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Why Did My Baby Squirrel Suddenly Die?

8/16/2018

213 Comments

 
I get this question a lot from people who write and tell me that the baby squirrel they recently found was fine one day and the next day it quit eating and went downhill and died. Many of them relate that when they inquired to a local Rehabber they were “brow beaten” and told that they obviously were feeding the squirrel the wrong diet and were left with a guilt trip that they killed the baby by not feeding it right!

I'm here to tell you that this diet related death myth is total BS and pure hogwash!

I always tell new caregivers of baby squirrels to be forewarned. Do not get too attached to them for at least 2 weeks! This is the voice of experience from the realization that, unless you know first-hand that the babies did not suffer any injuries from when they fell from its mother's nest, there is always the possibility of a baby squirrel going down-hill suddenly and dying. They can be fine one day, and dead the next.

Unknowing and ignorant Rehabbers are quick to blame new squirrel caregivers with a guilt trip about feeding them the wrong formula. But, my 40+ years of Surgical and Emergency experience has carried over to my avocation as a Squirrel Rehabber.

I learned early-on that there are people out there that don't know what they are talking about with their "knee-jerk" assumptions. The reason I know is that I know how to conduct an autopsy to find a cause of death! I've seen enough of them, and participated in enough of them and scrubbed in on enough trauma cases and know enough physiology to know that people and animals don't go down-hill and die suddenly from drinking or being fed milk or formula.

When baby squirrels are fine one day and the next they go into shock and die, I know it is more than formula that killed them! So, I open them up to see what kind of problem caused the death. Most times it was delayed internal bleeding from blunt trauma to the abdomen. Internal organs have a tough membrane around them called "fascia," which will contain bleeding into the organ when it is injured. Baby squirrels are tough little troopers in that they can act completely normal with an injured liver, spleen, or kidney. The problem comes when either the fascia or the organ starts to fail.

If there is a significant amount of bleeding into an organ, and the fascia breaks down, it causes the organ to leak blood. The animal rapidly becomes so anemic that they die of hypovolemic shock. These babies suddenly stop eating because free blood in the abdomen is very nauseating. They also become difficult to keep warm because peripheral blood is being shunted to the internal organs to keep them going. So, the baby feels cold to the touch.

Organ failure is a little slower but the end result is the same! I've only had one baby that had me stumped. I would find it sleeping outside of the blanket nest every morning. Soon, I realized that it was breathing rapidly and seemed short of breath and needed to be out where there was more oxygen. After another week I found it dead.

Since shortness of breath and rapid respiration were its primary symptoms, I suspected a lung contusion. I checked it's internal organs and found them to be in perfect shape, so I extended my investigation to the chest cavity and found the lungs to be in perfect shape. I was about to chalk-it-up to "unknown" until I separated the lungs to look at the heart.

There it was! The fascia surrounding the heart was full of dark blood, a condition called "Pericardial Tamponade." A very small blood vein had been torn loose and very slowly leaked blood into the pericardial sac. It eventually built up enough pressure to start squeezing the heart so that it became difficult to pump blood. If blood isn't pumped efficiently through the lungs, shortness of breath and tachypnea, (rapid breathing,) become the symptoms.

I say all this not to brag, but to let you know that I know what I'm talking about, and to assure you that if your squirrel suddenly goes downhill and dies, it's not your fault or what you fed them.

I wrote a Blog article 5 years ago about feeding babies. I never bought the myth that milk was bad to feed a baby squirrel nor that a baby needs vitamins during its nursing phase. Because I learned back in College during "Early Childhood Care 101," that all suckling mammals synthesize everything they need for growth and development from the fat, protein, carbohydrates, calcium, and simple sugars contained within their mother's milk or formula.

When a baby is born, it is only developed enough to live and breathe outside the womb. But, it is far from fully developed and there are tissues and organs that still need to develop and mature. The liver during this time is also immature, but, being the master chemist of the body, has a unique ability during this time to synthesize everything that is needed to complete the maturation and development of the tissues and organs from these simple raw ingredients.

I can still hear my professor tell us that, " All vitamins do during this time of synthesis is make expensive urine!" I've searched and searched online for corroboration of what I learned back 40+ years ago, but current textbooks conveniently leave this out!

But, I did manage to dig up an ancient study of squirrel breast milk conducted by the Ohio State University that proved that cow's milk with added milk fat is the closest thing you can find to squirrel breast milk. Between this study and another separate study, they found that squirrel breast milk is up to 24% milk fat. This study is what I base my formula recipe upon.

Here is the link to my Blog article. The link to the Ohio State Study is in the article. Please draw your own conclusions!
http://www.squirrelnutrition.com/blog/should-i-feed-a-baby-squirrel-commercial-formula

The thing I want you to take away from this article is that if your baby squirrel suddenly died for no apparent reason there actually was a reason that was not your fault. And don't let anyone try to convince you that it is!!

I'm not in the pocket of any formula manufacturer so I have no financial ties or interest in promoting their products unlike State Rehab organizations that receive funds for promoting certain products.
213 Comments
Shirley little
8/16/2018 07:23:29 pm

What a great article, when my Baby fell out of a tree she had been hanging upside down crying for over 2 hours. I had been looking up in the tree for what I thought was a baby bird.
Luckily when she fell I was standing right under her and she landed at my feet. I estimated that she about 10 days , not a pink, but tiny, and her eyes were not open. I was blessed that with some common sense and google, I was able to figure out how to take care of her. My concoction for her milk was, canned pet milk, heavy cream, plain yogurt, and lots of love.
She is 2 years old now, and even experienced a 900 mile move. She is our Baby! And how blessed we are to have her!

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Madison
3/18/2019 12:55:40 am

Hi Shirley! I am actually preparing to move my two squirrel across the country. I am not yet a licensed rehabber, so flying on a plane does not seem like an option. Did you manage to get them into a plane, or drive? Any tips on long distance travel with squirrels would be so helpful!!

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Bryan
5/15/2021 03:26:26 pm

My little fella just went through such a terrible time for almost 2 hours 45 minutes or more if it would break any ones heart seeing it. Poor fella passed at 5:43pm . I had him for about a week I have successfully helped 2 squirrels in the past til they went off on their own one boy one girl. This poor little bit tho he all of a sudden started shaking like whole body then back legs were not working he seemed very restless couldn't sit still kept laying sideways and on his back and squeezing himself between things I tried comforting him but he did not want me to til just before the end when he laid along my arm and out his head in my hand and the whole time struggling still shaking and like he would try to be normal for ten seconds then go back to legs not working but he laid his head in my hand and shaking stopped so I knew he was gone God bless the little fella I gave him my all I can never not get attached takes me one second . Just wish I knew exactly why he gone. I'm sorry for everyone's Losses and bless you all for caring for beings that need it

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Shane link
12/9/2021 11:20:37 pm

My baby squirrel died yesterday.. I don't know why.. my baby 5 months.. my baby squirrel body shake instantly.. but again he run. Ten to fifteen minutes my baby squirrel die..

Courtney
7/11/2021 05:24:35 am

To the author: This was very reassuring and wonderful to read. It was just as wonderful to read to my sons the second time. Thank you for taking YOUR time to write this.
Peace love & squirrels

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CHRIS PALMER link
8/20/2021 12:31:22 pm

My baby squirrel die about 15 mins ago. I have no clue why he died. He was playing and running around and I feed him and put him in his box after he got done playing and I went baçk to get him about 30 mins later and he was curled up in a ball like he usually is and when I picked him up he was cold and dead. We had him for 4 weeks and he was eating and playing and doing silly things squirrels do and he just died! I'm so angry and pissed of because I lost my little buddy.

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William Sells link
8/21/2021 09:13:27 pm

Hi, Chris!

I'm so sorry to hear that your baby died. Usually, sudden death is due to an internal organ rupturing and they rapidly bleed out into their abdominal cavity. The great unknown in baby squirrels is what happened when they fell from their mother's nest.

If they hit there abdomen on a limb, or something on the ground, they can suffer a contusion of that organ. Their internal organs are wrapped in a tough membrane called fascia. ( pronounced,
"Fas-sha") Wild animals instinctively hide injury because weakness is noticed by predators. An injured internal organ can allow them to function normally until it starts to fail.

Sometimes, it happens slowly. They lose their appetite and don't eat or drink. Then, they start feeling cold to the touch when you pick them up and they sleep all the time and gradually pass away.

When they are fine one minute, and you find them dead 5 minutes later, it is usually an organ like the spleen or liver that ruptures and they bleed-out internally in a matter of minutes,

There are other ways too. If they are younger than 8 to 9 weeks and they are fed solid foods, they can very easily choke to death. Because their front teeth, called incisors, erupt before their eyes open. But, their molars, or chewing teeth, do not erupt until the 8th to 9th week. So, they are unable to chew sufficiently to swallow the food and it sticks in their throat and they suffocate.

There are other things where they can die accidentally. I had a flying squirrel baby that was let out of the cage by my visiting granddaughter on the day they were leaving to go back to Massachusetts. In the flurry of activity getting their luggage out the door, someone accidentally stepped on it and crushed it.

Another young gray squirrel charged at it's sibling because it had some food that it wanted. The sibling moved quickly out of the way and the squirrel slammed head first into the corner of the cage and broke it's neck.

I'm really sorry that you lost your baby and understand your anger! But remember this, you gave it more love in it's short life than it ever would have received dying alone out in the wild!

And for that, I thank you!

Bill

danA
12/16/2021 12:46:01 am

I am so sorry. heartbreaking

Jeanie Carline
8/17/2018 01:58:11 pm

After four years of successfully winging it with what I've read, I've raised and released 30+ baby squirrels. This season though has been heartbreaking, although all were pinkies, I've lost 3, in the last week, the last this morning. I sub under a rehabber that is awesome, and she tried to prepare me before hand, because like you, she says organ failure because we have no idea what they've been through before reaching us. With that being said.....I am inconsolable, this just stinks. Thank you for this, because I was berated by a family member, saying I did something wrong.

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William link
8/17/2018 07:53:48 pm

Hi, Jeanie!

So sorry to hear about all the heartbreaks you went through recently! Tell your family members that I said to, "Take a hike and stop being uninformed idiots!" You did absolutely nothing wrong, and I thank you for caring for these magnificent creatures!

I always tell people that they gave those babies more love in their short lives than they ever would have had dying alone out in Nature!

Keep up the good work!

Bill

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NIVEDHITHA S
11/18/2019 06:00:39 pm

I just lost one today morning. He died in my hands. I tried hard not to get attached to them. There are two more squirrels. I found one yesterday and the other today morning. The one had spend one whole day out in the cold. I understand that his chances of survival is quite low but could you please give.any tips?

Tim
9/28/2018 05:30:34 pm

I just had from what i could estimate a s
6 week old squirrel suddenly die... we found him a 10 days ago covered in fly eggs... did some research and found the mother probably abandoned him.. we cleaned him up and began to care for him, after a day he was full of life untill an hour and a half ago... found him lifeless and cold... warmed him up and he began to breathe and move a bit, but eventually pass dispite our every effort... we did everything we could for the little guy he was eating solid food and everything it just heartbreaking because he seemed to be doing so well

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Sheri Beach
12/18/2018 06:48:21 am

Squirrels can be given a 1/4 tablet of Capstar. It will start killing the eggs within a couple of hours and to be repeated after 24 hrs.
I have rec'd animal with live maggots and will kill within 1st couple of hours. Tissues looked pink and healthy and baby lived a healthy life afterwards. Thank you to all you do.

