot make him drink." Again, as I've stated in The Little Red Box at the beginning of the web page, the squirrels will teach what I cannot.
If you have a problem getting squirrels to eat the Nutballs, it's because you are feeding too much other food or allowing them to have stash which they can draw upon to "spoil their suppers" (like children) -- or someone is "sneak-feeding" them behind your back!
Follow the recommendations laid out on the Suggested Feeding Schedule: No food after 10 o'clock in the morning, no stash, no lunch, and when Nutballs come first thing (after their milk) at 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening, they will be greedy-eager and snatch for them. They cannot be allowed to graze on food all day long.
There is no such thing as a "free" animal. Proper diet, caging, and care are all part of the responsibility and upkeep of choosing to raise a squirrel for release. The rewards of our efforts are many.
To reiterate: Love and labour go hand in hand.
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A List of NO-NO's
All other commercial formulas supposedly intended for baby animals, no matter WHAT the brand name, cause the same unfortunate symptoms since compositions of all those formulas are basically the same. (More about the unfortunate side effects of these commercial formulas can be found under the Baby Squirrel Formula section.)
What Improper Nutrition Can Cause in Squirrels: (These symptoms are NEVER seen in squirrels who have been raised on Scalded Milk and have been given Nutballs as a part of their daily diet when they are older and have started eating solid foods.)
**** THESE NUTBALLS ARE CRITICAL TO THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF SQUIRRELS WHEN THEY ARE OLDER, HAVE STARTED CUTTING BACK ON THEIR SCALDED MILK, AND ARE EATING SOME SOLID FOODS WELL!
More NO-NO'S.
Poisonous Plants and Woods (This is not Intended to be a comprehensive list. Add to it as you hear of others)
Desirable or Non-toxic woods (For
squirrels to chew on)
Safe formulas for baby squirrels:
When baby squirrels begin learning how to eat solid foods, I start them out on pecan halves or quarters. (No one ever strangled or choked on a pecan.) They still need their 4 milk meals a day at this time. It usually takes them about a week of crumbling pecans and making a big mess before they learn how to eat sufficiently to sustain life. Add banana, peeled apple, peeled pear, zucchini, etc., to the diet as they become more able to handle solids and as their taste buds develop.
Hold off on soft or slimy foods, such as grapes, peaches, plums or lettuce until they are much older, to prevent the possibility of strangulation or food's becoming stuck on the roof of their mouths. Broccoli is one of those stronger-tasting foods that they may not care for until they are a little bit older and taste buds have developed more.
Nuts: (Protein needs come primarily from nuts and are the most important factor in the diet because of the amino acids supplied for growth and
development. Make sure all nuts are fresh. Rancid nuts are toxic.)
It goes without saying that any rancid or dried up, withered nut should never be given.
Fruits and Vegetables: (Supply essential vitamin and mineral requirements) Give 4 or 5 daily -- small amounts, no larger than the size of your thumb end including thumbnail, chunks about an inch high and an inch wide.
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Rather than allow free-choice feeding (all the food they can eat, whenever they want), it's best to control what is given in order to prevent finicky eaters. When squirrels get older, 2 meals a day is all they need for the duration.
Breakfast: First
thing in the morning I give each squirrel:
This is sufficient food for fat, healthy squirrels. They do well on a "controlled" diet such as this, rather than to have food eternally available to them. -- The most common cause of squirrels not eating their daily Nutball is too much food in the cage. All stash should be removed so they'll have nothing to draw on to spoil their suppers. Once a squirrel starts to bury food, he's no longer hungry, so don't put any more food in there.
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Squirrels are virtually disease-free and are very clean little animals (though they do make big messes when they are older, IF they are healthy). They do NOT carry diseases transmissible to humans. They can get abscesses in 10 days to 2 weeks from biting each other but do NOT infect people when bites are sustained from mishandling the older babies or adults.
Cats do NOT infect squirrels, either, no matter what anyone says, so no antibiotic is EVER necessary if a cat finds one, baby or adult, and brings it home. Sometimes the small scrapes or scratches found on babies are caused by his fall from the tree and what twigs he hit on the way down, not necessarily by the cat.
