Veterinarians, or Experienced Persons... Need Squirrel Advice

I was jogging this evening and came across a young gray squirrel in the road. It seemed quite weak and confused, and being the empathetic person I am, I had to at least move it off the road to make sure it wouldn't get hit by a car (I wondered if it had been grazed by one, but it didn't show signs of trauma, only potentially in shock). When I went close to it, it reached out for me and seem to want me to hold it. I picked it up and moved it to the side of the road but stood there in contemplation of what I should do. Should I leave it? This thread wouldn't exist if I did. I brought it home and fed it a bit of carrot, homemade whole wheat bread and gave it some water. It seemed fairly sedentary but would climb all over me if given the chance. It's covered in hair but its tail isn't bushy yet. It's eyes are open and it's close to the size of an adult red squirrel. It's teeth are coming out and it was quite capable of chewing a carrot. It started to fall asleep on me and now it's outside in a box with a towel inside to keep it warm. It seems as though it may still want to be nursed. Advice?

Call a vet. Some vets will help you free of charge in situations like this and offer free advice. Try offering it some peanut butter on a spoon. Make sure you have a camera on hand... as some of us might want a progress report.

Very kind of you... Some points of concern first... It could be weak and confused because it is sick and its mother left it o die so be VERY hygienic and do not let any little kids near it till it gets healthy... To nurse it back to health use whole milk in a med dropper of sorts if it cant drink on its own. Mash up some local vegitation from your area or by some pine nuts and mushrooms et cetera and see if it will take to it... if it gets worse ya might wanna bring it to a vet... but that costs money and you have already gone above and beyond hat most would do so kudos.

U skid the right thing first off don't listen to anyone who tells u different.non an I phone so bare with the poor typing. I used to raise rescued wildlife for the dnr. CAll your local office for official advice. They will probably tell u the same thing. U did good, keep doing what u are doing, if it has nOt left the box by nightfall consider putting it in a safe place away from predators. Don't bring it inside if it has fully developed coat, or is not injured .'keep up the good deed and let me know what comes of this

Don't offer it milk. Some animals cant digest cow milk well and you may give it a bad stomach. The bunch I feed really like sunflower seeds and corn. Do you leave near to where you found it? I tend to think it's likely ill but if it was shock he'll be wanting to find his territory when he recovers.

awe you made a friend research online to see what people do with rescue squirrels. depending on how young it is, you may need to bottle feed it. call a vet and ask what kind of feed to use. you may need some special milk. definately don't use fridge milk...

awe you made a friend research online to see what people do with rescue squirrels. depending on how young it is, you may need to bottle feed it. call a vet and ask what kind of feed to use. you may need some special milk. definately don't use fridge milk...

Originally posted by OUNjahhryn
awe you made a friend

research online to see what people do with rescue squirrels. depending on how young it is, you may need to bottle feed it. call a vet and ask what kind of feed to use. you may need some special milk. definately don't use fridge milk...

I agree about not using fridge milk. Use an eye dropper (your local drug store has them in stock) instead of a bottle when you do feed it, though. Works better... and maybe some Gerber Baby Rice cereal to mix with the formula.

I've been highly hygienic, as always. I live about half a km away (quarter mile) from where I found it. I would have gotten it formula (I've heard/read cow milk isn't good for them), but the vet clinic is closed already. It's still sleeping outside in the box and I lightly put an extra cloth on top since it's cooling off outside. I got my bro to take some pictures on his iPhone.

I can't resist any suffering little thing either. Thank you for your compassion...Many would have left it to suffer.
I saw some good advice already given, so I really have nothing to say except we WILL want pics and updates...lol Please keep us posted! Good luck!

Forgive me for being practical.... What about rabbies? I know some people tame the squirrels some what with the hand feeding..... I would call the 24hr. vet people and have a chat about the circunstances. Squirrels bite hard, and if it bites you you are going to have to have it tested for rabbies. They cut off cat heads when they bite people. Rabbies shots are given through your stomach and are painful and go on for a while. My husband had to do that as a younger person. Just use leather work gloves handling the critter. It sounds cute, but I have about twenty in my from yard waiting on 2012. Don't bring it in the house, that might be a disaster.