Jolyn L Kuban
9/13/2019 01:23:22 pm

Something similar just happened to me today. Thank you for sharing your story it helped to bring me a little bit of comfort as to what happened to mine

John Godish
2/25/2021 04:03:13 pm

Thanks for the Comment,my situation is very similar...found an abandoned 6-8 week old Squirrel...nurtured him,fed him applesauce,Gave him LOTS of Love..kept him warm.He passed away today...My Heart is Broken...God Bless🙏

Licia Macaluso-Rabitoy
8/18/2018 06:47:10 pm

Great Article William! When a person finds a baby squirrel and decides to care for it. They are so unsure and sometimes have to deal with egotistical rehabbers on the web. You have always given good advice. My Galileo is 9 years old this year and I have been following a lot of what you say for a good portion of those years.

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edna kelso link
8/23/2018 02:37:01 pm

my neighbor has a baby squirrel. she didn't know anything about this until we found this wedsite. she still needs to know a few things like, when does their eyes open. It is only a few days old so she doesn"t know how often to feed it. He lets her know by whistle or a noise. Any help would be greatly appreciated. edna kelso

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William
8/23/2018 07:30:57 pm

Hi, Edna!

Have her write to me at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com and I'll send her all the information she needs!

Bill

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Dustin
9/29/2018 03:10:33 pm

Hi I have found 3 baby squirrels 1 has past away in first 3 days and the 2 have done great in past 2 weeks but the 1 has started getting blood spots on its stomach kinda like bruises under the skin and havnt wanted to eat like it was . What should I do?

Lindasims
8/25/2018 11:30:36 am

Can u feed a 2week old squirrel breast milk

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William
8/25/2018 11:45:00 am

Hi, Linda!

The answer to this is quite lengthy. Please copy and paste your question into an e-mail and send it to me at SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Bill

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Reed Robbins
8/25/2018 01:01:45 pm

I found a little baby, eyes open, under large tree however on the pavement. Got nursing kit, puppy milk replacement, feed every 3 to 4 hours...held it quietly on my chest to keep warm for hours and rubbed its head neck stomach. It talked its keep little gurgling noises to me and seemed to be getting stronger. Put the same tree leaves in its box but kept it loosely wrapped in clean warm hand towels...5 days later, this morning, it stopped eating and died. 😢 I am heart broken...

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Sandy Calderone
8/30/2018 11:39:43 pm

I can related. My Rocky fell out of his nest. I'd been carING for him for 3 days, he was doing great. When I went to feed him tonight, he was dead. I'm devastated. I thought for once I can really help another creature. I'm very glad I found this page. I was beating myself up that it was my fault.

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Devin Frankel
8/15/2019 09:26:09 am

Sandy this just happened to myself and pups (they loved him) were alone by big bear California. I thought what a gift man. I can love and heal this little guy selflessly in turn find self healing. 8 days of cuddles playing and I find this sweet soul passed away in his blanket. My heart is hurting. I’m sorry for your pain. I hope we find some kind of solace. Sending you love.

Devin
8/15/2019 09:23:00 am

I am as well. It’s 9:18 August 15th 2019. I’m alone by big bear California. On the 7th my pups found and licked a baby squirrel around 3 week old. We named him Nessie, bonded loved and an hour ago I went to get him from his fleece blankets and heating pad and he was stretched out not moving. I tried giving him cpr and held him until a few minutes ago. He’s back in his nest. I’m so devastated. I believed I killed him with goats milk because maybe he was dehydrated. I ordered fox valley and am waiting for it. I switched from abisalic puppy formula to goats milk. And thought that killed him. I’d really like to have an autopsy done if possible as this has altered my life terribly. I’m so sorry for what you’re feeling.

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William
8/25/2018 01:30:31 pm

Hi, Reed!

I know the feeling, it's happened a dozen or so times to me over the years! That's why I always council people to not get too attached to a baby for the first two weeks because you just do not know what happened to them when they fell from the nest.

I'm so sorry about your loss!

Bill

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Peggy
7/22/2019 09:02:37 pm

Hi William. I'm so hurting right now. My husband and I have gotten so
close to this 6 week old squirrel. My son found her under a tree and no mom in site. We've had her for three days and never fell in love with any other pet like this one. She was eating,running and so lovable. She always wanted us to hold her and when my husband got home from work the first thing he wanted was our new little girl. 😭 when he went to reach for her on my shoulder under my blouse( which was one of her favorite places) she was dead. She was still warm and he tried to bring her back but we couldn't 😩😩 There were no signs, she was a happy loving little baby of ours. I could tell she loved us as much as we loved her. I fed her and she'd eat so I really don't know why this had to happen. Thank you for listening

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Devin
8/15/2019 09:46:04 am

Your articles very well may have saved my life. Cannot tell you what this little guy coming into my life meant. And the thought that this goats milk killed him is unbearable. Today is day 8. He was doing really well. (Nessie) approx 3-4 weeks old. When he ate the last couple times he made a face like he was vomiting. It was really upsetting to me. I then gave him 3cc of fresh water which he took down. This morning at 8am I found him in his blankets stretched out and not moving. I tried giving him air and massaging his heart. But it Didn’t work. I kept telling myself if I had woken up at 4 am he would have lived. His last feeding was 8pm, throughout the week I hydrated and fed in the night. I thought now that he’s approx 4 weeks today I could sleep until his 8am feeding. I was sure the combination of dehydration with goats milk and letting him sleep through the night killed him. I’m hoping I can find a person near big bear California to help me find a cause of death. I know it may seem silly to some but this truly and tragically devastated my essence. Not that it’s about me. Thank you Bill. If there is any solace to be found or healing to be had it’s because of you.

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KC
12/6/2019 07:29:42 am

Devin, I know how you feel. I had a baby squirrel (Bob) for three months and three days. He passed suddenly the morning of November 11th of this year, and I am just crushed with guilt and the loss of the best friend I have ever had. I never knew how wonderful squirrels were until I found Bob, pink from being only days old, cold and extremely dehydrated on the sidewalk. I will never know what caused his sudden death, as he was doing so well, growing up into a strong, fast squirrel...reading these comments is one of the only things that has helped me at all. No one understands grieving the loss of a squirrel. People throw blame and "well, it was just a wild animal", showing they are incapable of understanding what magnificent little creatures squirrels are. You are not alone. And trying to do good is all we can do. At least we tried. 💔

Carol Kraus
9/4/2020 05:55:45 pm

This story I'm reading reminds me of what I'm going through with my new little squirrel. I'm afraid he's not going to make I've had him for a week, his eyes are still closed but now he's refusing to eat.

Monica Zurbola
8/29/2018 08:27:03 am

Hi bill, I rescued a squirrel about a week ago, he hasnt had any calcium in him at all, i tried the Esblac milk and he didnt like it so i made the water supplement you suggested and he is doing great. I have been feeding him walnuts oranges apples and some banana. Im worried about the calcium intake i know its very important for them and their body. I was wanting to know if a gel tablet of calcium would work if i mixed it with food? im at a loss here and dont want him to die. Anything helps. Thank you.

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Monica Zurbola
8/29/2018 08:28:45 am

he is about 7-8 weeks im assuming.

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William
8/29/2018 09:03:50 am

Can you send a picture that includes the tail so I can age the squirrel?
Send it to SquirrelNutrition@Yahoo.com.

Bill

William
8/25/2019 08:00:06 pm

Yes, any calcium you can get into him will help. Consider making some Nut Squares. Send a request for the recipe to SquirrelNutrition@yahoo.com.

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Marcy Rye
9/3/2020 12:18:22 pm

For calcium....what about a few drops of Calciboost...(that's the gold standard for birds)....or what about shaving off a bit of a Tums tablet (calcium carbonate) and diluting it? I saw you said Kale is good for when they are weaned and eating.

Antoinette Felice
9/4/2018 12:12:07 am

Thank you so much for writing this. At this moment am in tears, rescued 8 baby squirrels, 1 little sweetheart was in horrible shape, broken legs, mouth... Tried all I knew-Esbilac, heating pad, held chest 24/7, pedialyte. Was starting to move around a bit, drinking... All of a sudden a loud cry like a bird, black toxic smelling feces came out minutes later he stopped breathing. My son rescued a baby abandoned squirrel last year before the hurricane, took care of her just the same for months, the thrived & was put back into a sanctuary. Although I am not allowed to see her, I hope/pray & believe I did the best, though she got little vitamin D as she didn’t want to go outside much to my many attempts-I should of forced her out more.
Suppose I am now scouring the internet looking for some reason of what I could of done, what did I do wrong... So hard to have any loss of life in this world. In the last month my cousin died of cancer, a friend my age too too young died (reason unknown yet). As much as we try to rationalize causes of death, it still doesn’t make sense to ones soul-always something I believe we could of done, anything to stop their pain or save a life.
Thank you truly for writing this for all who love animals, the pain as well as adoration is equal to the compassion with humans. Although I can’t bring this little baby back-your words will stay in my mind & heart hoping I did all I could.

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Antoinette Felice
9/4/2018 12:51:19 am

Just read to stop immediately if formula was coming out of nose. This happened about an hour before he died. Little bubbles of formula were coming out his nose. Held him upright, went slowly, maybe not slow enough. My God my ignorance killed the little sweetheart. Am sorry, am heartbroken am filled with grief, regret.... Knowledge is the enemy of faith, had faith I was doing everything right. Horribly devastated am so wrong & could of saved him.

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William link
9/6/2018 07:53:38 am

Hello, Antoinette!

Please do not blame the death of this baby on yourself! From what you described in your first post, this baby had multiple things working against it from the beginning!

You described fractures to the legs and injury to the mouth/ facial area, etc. What this tells me is that this baby fell from a very great height and suffered multiple traumas as a result.

The fact that it cried out in pain and had an involuntary expulsion of black and foul smelling stool means that it had massive internal injuries that were not compatible with life. You did nothing to hasten it's demise. Even the best squirrel Vet in the nation could not have changed the outcome on this one.

The important this is that you cared and tried to help. That is called love and compassion. We always hope that our efforts will produce a good outcome and have faith that what we do will produce a good result, but as important as these thing are, they are not the greatest thing when it comes to trying to help the helpless!

The Bible sums it up very well in 1 Corinthians 13:13 when it says,
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love!"

You showed that baby more love and compassion in its short life than it ever would have received dying alone out in Nature. Nobody and no animal wants to die alone! You made that happen for this little one! And, for that I thank-you from the bottom of my heart!

Bill

Laurinda Nealeigh
9/11/2018 06:41:26 am

Wonderful blog. I needed fo read this today, as I lost two of my 6 weeks old babies suddenly last night.

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Antoinette Felice
9/16/2018 05:09:10 am

Bill, Thank you so very much for your immensely kind, warming, educated & consoling reply. Still no matter how much rational Medical sense things makes, still feel I could of in the least eased his pain.

The mother & remaining babies have made a home in a tree in front of the house. The mother came to me 3 times, first she jumped on my head then crawled back up the tree quickly last 2 times, she’s crawled around my body again retreating to the tree & her babies. Does this behavior make any sense to you?

Would it be okay if I left food out for them, possibly putting it in her tree so she has a better chance to get it. If so any recommendations of what to leave for them.

I had a female squirrel “Zooella” for about a year, whom was a complete joy. She slept with me nightly, was protective, played with myself & my 4 dogs. My son kept pushing me to bring her to a sanctuary, which I did, they came with great references-highly recomended. They took her away, filled out the form gave them a donation. Couldn’t talk, was crying & asked for her back, to which the woman quickly said no. Then explained the (to me) cruel methods they use to teach her/all squirrels to hate humans. My son tried to walk back to get her, the woman yelled at him....We did not get her back.

She’s in Busch Sanctuary in Jupiter Florida, would do anything to get her back, though only if this is what’s best for her. It’s been now 4 weeks since she’s been there.

My apologies for the bother, love animals just the same as I do humans.