Squirrel pox or fibroma (rarely seen) is NOT contagious to people OR to other squirrels, is spread by mosquitos, and runs its course in 2 1/2 months if the diet is nutritionally sound. No antibiotic or topical ointment is necessary -- those don't work anyway. Pictures of a baby with it are at the very bottom of my Photo Gallery web page for any who are interested. That link is: photo gallery
Common sense tells us that any who come in injured should be handled as little as possible. Excess handling only exacerbates injuries and can kill them quickly. We can love and soothe them and ease their fears by stroking their heads and down their backs for a time or two after feeding and then leave them alone to rest and sleep which is where all healing occurs. This
justifies our putting them aside in a cage when they're first brought to us so they can rest or warm up for 30 or 45 minutes before we get around to feeding them. It also gives them time to adjust to their new surroundings, whether they are lucid or not. When we take them out to syringe-feed them, their little bodies should be well-supported by a small blanket to avoid further injury.
(Incidentally, we rear children and raise animals. We do NOT "rear" animals!)
Pet Nursers (animal baby bottles) are deadly: Do not use them.
Please do NOT use any of those spot-on flea deterrents intended for dogs and cats. Squirrels are too small and certainly don't need any of those alien chemicals systemically in their bodies anyway. They don't necessarily work, either. One baby who was brought to me sopped with that chemical still had squirrel fleas crawling all over him even though that stuff had been put on him long before he arrived.
I will never recommend that any commercial formula be fed even to the carnivorous animals for whom they are intended, much less to our vegetarian squirrels, because they are all inferior products. Composition of all commercial formulas is basically the same, no matter what the brand name, even for human babies. I have suspected for years that human commercial formulas are solely responsible for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in human babies, just as they are for sudden, unexpected deaths in squirrels.
Age Amounts to Feed
0 - 2 weeks ½
- 2 c.c.'s formula 4 times a day, every 5 hours during the day. Too-frequent feedings (such as every 2 hours, or even every 3 hours) is too taxing -- causes bloating, their little digestive systems to shut down, and an imminent death. Watch tummy to make sure it is empty before feeding again.
2 - 4 weeks 2 - 4 c.c.'s
formula 4 times a day. (Every 5 hours.)
4 - 6 weeks 4 - 6 c.c.'s
formula 4 times a day. (Every 5 hours.)
6 weeks on to when
They will take anywhere from 6 c.c.'s of Scalded Milk formula, gradually increasing, over the next few weeks, to as much as 18 c.c.s or more per feeding. (Some baby gray squirrels do perfectly fine on only 3 c.c.'s 4 times a day at 6-7 weeks of age. They refuse more at this time but will take increasingly more after their eyes have opened and as they get older.)
10 - 14 weeks Continue feeding formula 4 times a day until eating solid foods well enough to sustain life (usually takes them about a week to learn how to get food down rather than crumble it). Then you can begin to cut back to 3 milk meals a day, then 2, and finally, 1, and then none, but this cutting back should be determined by the baby's appetite, not your logic! I prefer to cut out the nighttime 10 o' clock milk feeding first and then the noon feeding, because these seem to be the ones babies diddle over most since they are still full from milk and solid-food breakfast and dinner. Take several days for each cut-back. Letting them wean themselves is the safest method to follow.
Age Characteristics
0 - 2 weeks True pinkie; umbilical cord or remaining navel spot (scab) will be present. Navel spot usually comes off in 10 days to 2 weeks.
2 - 3 weeks Dark pigmentation beginning to come in from top of head to down back -- darker coloring (fox squirrel), lighter gray color (cat squirrel).
3 - 4 weeks Slight furring begins in pigmented areas, especially on top of head.
4 - 5 weeks More fur coming in down back, but tail fur still sparse. Gray squirrels are wigglier and more restless than fox squirrels whose mouths are wider and bigger.
5 - 6 weeks Furrier, tail furred more. Eyes begin to open at six weeks (fox squirrels), sometimes one at a time. White or silver fur beginning on tail of gray squirrels.
6 - 7 weeks Cat (gray) squirrels open eyes and begin furring out more from this point on-smaller than fox squirrels. No fur on stomachs until 9 - 10 weeks.
(makes 100)
to NOT feed squirrels and why)
No pet shop "toys" are recommended at this time for these little wild ones.
Please don't give commercial cereals -- they are NOT part of a squirrel's natura1 diet and are only recommended by lazy people who prefer commercial already-packaged products and are not concerned with the health or welfare of their animals. All whole grain cereals block calcium, and often contain chemical additives and honey which has the potential for deadly botulism. The daily Nutball they get is sufficient in terms of any nutritional need.