If you're up for it, I would recommend keeping the squirrel, when I was younger my brother actually found a baby squirrel in the road as well, he took it in and we decided to keep him - i was young at the time but i do remember we had to feed him some kind of formula at first. After his teeth came we'd always give him all kinds of nuts, vegetables, some fruit etc. surprisingly he loved french fries more than anything, as well as cookies, chips even. but..we didnt give them to him too often since id imagine excess of junk would not be good.

overall theyre very playful creatures. they love to climb all over you and playfight with your hands if you let them. they definitely require a lot of attention though. also, they'll try to bite/chew on things, so you cant let them be near wires or any of the sort unattended. you can give them certain things to chew on like cardboard.

from personal experience, i can say the squirrel took a liking to me since I played with him a lot, i guess he got used to my scent but in turn didnt like anybody else, since he wasnt exposed to others much. not sure if theyre all like that, I was too young to remember most of it.

I will say if you decide to keep the little guy, that you should definitely get a good sized cage for him to be in when you cant watch him. - they definitely need to be let out as much as possible though so they can roam around.

also, you can do a google search on squirrel care or pet squirrels to see if theres any info - you'd be surprised how many people actually do have pet squirrels, it's pretty rare but there are quite a few owners from what ive seen.

anyway, if you decide to keep the squirrel, good luck! it's definitely not something everyone gets to experience.

You can buy kitten replacement milk in the grocery store on the pet care section. I have even seen people buy the little droplets and bottles there as well.


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Originally posted by opal13
You can buy kitten replacement milk in the grocery store on the pet care section. I have even seen people buy the little droplets and bottles there as well.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

Good point. However, I currently live 25 minutes from town. If he wakes up soon, I might just go get some.

I would advise not taking it to the Vet or any animal agency as of yet. Most of the time, if they can't find a home for the animal, they just put it down... So for the time being, keep looking after it.

After he's grown and found his strength, i suggest taking him to the place where you first found him and let him go in a safe area nearby. If he/she decides to stay with you... i guess you got yourself a great pet and friend. Just don't keep it in a cage. Please don't.

reply to post by aRogue


If he doesn't go I'll probably do what Canicus suggested and keep the little guy.

that is sooooooooo cool..
you are a wonderful person..
last year I rehabed a seagull with a broken leg..
I have not ever started a thread here but now maybe I will..
critters are so special

As much as I love animals I tend to think of grey squirrels as nothing more than cute looking rats, especially here In Scotland where they're a threat to our native red squirrel. You keep it for long enough you'll have a pet on your hands as it isn't fair to release it back into the wild. Shop about and try to find either a vet or animal sanctuary that will either have a look at the animal and fix it up or put it down if the case need be. As someone mentioned earlier maybe the mother kicked it from the nest for health reasons.

Only dealing I've had with a squirrel is that we had one come into our family apartment many moons ago and have it run rampant in my brothers bedroom after he discovered it in the back of his guitar amp. My mother was no help, she jumped onto brothers bed screaming at the top of her lungs, which brought the dog into the room chasing the fecking thing about even more, so brother donned some heavy gloves to have the little bugger bite his thumb when he tried to put it in a pillowcase. Needless to say the squirrel was thrown out of the window but it did survive. Brother on the other hand had a nasty bite and had to get a jab and get the thumb stitched and bandaged.

reply to post by OrganicAnagram33


Aaawe, I'm so glad you helped the little guy! I try to rehab every injured animal I find so it always warms my heart to see others who care. Sounds like you've gotten some excellent advice! The only thing I would have added would be to give him pedialyte or make some from an online recipe and offer it to him if he seems dehydrated, but as long as he isn't, it sounds like you're already doing a fine job!

reply to post by pccat


That's awesome, I'm glad to hear you did that.