Warmest Regards,

Antoinette

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SquirrelMom
9/20/2018 02:07:29 am

I have four healthy furgirls around 185-220g. I also had a pinky that died within hours of receipt and a surviving baby (had her two weeks and she was 3wks on receipt) that just passed tonight, suddenly, without Gi/respiratory signs. She was on Esbilac powder 1:2 q3.5 hrs, with standard I/O. I feel so guilty. Although she had a slow steady growth she seemed to have exhibited FTT as a single one. I thought she had just turned a corner as she was somewhat more active and alert. She showed no signs of distress. It makes me not want to take in any more....

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Devin
8/15/2019 12:23:22 pm

Hi, I feel the same. I’m pretty upset. We took in little Nessie on the 7th. He was growing his hair, seemed to be enjoying his formula and cuddles. Went in today at 8am expecting cuddles and love from our little guy. The exact opposite took place. He was stretched out and didn’t look right. When I picked him up he had already passed. I attempted cpr. A warm bath. Anything and everything. My dad said there’s many more Nessie’s out there would love my care. But I feel like if he died with me I shouldn’t care for anything. I wish I was able to conduct an autopsy like Bill. If I knew it was fall related as sad and hurtful as it is. That’s something I can live with. I can’t live with my human error being the cause of this sentient little sweet being. Sending you love and kind thoughts.

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charlee
9/26/2018 09:25:47 pm

Found the cutest little cajun squirrel maybe 7 to 9 weeks old. Not near any trees. Eyes open, super friendly but not moving great. I had never been that close to a squirrel and didnt know what to think. So, I slowly reached down and he jumped on my hand and curled up in my palm. I fell in love. I cared for him for 5 days. Fed him pedolite, puppy food,(red some where puppy food was good) some dried fruits and nuts. He was doing great and seemed playful. On night 5(tonight) I found him barely breathing. I picked him up he chirped curled up in my palm and died. He was the sweetest little guy and I'm shocked at just how much it upset me. I miss his cuddling already. Thank you for this page. It took a lot of guilt away.

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Hazel
9/27/2018 12:21:28 am

Thank you so much for this article... ever since my NR Neuro flyer died unexpectedly last week, I've been really beating myself up. Granted, he wasn't really a baby anymore, but he was only about 6~7 months old, having had him since about 8 weeks old. He's had neurological issues since we got him (presumably from falling from tree) and gave him a 2 week prednisone course which helped lessen some effects, but he had always been a bit impaired and ultra picky with food. Wouldn't eat the Henry blocks as is, so ended up grinding them and mixing them into a concoction that he loved. I did everything I possibly could to love him and make sure he had everything he needed, so when I found him suddenly dead at the bottom of his cage, hiding under a hidey log, I was devastated.

I still do wonder if maybe he had hit his head again in the cage at some point or something that I just wouldn't have been able to witness or verify, but god I'm just so heartbroken that he's gone. I knew with his neuro issues he likely wouldn't live as long as a perfectly healthy flyer, but I wasn't ready for it to be this short...

Recently I've been caring for a baby gray who had cat bites and a bot fly warble (that I removed) and he's doing well, in addition to a back legs/tail paralyzed squirrel who I'm constantly worried about, especially given she's had diarrhea the past 2 days. But I'm doing everything in my power and knowledge to take care of them and keep them happy and healthy <3

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Sanjeev
10/3/2018 11:36:09 pm

Hi thanks for the article as my little daughter was blaming for a baby squarrel death after taking care of it for almost three weeks. And finally it suddenly collapse the next day morning. This will give us a little bit of peace of mind that it was not our fault and this baby must have gotten some internal injuries. Really missing it a lot as it was so adorable little cute creature who would always made his presence felt at our place. ItsI an Indian baby swsquarr

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Dianne Thomas link
10/4/2018 07:50:58 am

I am fostering 2 twelve week old baby squirrels. They found us. My 10 yr old granddaughter and I were walking home from her bus stop 7 weeks ago and these two babies ran out of a landscape area and sat on our feet. I knew moma squirrel would not have allowed this , so I figured something had happened to mom. We have several hawks in our area. They must if left the nest looking for mom, they were hungry. I have followed your web site for about a yr due to other orphaned baby squirrels. I use your milk formula and my babies have done very well on it. My babies are no longer taking formula as of about a week ago.
Three days ago my little female starting having blood in her urine. I was frantic, put a call in to a veterinarian friend . I felt I could not wait for a return call , so did research on your web site and drove straight to vitamin store for some Colloidal Silver 30ppm.
Put a few drops in water and dropper fed her that solution several times in the next 1 1/2-2hrs. And did a lot of praying and cuddling with her. I could tell she was not feeling good. She continued to eat well and poop . Then about 3 hrs later she began to play with her brother. Next morning urine was clear, 3rd day urine is still clear. I thank the Lord and you for saving my baby girl Penny. I now will continue to add Colloidal Silver to thier water .
❤️❤️❤️Dianne

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Natalie
10/21/2018 12:13:59 pm

So glad I found this. We have been caring for a baby we found 5 weeks ago, found by his dead mother. He was approximately 6 weeks old. He’s be doing amazingly well, going from formula to solids, learning how to climb etc. This afternoon I went to check on him and he had passed away. He was fine this morning. I have felt nothing but guilt all day that I’ve done something wrong. He was doing so well, checking off all the milestones we keep reading about, and looking very healthy. I feel awful.

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Hiral shah
10/26/2018 08:18:07 pm

Dear William,
I have read your article
Actually, I have found one baby squirrel , probably of 3-4 days old under a tree in my garden. We took care of her for 27 days. We thought, she was perfectly fine because we could see her physical development. We used to give her boiled cow milk.
She used to sleep calmly between two layers of cloths in her basket after taking milk but Yesterday she behaved little bit differently. Instead of sleeping patiently, she moved here and there and also on the top layer of her blanket. We thought, as she was growing, she behaved like this
And today morning, with sudden shock, we found her dead. We don't know the reason what happened to her and we are feeling very much guilty. Sir, can you guide us please? Where we have done wrong?

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carl smith link
11/5/2018 01:30:34 pm

I have a broken heart! rescued a roughly 4 -6 wk old squirrel, he had fallen about 40' out of his nest or his momma pushed him out?? because he was kind of a runt.Was bleeding out of his nose and looked like he had broken his back legs?? but I couldn't let him die or kill him so over the next few weeks feed him a mixture that my wife had found on line and he slowly progressed to the good!! he was adapting to everyone and not really showing aggression to other people, he chose me as his momma/daddy and got to where he would trust us and even got to where he got along with our poodle, today I found him dead no warning signs at all???he lived ebb a 6' tall 4 different levels to his condo as I called it, we showed him plenty of love and he got to where h showed us love in return!!! why dd my squirrel die???? I loved him sooooo much and he was a very important fixture in our lives, we feed hi, pine nuts, sun flower seeds, cut ups grapes'tc.... cleaned his cage every other day, depended on how he trashed it, but Im completely HEART broken over this andd hope and pray i didn't do anything wrong in his care?????!! because I couldn't live with myself had a done something wrong.This little critter brought great joy to our family daily and got to where I couldn't wait to get home to let him out and play plus spend time with Rocky aka ROCKO, or ROCKO TACO as my little 5 year nephew would call him.Some advice would greatly be helpful to my heart!!!!!!!

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Christen Harrison
11/9/2018 07:23:45 pm

The electric men in my neighborhood new I saved all kinds of animals from puppies to kittens to baby raccoons and this momma squirrel had her babies I a transformer and as she was trying to get back into her babies she was killed and blew the transformer. The babies on the inside they didn't have the heart to kill them so the brought them to me. I have done squirrels before but it had been many years. But my question is I got my babies as pinkies and I got one that had a deformed jaw to a week old where it had hair. The second I got it to 14 days and it had bottom teeth. The third she lived 28days both sets teeth in and eyes opened and white was coming in good tail hair getting longer. She ate several times today she had her 1am bottle was fine her 8am bottle and was fine 11 am she wanted morn so I gave her a little to top her off at 1 she ate again and at 7 I went in to check on her and she acted tired so I thought well she was more full of energy today than usual so I waited till 8 went in to get her and she was dead. I don't understand shewasnt sneezing nor gasping when she ate she was full of energy and was very healthy stool was yellow and urine was clear this unlike the other two I lost in the beginning. What did I do wrong? She was getting so big and fun! Crawling everywhere. She wasn't quite to the point of running around but crawling everywhere. I have picture from start to finish of today and everyday she got bigger and stronger! What happened?

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William
1/8/2019 02:22:04 pm

Hi, Christen!

Sorry for the late reply! If I don't get around to reading replies to my Blog articles I don't always know when people ask questions!

One thing that stood out to me in what you wrote was the fact that they were born in an electric transformer. I was just reading today about the damage that research is finding happen to the mitochondria of human and animal tissues from exposure to microwaves and high magnetic fields. The inside of an electric transformer has thousands of winding of copper wire that would produce a very powerful magnetic field. It possible that all those babies mitochondria were so damaged by exposure to that environment that normal replication of tissue cells was impossible. If it affected vital organs such as the heart of liver they would only live a very short life.

The scientists that did this study said that one of the main reasons all humans and animals die in old age is that the mitochondria has quit doing its job of replicating and replacing tissue cells.

It's very possible that why they all eventually died!

Bill

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Kimberley on behalf of Anna
12/15/2018 04:15:01 pm

Good evening and blessings to you, Mr. Sells.
I grew up with a veterinarian and am a geriatric NP. On Labor Day this year, a male grey squirrel fell approximately 30-40 feet from a nest after having been crying most of the day. He appeared to be approximately 5 weeks old. 4 days later, I returned home to find 2 more male babies at the base of the tree; one passed shortly thereafter. I was able to nurse and nurture "Rocky and Bullwinkle" (novel names,, right?) and presented them to a colleague 2 weeks later who had always dreamed of having a pet squirrel. Both boys were doing fabulous! I supported my colleague as the boys grew and was able to see them myself on occasion. They were very active, inquisitive, and appeared to be very healthy. Unfortunately, over the past 2 weeks, both boys expired, a week apart from each other. Appetite was intact, stools/urine normal, no apparent s/sx of acute illness or injury (indoor only), no reported lethargy. I recognize that without their precious little bodies for autopsy, it is unfair to seek your thoughts regarding possible cause of death but am curious if you have experienced this in your years of rehabbing squirrels and if you have, what have you learned that I might be able to share with my colleague? Like others on this blog, she feels wounded and responsible which is not the case. Time and prayers will heal but I am also certain she would appreciate your thoughts.
Respectfully,
Kimberley Birkemeier, RN, MN, ARNP-BC

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William
1/8/2019 02:07:01 pm

Hi, Kim!

One question. Were they given daily calcium after weaning? Squirrels need 20 to 40 mg of calcium daily to support the growth of their Incisors teeth. If they don't get it in their diet, their body will pull it from their bones, a condition called Metabolic Bone Disease.

Sometimes they become symptomatic with weakness to their back legs or seizures but they can also develop heart arrhythmia due to calcium being required for the re-polarization of the heart muscle and die of sudden cardiac death.

Also, in advanced MBD their bones are very brittle especially the pelvis and spine. When treating this condition the cage should be small and padded because one fall that would not affect a normal squirrel could shatter the spine of a squirrel with MBD and they can die quickly from Neurogenic Shock.

I had a squirrel 5 month old that died of a broken neck just from playing with his cage mate. He had established as the dominant squirrel in the cage and would chase the others away from the food. He charged his cage mate who was sitting in the corner of the cage. The cage mate jumped out of the way and the squirrel rammed its head into the corner of the cage and snapped its neck.

Young squirrels like some young people often think they are indestructible.

Bill

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Timothy Sapp
12/18/2018 05:43:36 am

Our fur babies keep dying at 5 months. Very playful. Eating well. Then they go to sleep an die.😭 any reason why?

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William
1/8/2019 02:24:54 pm

Hi, Tim!

Were they given daily calcium after weaning off formula?

Bill

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Tom Jacobs
3/13/2019 06:51:45 pm

Bill I have a squirrel I rescued. She is about 4 months old. She has a bald spot on the back of her head. A week later, she now has a bald spot behind both back legs. I’m starting to get concerned. She has no other signs of being sick. She eats, plays, and is very active like she normally is. I read it may be a fungus and might just go away. I also read mites may cause it. She has lived in my house since she was a few days old. What would you think giving the circumstances? Thanks!

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Kayla Marie
3/26/2019 02:53:54 pm

Hello, I just found this. I have 3 baby squirrels who i would guess to be 4 weeks or so. They have the two bottom teeth but their eyes are not open. One had a broken paw on the front but seems to be doing great... on the other hand one of her brothers has stopped eating so much today. He is the smallest out of the 3 but was eating fine and very active yesterday. Should I be worried about both of them? How can I tell if they have internal bleeding? We have had them for almost 2 weeks. Are we safe and maybe he just isn't hungry at the moment?

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Kayla Winter
3/26/2019 08:20:48 pm

He has started to breathe rapidly and although they have a heating pad he is still cold to the touch. What can I do? He was fine for the past two weeks and has not been exposed to anything that may cause problems.

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Wyatt
3/27/2019 10:24:11 am

I found 3 baby squirrels at about 3 weeks old, have had them for about 3 weeks now they were healthy and had their eyes open and then I found a separate one and put it with the brothers and sister.

I bathed them that night, and have had them on a really good feeding schedule. Well, within one week the runt of the 3 got sick started getting lethargic and had white rings in their eyes 2 of the siblings died along with the newer one I had. It was about 2-3 weeks old.

Now I'm down to one and shes going through the same thing.

She is barely eating formula and is too weak to eat nuts.

I've scoured several websites and forums and have come up short with the white rings in their eyes.

Any help would be more than appreciated

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Wyatt
3/27/2019 10:25:27 am

I found 3 baby squirrels at about 3 weeks old, have had them for about 3 weeks now they were healthy and had their eyes open and then I found a separate one and put it with the brothers and sister.

I bathed them that night, and have had them on a really good feeding schedule. Well, within one week the runt of the 3 got sick started getting lethargic and had white rings in their eyes 2 of the siblings died along with the newer one I had. It was about 2-3 weeks old.

Now I'm down to one and shes going through the same thing.

She is barely eating formula and is too weak to eat nuts.

I've scoured several websites and forums and have come up short with the white rings in their eyes.

Any help would be more than appreciated

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Vicki
8/26/2021 09:25:07 pm

I just read that white around eyes = dehydration. Cant remember even where I saw it, but try giving unflavored Pedialyte

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Wyatt
3/27/2019 10:27:58 am

I found 3 baby squirrels at about 3 weeks old, have had them for about 3 weeks now they were healthy and had their eyes open and then I found a separate one and put it with the brothers and sister.

I bathed them that night, and have had them on a really good feeding schedule. Well, within one week the runt of the 3 got sick started getting lethargic and had white rings in their eyes 2 of the siblings died along with the newer one I had. It was about 2-3 weeks old.

Now I'm down to one and shes going through the same thing.

She is barely eating formula and is too weak to eat nuts.

I've scoured several websites and forums and have come up short with the white rings in their eyes.

Any help would be more than appreciated

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Doug
3/31/2019 09:39:44 pm

I found this site because I'm heartsick over what happened earlier today, reaching out online for a way to process the guilt and pain that I'm feeling. We came upon a juvenile squirrel in our backyard yesterday who was behaving strangely. He was sitting on a fence rail, balancing himself awkwardly and looking very ill at ease. At first at seemed he was just sunning himself but after two hours we approached him and, as it was beginning to get later and colder, put him in a box with felt blankets and water (I looked this up on a different site) and brought him inside for the night.

He seemed a bit better this morning, but was still nestled in the blankets. He let my wife pet him and was in all ways docile and receptive. I was wondering if he'd been stunned from a fall or maybe had a leg injury, but he seemed to be doing a bit better. Later this morning, I put the box out by the tree where we'd found him so maybe his mother would find him. We also noticed two other juveniles on the lower branches of the tree and surmised they were siblings. All guesses, of course. When I checked the box a few hours later, he'd left the box and we rejoiced that he must have rejoined his family. I looked around and saw him nowhere.

I went to do an errand and my wife called me in a panic saying our dog had gone into the yard and was shaking the squirrel. She managed to stop him, but by her account (she is a nurse) his pelvis was likely crushed. I was immediately overcome by grief, shock and guilt. I got home as soon as I could where I found her tending to the little squirrel and trying to do what she could. We've been trying to give him water and a nut paste but he barely responds, although his eyes are open and he seems alert. He's badly hurt and probably won't last the night.

I love animals dearly, always have, and have always looked out for their well-being whether they are mine or otherwise. Seeing this animal suffering because of my neglect or carelessness is tearing me to pieces. I can't beating myself up for this senseless outcome, one I could have prevented if I'd been more careful. I haven't cried in years, since my last dog died, but I'm a wreck and I'm crying plenty right now. I guess I just wanted someone, somewhere, to know how horribly guilty and ashamed I feel at causing a beautiful creature to suffer. I blame myself, not the dog. He would have made a great pet or, better yet, a great wild animal. Sorry for the rant...

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Ana
4/5/2019 03:54:25 pm

Hi Doug - going through this process is hard, and I am so sorry for what you are feeling. ultimately, all we can do is our best. as much as we like to shy away from it, the cycle of life can be brutal, and sometimes things just don't make sense. with such vulnerable life, even the tiniest mistakes and oversights can cause tragedy. You could have left him out there with no support, and many people would have without a second thought. But you cared enough to take him in, and did your very best in those moments to care for him - even being selfless enough to want to reunite him with his mother when many would have wanted an excuse to have a baby squirrel in their house so they wouldnt have even tried. That says enough to me about your character to know that you are not the bad guy in this. in fact, there is no bad guy! life can just be unpredictable, and apart from actions we intentionally do to hurt others, we cannot blame ourselves for not being perfect. i'm sure even the most experienced rehabbers have made potentially fatal mistakes, and it is all a part of life. please don't be too hard on yourself, and i really hope your squirrel makes a recovery. If not, know you gave him more love and attention than most people would ever, and he was lucky to spend his final days surrounded by care and love. Sending you only healing and comfort!

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Kayla
4/1/2019 05:09:59 am

Doug,
I am so sorry to hear this and although you feel as though you could have done more there was not. We had 3 squirrels who had not opened their eyes yet. We did not know the state of their condition until after 2 trips to the vet. We had found out later that before they were brought to us for rescuing that they had fell 25 ft and landed on pavement. It was so sad because they seemed healthy and the only one visibly injured was one with a broken paw. Through later examination and a week of trying to keep them alive we found internal injuries from the fall at the vet's office. The first two died and we were heartbroken.as we watched the other one cling to life. He passed away yesterday and sadly I feel like it was because he felt the loss of his siblings. He was eating great and we had him on kitten formula and pedyalite and bathed him with a warm rag. I also feel guilt and heartache and hate to see these creatures suffer. I just wanted to respond and let you know that your not alone.

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Ana
4/5/2019 03:45:01 pm

I am so glad i've found this comment section, and that I am not alone in feeling grief and guilt over something like this right now. My parents had been taking care of a baby squirrel for the past three days, he seemed to be around 8/9 weeks old- bushy tail and all. he was lethargic but still ate a lot and was very affectionate. they were going to take him to a rescue this weekend after reading about how involved the rehab process is especially properly re-integrating them into the wild. They were giving him pedialyte with a syringe (little drops at a time so he could control how much he wanted), and for food giving him veggies and a little almong butter on some banana pieces. he lapped it all up happily. as i read more i told them to go buy some puppy milk for him, but they didn't have time as today when they got home from work they found him laying on his stomach breathing really slowly. he passed shortly after, even though 5 hours earlier he seemed fine. I cant help but wonder if we did something wrong, or that he died because he didnt have the puppy formula. he had a heated pad and was held a lot, they did everything they knew how to. I just feel a lot of guilt for not advocating harder on the diet or to take him to a rescue immediately. He had bleeding from his nose when they found him and he fell from a height, so i'm thinking maybe it was just some internal bleeding. either way hearing my parents cry was heartbreaking - it is definitely such a hard process

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Dominika
4/22/2019 04:21:58 pm

Thank you so much for this article! I lost my first (I'm estimating) 5- 6 weeks old baby today and I was absolutely heartbroken. I found him at my window far away from the trees. Initially, I though that the mum I feed regularly for years brought him over to be fed and I some how scared her off when walking to the garden.
I didn't know what to do so I called Wildlife rescue and they told me they would end his life if I brought it to them. Shocked to hear such horrible advice from a place they claim to save wildlife (I live in Scotland where grey squirrel is classified as an invader) I asked what I can do to save him as I didn't want to leave him in a place where fox comes over and aggressive seagulls fly over my head. They told me to take it home for the night and watch for mum to come look for him the next day.
I took him home and he was very lively. Started googling what to feed it with and as we breed cats, we always have powdered milk for orphan kittens for kittens that are too weak to feed of their mums, I fed him with that milk. He survived the night and as advised I looked through the window almost all day hoping his mum will return for him but she never did. So we kept feeding him and keeping him warm hoping that we can nurse him until his old enough to go back to woods. He survived another night but passed away next morning. I noticed he was weaker and he cuddled into me like he knew his going to go.
I started reading online how milk can cause them to die and I never felt more guilty in my life! But I couldn't believe milk would kill him and started looking for more rational answer. I'm a physiologist myself and knowing stomach reaction to poison I would expect him being sick first. But I didn't know anything about squirrels before and definitely not about their physiology.
It does now make more sense to see that it was an organ damage as he urinated almost straight away after feeding.
It was a devastating experience especially for animals lovers as our family - even cats wanted to help (pedigree cats have no hunting instinct at all).
I still don't know how he ended up in our garden but as you said, he was well cared for for two days and I don't have guilty conscious that I left him to be eaten by fox. I hope he smiles at us from squirrel heaven. Although I keep feeding his mum for years, I learned a lot more about squirrels with this experience.

Best wishes

Dominika

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Kaitlyn Renee link
4/30/2019 02:29:28 pm

I'm truly sad because even tho I'm young I got sorta attached and I was about to feed my young squirrel and he refused to eat them he stopped using his muscles and would just flop over and I don't understand

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Renae
5/19/2019 05:36:12 am

Thank you so much for posting this. We feel so reassured now not thinking it was our fault. Our dogs brought us a baby squirrel last week and I was guessing he was 3 to 4 weeks old. He lived for about 5 days with us and just died suddenly overnight. We thought for sure he would be fine and we'd be releasing him back in a few weeks. He was definitely a little piggy when he ate. :(

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Devin
8/15/2019 01:08:44 pm

The same thing happened over here. On the 7th my two boxers were licking and kissing the little guy who had fallen from about 20ft up. He seemed to be doing well. SO SO LOVING, and the last day in a half when I fed him he made a gagging face. I thought he didn’t like the taste of the milk. I’m now thinking maybe he had internal bleeding and was nauseated. When I went in this morning to pick him up for his breakfast he passed away. Im truly heart broken. And couldn’t live with the idea that I contributed to his dying. The whole thing is tragic. Even if it isn’t my fault. WE LOVE YOU NESSIE. ALWAYS AND FOR ALL TIMES. sending you kind thoughts and love. This stinks.

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Jahnavi
6/11/2019 07:50:51 am

My squirrel was unable to breath properly can u help me please

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Frank G Anderson
6/11/2019 04:55:02 pm

Korat, Thailand here. I found a very young (a day or two old?) squirrel still alive on 31 May, and we were feeding and taking care of it. He passed last night, and tears continuing we found him hours gone when expecting to feed him. I set him into the ground, and who could believe a 75 year-old American in northeast Thailand would be crying because of this. Thank you very much for the article, but it still hurts.

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Steven
6/15/2019 10:53:35 pm

Hi I got a orphaned baby gray squirrel his eyes opened that night well he was so much fun very healthy I left for1 hour to get some more food for him and I found him dead at the bottom of his cage?? And rigamortas was settalingi in and he had a Lil blood on his nose I was Blessed to Have ROCKY for 52 days what could have killed my Lil rocky?????

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William
2/16/2020 01:58:39 pm

Hi Steven!

Sorry for the late reply! For some reason, I'm not getting notifications when people comment on my Blog articles!

Please disregard the comment that "Maura Madrano" sent you! She obviously did not read all that you wrote and assumed that your squirrel was only 5 weeks old. She used your post as a Segway into trying to find fault and "rip" into me for her own reasons!

You said that your squirrel had just opened it's eyes when you received it, so that means that it was around 5 weeks old at that time. You went on to say that you had the squirrel for another 52 days before you found it dead with blood coming from it's nose. That means that your squirrel was around 13 weeks old. The idea that your squirrel was too young to be in a cage is preposterous and I'm sorry if that left you feeling guilty for having it in a larger cage!

Now, let's get to a real possible reasons your squirrel died. At 13 weeks, a squirrel is very active with lightening fast reflexes. Is there any possibility that while you were out something may have startled the squirrel ? It could be a loud noise, or a dog barking, etc., anything that would startle the squirrel could make it go into a fright or flight reaction.

In my experience squirrels have been known to injure themselves in in a variety of ways. I had a set of 3 gray squirrel siblings several years ago in a large cage. They were about the age of Rocky. One of the males was exerting dominant behavior by chasing the other two away from the food bowls. He would chase them all over the cage during feeding times.

One day I noticed him laying it a corner of the cage and not moving. I gently picked him up and noted that all four legs were flaccid with no movement nor reflex response when pricked with a pin. I moved him to an isolation cage with a warming pad under him. I transported him to my Vet for a shot of prednisone to try to counter the onset of Neurogenic Shock. He passed quietly during the night. Obviously, he had broken his neck. I could only speculate what happened.

I suspect that one of his siblings was sitting in that corner of the cage eating something, and he charged at him. The sibling probably moved out of the way just as he got to the corner and probably rammed his head into the corner snapping his neck!

When squirrels are that age they are so active and acrobatic that they sustain all sorts of injuries. Usually, they are things like broken toes or bones in their feet. But, on occasion they can injure themselves in ways such as you experienced. Often when blood is coming out of the nose or ears they have suffered a basil skull fracture.

A self-inflicted accidental injury is the most likely cause of Rocky's death. It had nothing to do with what you were feeding him and was no fault of yours!

I'm truly sorry for your loss, and the delay in responding!

Bill

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UDHI
7/3/2019 07:27:40 am

MY SQURILL WAS DEATH IMMEDIATELY. I AM SO SAD ....

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Bronwyn Bartell
7/21/2019 12:55:25 pm

I have had my squirrel for 10 months and am devastated at his sudden death yesterday. Ray Ray had a lame leg and endured a head injury when we believe he was kicked out of the nest last fall. He was my baby and lived in my shirt between my boobs for hours at a time during the day. Ray Ray was not confined to his cage, ate and drank well, and was sweet as could be an hour before dying. He didn't lose control of his bowels, make a noise or jerk. He simply died in his sleep. I can't stop viewing the internet for possible answers or similar situations. Ray Ray acted more like a kitten, than a squirrel. So very sad.

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Devin Frankel
8/15/2019 12:51:23 pm

Hi Bill. my name is Devin, I’m 33. I’ll be 34 August 21st. On August 7th my dogs found a 2-3 week old eastern gray by big bear California. Being the kind souls they are they provided kisses not bites. As they were licking the little guy. We got him inside, fleece blankets, heating pad etc. over this last 7 days (the first 4-5) especially, he was engaged, enjoying his puppy formula cuddles kisses etc. yesterday morning I noticed him almost gagging upon feeding. I believed it was the Goats milk. I followed a couple ccs of goats milk with 3cc of plain water which he took down. At 8pm I put him to bed and at 8am he was passed on. Stretched outwardly. Not cuddled up for warmth. One of the most devastating days I’ve endured in my 33 years. I believe he fell from around 20 feet. I was absolutely convinced I killed (Nessie) from feeding milk while he was dehydrated. After reading your blog and doing the math. I’d like to ask you your thoughts. He passed 7days after caring for him. He fell a good 20 feet into a wooden deck. As tragic as all of this is regardless. My heart could tolerate his passing if it wasn’t related to anything I did. Yet from the fall and sustained internal injuries. Would that account for his gagging. He literally looked like he was trying to throw up. I thought he hated the taste. Do you think that was nausea. Would he be okay taking in water while internally bleeding but not milk? This little guy saved my life. And I believed I was saving his. I don’t want to avoid responsibility if it’s mine to bare. However I don’t want to live in a state of perilous self doubt and hate because if there was nothing that could have been done. Aside from what was. Thank you for you time. And thank you for caring enough to inform people. I would love to hear from anyone else going through this. Heart aches. Even though it’s not about me. It’s about the little guy who died alone in the night. Xoxoxo. SENDING YOU ALL LOVE. ESPECIALLY NESSIE. LOVE YOU LITTLE SWEET SOUL. IT WAS MY HONOR AND PRIVILEGE XO

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Marcus
8/16/2019 07:40:41 pm

My squirrel just now passed away extremely suddenly. I've had him for 3 months and I'm guessing he was maybe 6 weeks old when he came to me. He was so healthy and active and happy. He loved to curl up to me or just go for walks while perched on my shoulders. He loved to see me and would run up to me when I would come home from work.

He just started making a whole bunch of painful sounds so I ran to him to see what was going on. At first I thought he was having a nightmare because he was clearly sleeping when this began. He stretched out his legs and started giving them his attention, as well as his tail. I picked him up and he started to bite me so I put him back down and he went to the corner. I started petting him and he seemed fine again. Just normal small noises that he'd make. He crawled and dragged his hind legs behind him. That was strange and I thought maybe he had cramps in his legs. I really didn't think anything was serious but five minutes later I checked on him and he was lying lifeless on his side and I can't understand why. I loved this guy so much. I'm devastated and just so upset

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William
8/25/2019 08:11:41 pm

Hi, Marcus! it sounds like he may have died of Metabolic Bone Disease. If they don't get adequate amounts of calcium after they wean it pulls calcium from their bones. It's a painful condition and causes them to lose the use of their back legs. They often die of a heart attack because calcium is also needed for normal function of the heart.

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JackandRose
8/28/2019 11:44:43 pm

Dear Will!
Yesterday I found two newborn squirrels lying on the floor. They where not next to each other though. While looking around I found their sibling who had already passed away. Each had white blobs over their body and scratches on their limbs... Earlier a dog was sniffing around there and I guess he got to their nest. I hopped on a train and took them to a veterinarian. She gave me a syringe and told me to feed it goat or cat milk. I ran home made them a nest on a heating pad and fed them a mixture of salt water sugar and of course goat milk. One of them looked smaller and skinnier and didn’t want to eat as much as the stronger one. I fed them every two and a half hours. In the evening I saw that one started rapidly breathing and had a purplish abdomen. The other one was doing fine. After 5 minutes of observing it the little guy stopped breathing and then after 2 minutes started moving again... then he stopped breathing again and never woke up😩 I tried everything but he wouldn’t wake up. I still put him in the nest by his brother and I went to sleep. I woke up at 1 am for feeding time and they where both lifeless😭😢I don’t know what happens to the other one and I really loved them and hoped they would survive... I don’t know what I did wrong and I feel so guilty😞
Please answer because I really need to know what I did wrong..
Julija

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Isabella
9/1/2019 07:18:54 am

Hi there,
Two days ago we found a young squirrel in our yard (eyes open and covered with fur but still only about hamster size) with no mother and it was crying on and off. We kept an eye on it and gave it some pieces of apple. We get cats coming into our garden so overnight we put him safely into a box and he was fine yesterday morning. Throughout the day there was no sign of mum, although we do get squirrels often in our front and back garden. Then we heard another squirrel crying in the front garden, and then a squirrel of similar size (possibly smaller) appeared from the bush, so we reunited them and again kept them in a box so nothing big could get in overnight but they could get out if needed. Then this morning we found them moth dead, with one moving its mouth slightly, so we tried to give him a drink but it was too late. Do you know what might have killed them? We are so worried that it was something we’d done. They both seemed fine the day before, playing although maybe a bit shaky but happy eating apple and walnuts. We also couldn’t take them to the vet because in the uk it is illegal to release grey squirrels. What do you think happened? Thank you in advance.
Isabella

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Jerrie Obray
9/1/2019 02:10:25 pm

I found a baby squirrel probably 6 plus weeks. He came right up to me. I gave him some Gatorade mixed with water (I have sugar gliders) and some apple. He became lethargic and passed a few hours later. Did I kill him??

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Eden Hernandez HELP
9/3/2019 03:56:36 pm

Hi everybody, I found an orphaned squirrel that fits in the palm of my hand last Thursday by the side of a lake, lying there in the sun with no mother or nest nearby so I took him in. He had a small spot of blood by his ear and neck so i guess he was attacked by a cat or dog.
After cleaning him up I noticed he was covered in bugs and fly eggs 🤮 But looked otherwise healthy.
I rehydrated him, warmed him up and started feeding the next day with epsilac (puppy milk). He was energetic, pooping, crawling around everywhere.
I wasnt planning on keeping him so long but rehab centers around here dont take squirrels and he also kind of grew on me the sweet lil fella 😏
I ran out of epsilac and gave him some boiled up cows milk, then some vanilla ensure about 48 hrs ago.
He woke up with diarrhea so I gave him a bath and pedialyte, then a few hrs later I fed him some goat milk.
No poop, no real movement though he still grabbed onto the syringe. Oh he just opened his eyes yesterday so hes 5 weeks old.
Is it possible hes depressed after opening his eyes and seeing no mother or family around? Or does he need time to recover from the diarrhea? Or worst case is he dying????
He was sooo lively in the last few days and couldn't get him to stay in place, then Tuesday morning rolls around and hes just... lying there. Let out a little yelp for the first time too and sounded like hes in some pain.😥
Any help is appreciated! Please hes so sweet and I fell in love with him so thank you for this community and you guys support and squirrel saving 🤗

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Eden link
9/3/2019 10:16:35 pm

Also I wanted to add that the reason I kept switching his diet is bc of all the conflicting info online. (I'm learning as I go and most of my experience is with reptiles)
First site said puppy milk is best.
Another said the formula was changed and is no longer suitable so I switched to heated up cow milk. Then found out that's not enough fat, and vanilla Ensure is the better option.
Woke up with diarrhea and chucked the Ensure down the drain.
Spoke to a vet tech who said the puppy milk is best. Then spoke to a wonderful girl on IG who has taken in hundreds of squirrels who said puppy milk is mostly water and not enough nutrition so I should add whole milk yogurt.
Currently syringe feeding puppy milk with a spoonful of yogurt. Baby is 3.5 ounces and sleeping soundly now , hope he makes it thru the night.
Blessings everyone

Eden

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Dalana Hurlburt link
9/4/2019 05:39:07 pm

Thank you for this article. I tried hard to save a baby squirrel. She was about 2-3 weeks old. She was taking her formula well but suddenly went downhill. I had trouble keeping her warm. She went quickly. I wondered if it was internal, she fell about 2 or 3 stories. But I hoped. Then I wondered if I did something wrong. This makes me feel better. She was tiny and sweet and I got attached too fast. Her brother lasted a few hours. Another dead when we found them. She lasted about 3 1/2 days. It was a sweet but sad experience. Your article made me feel better.

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JR
9/16/2019 10:06:10 am

Same thing happened with mine. Lasted 3 1/2 days after falling. 😢 also had lopsided head so I think she had brain damage as well as internal bleeding. I’m still very sad.

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Eden link
9/5/2019 09:55:26 am

Baby SQ is doing a little better! Ive had my baby for a week now! Hes doing alright I think.
I have a Q for the SQ community- does anybody have experience with colloidal silver? Ive heard great things and wanted to try but have gotten a hard NO from experts in the field.
I want him to have the best chance but dont want to kill my baby !!!

Will hold off til i get more info.
Thanks!

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Amanda
9/5/2019 04:58:15 pm

Is there a way I could speak to someone via phone about care of our rescue? He is passing blood.

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Vanessa Orjeda
9/11/2019 12:37:22 pm

Thank you... I am really heartbroken. I took this baby home it was really weak and although he seemed older it was a little cold for my liking. I kept him warm and rehydrated him all night... 4 hrs after last feeding it died...
Curious enough it would do the same and uncover and move to top... so like you mentioned it was probably from the blunt fall.
Still heartbroken because this morning baby looked way better than yesterday and I was really hopeful. I don't regret trying to keep him alive...
Still sad...
Vanessa

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JR
9/16/2019 10:02:33 am

Thank you for this. I found a baby squirrel on Friday and today (Monday) she died unexpectedly :( after reading this it makes sense, I noticed some darkness in her abdomen that seemed to be moving around, I assume this was internal bleeding. Thank you for making me feel better !

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Aj
10/3/2019 07:35:40 pm

I have been caring for a baby squirrel for almost 3 weeks oh, I asked you made it to be about 5 weeks now. Yesterday he wasn't eating as much as normal and today he isn't moving, has diarrhea, and not eating. I have just been feeding and puppy formula and have been told I was feeding him too much and that it was too thick. Today has been trying to give him Pedialyte but he is not excited about it and only drink small amounts. Is there anything else I can do? I want to save him!

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Aj
10/3/2019 10:09:27 pm

He died a couple hours after I made this post. I'm so sad. On Tuesday he was fine started to walk had his eyes open, Wednesday he was still up and about just not eating very much and kind of spitting out some of his food but I still fed him, and he died on Thursday. I really thought he was going to make once we got past that first week. He was left outside all day hoping his mom would come back for him, but a friend's dog found him, he wasn't wounded or hurt so she brought him to me to care for him he was cold and stiff but after two days he was doing much better. After a week he was pumping up and look healthy.

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Katie
10/4/2019 03:43:42 pm

My husband brought home a baby squirrel last week from one of his job sites from our landscaping company. I have never taken care of a baby squirrel before and our wildlife rehab only takes birds and no rehabilitators responded back to me so we kept it. It’s eyes were closed and I think about 3 weeks/4weeks. I truthfully thought it had died after the first time we fed it. I was giving it pedialyte, then puppy formula w some pedialyte, water while I was waiting for fox valley .She was getting strong and starting to climb all over my hand and even fight me a little when I was getting her to go 1 and 2 which she was going very healthily her feeding at midnight .The next morning,( yesterday)she seemed weak and not as hungry for her first feeding and by second feeding she had climbed out of her covers? She was cold to the touch even though her box was 1/2 on a heating pad, I put her in my shirt and the covered us in the heating pad and she died there. I am so heart broken bc she had come so far and then just suddenly died :( . I was going over everything in my head of what I did wrong and literally bawled the whole day bc of killing her bc I didn’t feed her the right stuff, but baffled why she crawled out of her covers and became cold?This article describes to the t what I experienced and I am so thankful, I just wish I had found this blog sooner than later. In the end I’m assuming she took an internal blow from the fall, but this little squirrel stole my heart so fast, I’m still just devastated she’s gone, sweetest baby, Thankyou for being here and caring! I feel better knowing we loved her and did all we could do to make her comfortable for the week she was here

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Cindy
10/15/2019 05:44:14 pm

Hi about a month ago we found a baby squirrel it was mostly pink with a little bit of hair. I quickly got it warm and began getting it fluids and baby milk. I am a kitten rescuer . I have had this baby squirrel for about four weeks his eyes are open and he’s growing seemed fine. Fine for a squirrel all of a sudden he’s arching his back and crying and biting and running around his cage and then just falling off the sides and almost acting like a seizure or something. He never cried before ever.
he would eat go to the bathroom snuggle stay warm. I just wish I could help him. His name is Scratt. He was saved from a cat.

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William
2/15/2020 09:29:58 pm

Sorry for the late reply! I'm not getting notifications when people comment on my Blog articles.

If he was getting plenty of calcium, my guess would be that something or someone suddenly startled him and he may have rammed his head into the cage or some other solid object causing a closed head injury and seizure-like activity.

I had a squirrel a few years ago that I found paralyzed in the corner of the cage. He had two siblings that he liked to intimidate and exert dominance by chasing them away from food, I think he went to charge one of them that was sitting in a corner, and it moved before he got there and rammed it's head into the corner snapping it's neck. He died of Neurogenic shock a couple days later after a Vet bill for $90.00 which included an exam and a shot of cortisone!

Bill

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Kristy Spikes
10/19/2019 01:45:49 pm

My cat brought me a baby squirrel that was only days old.There was a few small wounds on him from the cat but I cleaned him up and he seemed very healthy otherwise. I did a lot of research and nursed him and cared for him for 8 weeks. I had just begun to wean him and put rodent food, broccoli, acorns, carrots, apples, bananas, shelled walnuts.and a wild mix of hamster/gerbil food which contained mostly seeds and nuts. I snuggled him and he was very vibrant.and sat on my shoulder. This morning I found him laying by the cage door dead. He didn't want his 2nd and last bottle yesterday but I figured he was weaning himself. What did I do wrong? After 8 weeks I thought I was home free. I'm very distraught.

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William
2/15/2020 09:19:00 pm

Hi, Kristy!
Sorry for the late reply! I'm not getting notifications when people comment on my Blog articles!

It's possible that he choked on a piece of food or nut. Squirrel's Incisors teeth erupt before their eyes open, and many people mistake teething behavior as a readiness for solid food. Their molars, (chewing teeth,) don't come in until 8 to 9 weeks.

We don't recommend any solid foods until 8 weeks and to start off with soft things like avocado.

Bill

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Larry Wilson
12/21/2019 09:01:03 am

I found a squirrel about two weeks ago on a window sill. He seemed a bit out of it. I gathered him up and placed him in a cage 24x24x14 or so with a couple sticks of firewood and a small cardboard box with a hole for entrance. I recon the guy was about 7 weeks old. We could take him out and hold him, letting him climb around and sleep next to us.

After about twelve days, he tended to stay in his box, which he had stuffed full of leaves, and seemed fearful of us. Today, thinking he might be dead, I took the cage outside and emptied his little box. The little demon ran around his cage as if being chased by O' Nick himself and finally making his way out scampered up a tree.

I taped his box to the tree and placed his food and water on a small table at the base of the tree. It seems kind of cold out, temps for the next few days range from 39-70. Do you think he'll be ok and should I do anything else for him?

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William
2/15/2020 09:11:51 pm

Hi, Larry!
Sorry for the late reply! I'm not getting notifications when people comment on my Blog articles.

I've seen other's that age make it. Instinctively, he will seek-out other squirrels. He will probably find a den where there are other squirrels who will allow him to sleep with them to keep warm.

I made a YouTube video a number of years ago about how squirrels stay warm in winter.

Bill

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Gina
1/11/2020 08:42:34 pm

Hello William I came across your squirrel nutrition site a few days ago. Excellent advice very informative! I told all my family & friends about you. The cat brought home a baby flyer one very cold morning November 1. Eyes & ears closed no tummy fur. My son thought it was a mouse & not alive he swept it. He opened his pink little mouth so he brought him inside warmed him & managed to keep him alive till I returned home from a weekend trip. No injuries! I took over and became his mom. Rally is doing great. He has a big cage, nesting box and a antler. We had been trying to find him a companion so he want be lonely. Imagine our surprise when a hunter friend called & said they found a baby in the woods. They didn’t want to just leave it there. But, it’s back legs don’t move. And she bites! Not fully understanding. Thought maybe it was just young. Of course we met him to get the baby. Yep she bites only 2 times when I first met her. To my surprise he was right the back legs didn’t move! She just dragged them. Neither did her tail. Her eyes, ears were open and she was fully covered in fur. I thought I could help her. Save her. I still had all my supplies from Rally. I started researching online what could be wrong with her legs and how to help. That’s how I learned of you. I was so happy when you told me you knew Squirell’s that were paralyzed. Can survive. I was blessed with her on Saturday fell in love with her on Saturday! I prayed and thanked God so many times! Every time I pulled back the baby wash cloth to pick her up and feed her I thanked God again. Only eating by drops at a time. It didn’t take long for her to start wanting that Syringe of milk. After 4 days I thought we got this she is doing better. I believe her little toes were starting to curl. 1-9-2020 Thursday I thought I was feeling something softly touch me while feeding her. Then I saw it her tail was actually moving. I was so excited! This had to be a good sign! I showed my friend she saw the tail move. We were in awe! After that feeding I cleaned her up. And put her in my shirt pocket instead of back in the container with the heating pad.
I thought she was resting. I felt her move around a bit. And every time I peeked at her I thought she was okay. She may have been in the pocket 2 hours. When I reached in to take her out something was not right. She was not okay. She was not breathing. I tried everything I could think of. I am so heart broken. I can’t sleep did I do something wrong? Did she smother? Did she get to cold? Did she not eat enough? I don’t understand what went wrong. I only had her 6 days. I loved her all 6 days! I still have her! I need to bury her, I know this. It’s just heartbreaking! So here it is 2 days later and I am still searching for answers. So I typed in why did my baby squirrel die? Starting reading and see it is you. The person who gave me advice earlier this week.
I almost emailed you back to ask. I was concerned about her stomach looking bloated even if it was not feeding time. And under the fur I could see a dark color like black. I thought maybe it was bowel. Bit as the day went on it looked like it was getting bigger. What do you think could have happened? I wish I could have saved her.
I hope I am doing the right things with Rally.

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William
2/15/2020 09:02:23 pm

Hi, Gina!
Sorry for the late reply! I'm not getting notifications when people comment on my Blog articles.

It sounds like it had latent internal bleeding from a failing organ. It probably had a fractured pelvis also. Those will often regain movement as the pelvis heals. You did nothing wrong!

Bill

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Jessica Patterson
2/3/2020 03:44:03 pm

I now have a pinky that has declined rapidly over the last 24 hours. He is lethargic, wont eat and blue. What can I do?

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William
2/15/2020 09:06:42 pm

Hi, Jessica!
Sorry for the late reply! I'm not getting notifications when people comment on my Blog articles!

I'm sure the baby died shortly after you wrote. It is not uncommon, and you did nothing wrong. They get internal injuries when they fall from the nest that don't always show up right away. (Sometimes up to 2 weeks.) They can be fine one day and dead the next, It was not your fault!

Bill

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Dave
3/9/2020 01:47:16 am

Hey William, thought you might like this if you havent already seen it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2210653/The-squaddie-squirrel-Soft-hearted-soldier-nursed-dying-baby-creature-health-feeding-hours.html

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Lisa
3/10/2020 07:36:54 pm

My husband made a flicker nest box but our little squirrel friend who visits us regularly moved in. There's a little video camera in the nest box. Last night we noticed she had had a litter. Today one of the four pups doesn't seem to be moving. What will Mama squirrel do with the dead pup? The nest box seems pretty tight and they could use a little extra room.

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William
3/10/2020 08:40:32 pm

Hi, Lisa!

More than likely she will remove it.

Bill

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Ishita
3/17/2020 01:57:34 am

Today only I lost a two week old baby palm squirrel. It had fell out of a tree and my stray dogs were trying to figure out what it was. It's voice led me to it and I brought it into my home as it was night, four days ago. Yesterday, it was eating so enthusiastically. But, this morning it started twitching and opening its mouth at regular intervals and soon after it died. I had thought it would have died by the first night, so I didn't get attached to it. But as it survived that night and got stronger, I started to hope that it'll be fine. But today she passed away.

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Sanjivni
3/28/2020 01:53:56 pm

Sir,
I heard a few squeaky sounds outside my house, and I found a baby squirrel lying there and it wasn't moving at all though stray dogs were sniffing him. I picked him up and brought him inside. I fed him milk using a dropper and a paintbrush. It started moving but then we saw that he was bleeding from his nose/mouth. We crushed some Combiflam too and mixed it with milk. It was having some trouble in gulping the milk. He tried to move but not as such. He was in my hands the entire time, which I had covered using a plastic bag. And a few minutes later while giving some milk, it kinda froze, the milk came out of his nose and the heartbeat slowed and he passed away in my palm.
What else could I have done, sir?
I am feeling terrible about it. I have wrapped him in cotton and am hoping that he is just unconscious from the medicine and will wake up but I know the truth. It is so so painful. This was the first time I held a squirrel. I hope he is in a better place. Could it be that I fed him too much?

Regards

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William
3/28/2020 04:50:39 pm

Hi,Sanjivni!

So sorry to hear that you lost a little one! These things do happen. In the future, make sure the baby is warm to the touch before feeding. Always hold them with their head up while feeding and go very slow. If formula comes out of their nose, turn them head-down right away and allow gravity to prevent it from going into the lungs. If it had blood coming from it's nose, it probably took a hard hit to the face when it fell from it's mother's nest. When their sinuses have a blood clot in them you have to be extra careful about feeding because they are unable to breathe while nursing and you must pull the dropper or nipple out of their mouth to allow them to breathe between swallows.

Not every baby makes it and I appreciate your efforts to try to rescue it!

Bill

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Sanjivni
3/29/2020 01:58:20 am

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.
I will keep these points in mind if I ever face a similar situation again. The only thing which makes me feel better is the fact that I gave it some Ganga Jal (water of the holy Ganges river) minutes before he passed away.
Today, when we went to bury him, there were droplets of blood on the cotton in which he was wrapped. He had indeed injured himself from the fall.
Hope he is in a better place. Thank you.
🙏

Cali
4/15/2020 09:10:57 pm

Hi,

5 days ago a squirrel fell out of a tree in my backyard and I saved him from my dogs eating him. He fell about 30-40 feet. I think he was probably around 7 weeks old and I was feeding him formula. He was fine earlier today when I fed him then 4 hours later when I went to feed him again he was cold and barely moving. I tried to warm him up using a heated blanket and he did warm up but still died. I heard him screech so I went to check on him and he had his mouth wide open and looked like he was dry heaving then stopped breathing. Do you think he had internal injuries from the fall which caused his death? I hope this was not my fault :(

Thanks,
Cali

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William
4/15/2020 11:16:15 pm

Hi, Cali!

First, let me say how sorry I am that you lost this little one and was denied the chance to have it grow-up and join it's relatives in your squirrel community and be a backyard friend to you! It is really a life-changing event. God Bless You for your efforts!

The answer to your question is "yes," it had an internal injury. From what you described, this is probably what took place:

It was probably either the liver, a kidney, or the spleen that was bleeding inside the organ.

As my blog article revealed, their internal organs are encased in a tough membrane called "fascia." It probably had a pretty significant bleed inside the organ which built-up a significant amount of pressure, ( Picture a water balloon filling on a faucet and then bursting.) When the organ ruptured, it flooded the space where the abdominal organs are,( the peritoneum,) with blood.

When you heard the sudden squeak, that was probably when it ruptured. It's a sudden, sharp pain. Blood in the peritoneum causes severe nausea and uncontrollable vomiting. The organ was probably leaking some blood prior to rupturing, so it's little body was shunting blood from the surface of the skin to try to compensate for the leaking blood. This makes them feel cold to the touch and difficult to warm. It's called hypovolemic shock.They get lethargic and go unconscious.
It is actually a merciful way for them to die. Because the rupture happens suddenly and it is over. Slow leaks can go on for hours and days and you have the nightmare and frustration of having an animal trying to vomit and losing control of it's bowels and bladder and not being able to help or comfort it. It's a traumatic experience, especially when children witness it!

I always tell those who write, that the baby received more love in it's short life, than it ever would have received dying alone out in Nature, and for that, I thank you!

To some people I've suggested that they check with local Rehabbers who sometimes get a glut of babies that they are willing to foster-out a baby or two to raise and release. These are usually healthy babies that have long past the two weeks that I recommend people wait and try not to get attached. So, if you are so inclined, and have the equipment, that would be a possibility.

It's actually better to raise two because they are easier to raise and release because they have each other to bond with so that they don't think they are tiny humans. Sometimes a single one is difficult to orient to outside and are terrified when they are first introduced.

Thank-you for writing!

Bill

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Jackie
4/27/2020 04:48:54 pm

Sadly I just lost one Clyde, a few minutes ago. He was fine earlier today but when I went to check on them, Clyde was barely breathing. Very sluggish, lethargy, weak, not active and spunky as always. I placed him in a blanket from his nest and held him on my lap, he passed within minutes. He was not alone but Im very sad he passed. His brother, Daniel, is still alive and well, headed to the Wildlife rehabilitation tomorrow for further care.

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Tiffany
4/29/2020 12:07:42 pm

We found a squirrel about 9 weeks he seemed like he was hurt came up to us wanted to be held he was covered in fleas I was scared at first because I didnt know if baby squirrels carry diseases from fleas or anything but we bathed him in dawn dish soap gave him some water he was cold and seemed to be hurt so we held him in a warm blanket made him a box he ate a little and drank but the morning he was having a hard time moving and in the next two hours he passed away so we buried him I was glad he passed in peace because he looked hurt and the mom left him

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Kailee
5/6/2020 12:00:58 am

I have been a vet tech and rehabilitated many baby animals of many species. This was my first squirrel. He was fine and eating well. Small play, lots of sleep. Then one night he stood up and screamed!!! 30-40 seconds later collapsed dead. What the hell could this be?

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William
5/6/2020 07:21:53 am

Hi, Kailee!
That is what this Blog Article deals with. These types of death are almost always due to injured internal organs that the babies suffer in their fall from their mother's nest. Their internal organs are wrapped in a tough membrane called fascia. If an organ is injured bad enough to bleed internally, the fascia will keep the bleeding contained within the organ until it either fails or ruptures. When a organ ruptures death happens rapidly. The scream was when it ruptured and the animal quickly goes into into hypovolemic shock and dies, The tablespoon full of blood in the circulatory system fills the peritoneal cavity and when there is no more blood for the heart to pump, the heart stops and they die.

There is nothing that anybody could do to prevent it and squirrels are very good at hiding it. The main take-away from it is that you did nothing wrong! You would not believe how many rehabbers there are who lay a guilt trip on people that have this happen blaming them for everything under the sun as to why the baby died!

Two of their favorites are, "You fed it the wrong formula!" Or, "You should have taken it to a licensed Rehabber so this would not have happened!"

The fact is, it would have happened to them too, but many of them are so arrogant and condescending that they would have convinced themselves that it would not have happened if they got the animal sooner!

Don't let anybody try to convince you that you did anything wrong because it is not true. Tell them to talk to me, I'll set the straight!

Thanks for caring!

Bill

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Jennifer Jenkinson
5/6/2020 03:57:19 pm

Thank you so much for this article! We just lost the little guy we were caring for and are very sad. I was afraid maybe it was my fault. We are sad. Your article helps.

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Candy
5/19/2020 07:06:17 pm

Thank you for this article, although my heart is just as broken. I found a little squirrel about 6 weeks old back in March, had been raising him and he was thriving, had become a beloved family pet. My baby. Went with me everywhere. Played with us like a cat does. Made nests and hid seeds and nuts in all the couch cushions. Had a nice little squirrel habitat in his cage that he stayed in at night or while I was at work. Woke up today to find him lying on the bottom floor of the cage, dead. Blood coming out of his nose, mouth and left ear. No other apparent injury. He had been fine 6 hours earlier when I went to bed, running around and eating as usual. My kids and I are just devastated. We loved him so much and will probably never get the chance to get another one. 😭

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William
5/19/2020 07:55:00 pm

Hi, Candy!

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss! I know how devastating it is!

Since there was blood coming out of the nose and ear{s} that sounds like a basil skull fracture.

Young squirrels are so full of energy that sometimes they take off on the dead run. When they are in a cage, sometimes that results in injury when the hit the cage wire.

I had a young male not too long ago that liked to charge at his brother and sister to keep them away from the food, One day, he charged his brother who was sitting in a corner, The brother moved, and he rammed his head into the corner which snapped his neck! He was instantly quadriplegic and died a short time later of of neurogenic shock.

It's an unfortunate fact-of-life in the squirrel world!

Again, I'm very sorry for your loss!

Bill

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Leah
6/3/2020 08:10:55 pm

My little Peanut was fine when I left for this morning. We played, had breakfast, a very healthy diet, I live with my mother and she played with him in the early afternoon And gave him his life lunch that he has been eating for 12 weeks. I come home from work at 6 and he's gone. He did fall out of the tree in the front yard, but I did everything correctly, what happened? Last night we played nose sugars and kiss that belly. I had Peanut so take he knew his name.

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William
6/3/2020 08:33:06 pm

Hi, Leah!

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost Peanut.

I'm not sure what he may have died from since you had him this long.

Sometimes they do things and injure themselves which sometimes ends in death. I had a squirrel that was chasing his sibling and he rammed his head into a corner of the cage and broke his neck.

Again, I'm so sorry for your loss! I wish I could be of more help!

Bill

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Leah
6/5/2020 06:02:02 pm

Mr. William, the only thing I can tell you is that when he would sit and eat his belly was fat. I mean pudgy fat. He would hang like a monkey in his cage and I had a 3 story with ramps cage for him. It was huge. Mr. William I'm scared I did something wrong.

Urmila
7/23/2020 11:51:56 am

Hello..
l am Urmila...
As we know india is a mother of spirituality....l had a squrrl which I found him long ago and named him as Montu...
Since he was little big he eloped after few days...
Later from same montu mother we got one more baby called chintu..
He was so small ..
I nurtured him...
l was so attached to him even he too...
But suddenly his health was upset l couldn't see him that he wasn't passing motion and it was very bad infection and bad odour...
We took him to rehab and they admitted him...
Next day he was dead...
Same way 2 days back I got a squrrl...
Which was very active...
He had only milk but very active was not able to hold him...
He was running and hiding all over...
One day completely he didn't eat anything...
But today night l searched with lot of difficulty and found him...
Then l feed him with milk...
But after that actively he was playing...
Later I taught should feed him some more milk and took him and he ran away..
With help of my nephew caught him..
She told it has got hurt for leg..
Then when I took him he was so tired...
Checked his leg it was fine...
Then started to feed he was not drinking..
When I noticed.. he was not breathing...
But suddenly started to breath from mouth...
I started to press his chest...
Then he increased rate of breath.. l too increased rate of pressing...
Then l found him dead in my hand...
Felt very bad...
As we know india is a land of superstitious beliefs..
My mom and pappa started scolding me as it's Karma...
Please am depressed...
Some one help me 🤔😲😓😞😛😓😔

Reply
William link
8/21/2020 09:36:31 pm

Hi,Urmila !

Let me first say that I am very sorry for your loss, and to apologize for taking so long to respond!

I was not sure how to respond to your email at first because I respect you and even the views of your mom and poppa.

Please understand that your parents do love you and their remarks about Karma came from a concern for your well being based upon their own understanding of Karma.

One of the most important things I learned in College had nothing to do with my degree in the Medical Field. The most valuable thing I learned came from English Literature 101 my Freshman year. I had a really good teacher who had us read some of the classic poetry and would have us come to class prepared to discuss our own interpretation of what we just read.

Our term paper assignment was the take the poem by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken" ( http://www.aestore.in/image/cache/71LE8GjERQL._SL1020_-800x800.jpg ) and interpret the meaning based on what "WE" believed it meant.

I had just completed a year at a Bible College, so I wrote my paper based upon what I believed regarding the choices we make in life determining our outcome. My instructor held and opposite view from mine, and challenged me on my views. The thing is, we both respected each other's views and ultimately agreed to disagree. He could have given me a failing grade on my term paper that would have caused me to have to repeat this mandatory class. Instead, I got an A+ for the course. He told me that even though he disagreed with my interpretation, it was valuable for both of us to see, and respect each other. That understanding and accepting our differences was a better way to live a life!

My opinion of what you did for Chintu was based on four qualities that you posses! Compassion, faith, hope, and love.

You had the compassion to see a baby that was in need of help.

You had the faith to believe that you were able and willing to try to help this squirrel.

You had hoped that your efforts would lead to a good outcome that Chintu would live.

And above all, you loved Chintu enough to put forth the effort to try to save his life.

It's my opinion that you did nothing that a doctor or nurse would not do for anyone they cared for. When I worked in the hospital, not all of my patients survived. I always did my best to do things to help them get better and live. But, I had to realize and accept that I am not God who ultimately determines when it is time to die.

That alone removes and shifts responsibility from me to God in regard to when it is time to die!

I think your ultimate motive for Chintu was because you loved that little squirrel, and for that, I nor God would find any fault! First Corinthians chapter 13 says it better than I.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13&version=NLV.

Thank-you, Urmila for loving one of God's most magnificent animals! You gave it more love in it's short life than it ever would have received dying alone out in Nature!

My love and prayers for you!

Bill

PS: If you ever need my support or have further questions you can always reach me at SquirrelHelp@Gmail.com!

Reply
carla
8/7/2020 09:55:03 am

Thanks, i am so sad about my squirrels passing this morning, all your comments helped me greatly, i woke up to feed them and they were dead. I had them exactly a week, i thought we were over the hump.

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Emily
8/21/2020 04:28:45 pm

Thank you for making this blog full of wisdom and encouragement, Bill. I took care of a pinky that I found cold & alone at a botanic garden in Colorado. The security and workers didn’t worry about this newborn squirrel & they were just going to call animal control to come “check it out”. I researched a few rescue places, but there weren’t any liable options. My boyfriend and I waited a while, and decided to get him warm and fed because the evening was coming soon and we didn’t want him to freeze or starve. We cared for him for a week, waking up every 2 hours to feed him & making sure his heating pad & blankets were keeping him warm. We watched little hairs come in, his ears, whiskers, and eyes (behind the skin) get bigger, and gave him so much love. He was using the bathroom regularly & we stimulated him too. We weaned him onto puppy milk after rehydrating him with a pedialyte & water mixture, and then rotated mostly using the puppy milk. This little guy was a trooper until this morning, he was pale & spread out, yet still warm from the heating pad & blanket. Squirt didn’t make it like I hoped and prayed for. I’ve been crying all day and searching for answers about what I did wrong. I never knew I could love something so much and if I hadn’t found this website, I’d still be running through the possibilities of what I did wrong. I’d like a full guide of baby squirrel care if possible because I know my mission isn’t over. I was discouraged, but after reading this website, I’m reassured that I’d love on creatures millions more times before ever letting them suffer alone. I want to learn so much and save some lives on my journey! Thank you everyone for sharing! Sending love and compassion to you my friends. It’s beautiful to have people that care for nature too! 💜

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Suzy Andrus
9/1/2020 02:26:37 pm

I have a three-ish week old baby for a little over two weeks now. Over the past few days, all I've been doing is treating a revolving issue of constipation and diarrhea. As soon as I get one cleared up, it's replaced with the other. Right now she's on Esbilac puppy replacement. I just ordered the Fox stuff for "eyes closed" babies, but it won't be here for a few more days. I've done the whole "skip a feeding", "give pedialyte", "dilute the formula", etc. which resolves one issue but brings on the next. I've also been on the squirrel board where I was met with exactly the type of people you described above. Absolutely useless and unhelpful and completely full of themselves. So I never did get the advice I'm seeking. I'm not new at rehabbing orphaned animals, but it's always been baby birds or puppies, so this baby is new to me. However, I don't think I'm so inept that I need take her to a professional rehabber...at least not yet. My goal is to soft release this girl one day but can't do that if she's dead :/ Any suggestions on how to fix the cycle of C to D? Thanks in advance! I know you're probably busy so I appreciate even the consideration of replying.

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William
9/1/2020 06:54:41 pm

Hi, Suzy!

I'm sorry for the trouble you are facing with your new baby! It sounds like there may be an intestinal infection. Cryptosporidiosis (Crypto'), and Giardiasis kills a fair number of baby squirrels in the nest because their mothers usually drink out of stagnant water and have built up an immunity to them. Even if waterborne illnesses do not pass through the mother's milk. they still come back to the nest or den with wet fur. Babies root all over their mother early in their life and can pick up these diseases.

In addition to giving electrolyte solution I like to give a few drops of 10 to 20 PPM Colloidal silver 3 times a day for a week and I add a half cc of Plain yogurt with live cultures to each syringe when I feed.

If s baby is really sick, I give the Colloidal Silver via a Nebulizer.
It gets into the blood quicker! If there are intestinal parasites, the colloidal silver will kill them and help settle-down the inflammation.

It is not uncommon for baby squirrels to die suddenly due to occult internal injuries to abdominal organs. Read this Blog article I wrote a number of years ago. It is one of the most read articles I ever wrote. It literally thumbs the nose to the arrogant, know-it-all rehabbers who love to blame every death on feeding the wrong formula!

Keep me posted on your baby's progress!

Bill

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William
9/1/2020 06:57:32 pm

Sorry, I forgot to include the URL: http://www.squirrelnutrition.com/blog/why-did-my-baby-squirrel-suddenly-die

Bill

Suzy Andrus
9/2/2020 06:22:54 am

Thank you so much for replying! Hopefully I'm not taking advantage of your willingness to respond :P I wanted to follow up with a few questions. I picked up Greek plain yogurt with live cultures just now on the way to work (I bring the baby with me to work and keep her in my hoodie pouch all day, unbeknownst to my students :), and wanted to know if I need to heat it up along with the milk, or add it to the syringe unheated. They didn't have the colloidal silver so I ordered some from Amazon and it'll be here tomorrow. Do I just add the drops to the unheated milk then heat it up as well? Which brings me to another question...on the squirrel site, they said you should never heat up the milk formula in the microwave...is that true? Being in a school building, it's really my only option during the weekday since there's no sink with hot water.

So right now, the baby is constipated after a huge blowout yesterday morning. No poops since then :( She's still very active when it's feeding time and she's a little piggy so hopefully that's a good sign. Plus, she's never been bloated. I weigh her every morning and she's consistently gaining weight. She started at 42 grams when she was given to me (she was outside the school building covered in ants). Right now she's at 112, which is up around 8 grams from yesterday. I'm pretty sure she's three weeks old because her ears opened two days ago.

Anyhow thank you again for your time! I really do appreciate it!

William
9/2/2020 08:44:49 am

Hi, Suzy!
Good to hear that the baby is still alive! Lots of women carry their "Pinkies" to work. I laugh about the well endowed ones who keep them in their bra or cleavage, but it works well!! :>)
Microwaving milk is not a good idea because it heats by exciting the molecules from the inside causing them to explode. There is a school of thought that believes that it changes the molecular structure of food and they believe that it makes what they call,"Frankenfood."

The Yogurt should not be heated beyond warm to keep the acidolphilus alive to populate the gut. You could take a small zip lock bag and put a small quantity of formula and a teaspoon of yogurt in it. Seal it and shake it well and slip that into you bra. It would be kept at body temperature which would be perfect.

I've done the same in Winter when my wife and I take babies to schools and Nursing Homes to give squirrel talks. When my wife is not able to go, I carry it in my shirt pocket inside my coat. When I get to the point of showing how we feed them, I pull it out and carefully draw out what I need.

You can add Colloidal Silver to the formula or give it direct into the mouth. You will not overdose them on it because all colloidal silver is, is nano-particles of pure .999 silver in distilled water. Silver is inert in the body and the liver and kidneys excrete it the same way it does any trace metal minerals like selenium, magnesium, iron, etc. What our Government and Big Pharma' does not want modern humans to know is that bacteria, viruses, and fungus cannot live in the presence of pure silver. It has been used for thousands of years to treat disease going all the way back to Ancient Chinese and Ayurveda Medicine. One "biggie" the CDC does not want to get out are the studies around the world that have proved it to be effective against SARs and Covid viruses. My wife and I have taken it for over 20 years and we have never gotten the flu in that period of time, If we feel a cold coming on, we take extra, gargle and swallow, spray our nose with it and even breathe it in through our nebulizer or have our kids put it in their kids cool-mist vaporizers when they catch a cold.

If you send me an e-mail at squirrelhelp@gmail.com and request a copy, I'll send you a study out of Italy about it working on Viral activity! Whenever there is anything published about it in America they always refer to it as AgNP. Ag the Atomic symbol for Silver, and NP for nano-particles. They don't want people to make the connection with Colloidal Silver!

Bill

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Suzy Andrus
9/2/2020 10:37:24 am

So besides the potential for extra attention ( :P ), how long will the mixture last in my bra without going bad? And during her 10:30 feeding today, I noticed one eye starting to open, making her older than I thought. Yet I ordered the Fox formula for the eyes closed babies. Can I still feed that to her or should I go ahead and invest in the eyes open formula?

And I will e-mail you for the article! I just can't imagine the powers that be trying to manipulate information (sarcasm!) I've got a pretty large bottle of the silver stuff coming so maybe I'll use it myself as well as for the baby.

Ok I promise not to bother you anymore with my questions! Thanks again!!!

Reply
william
9/3/2020 08:13:55 am

OK, Your baby was probably born July 29. I count back 5 weeks from the day the first eye opens to set the date of birth. So, your baby is 5 weeks old.

The formula will be fine through the day as long as you don't grossly contaminate it when drawing it up. Baby squirrels are born in filthy conditions and manage to survive. Their immune systems are stronger than any humans!

I don't comprehend the "eye-open" concept. Squirrel breast milk is up to 24 % milk fat according to this OSU study: https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/5665/V72N01_003.pdf?sequence=1. Every commercial formula I have studied start with skim milk and go downhill from there.

I don't make a big deal trying to get people to switch formulas, but I can tell you that most commercial formulas are more about making a lot of money for the company, and far less about optimal nutrition!
See: http://www.squirrelnutrition.com/blog/should-i-feed-a-baby-squirrel-commercial-formula.

Sorry about the e-mail I sent requesting what article you were requesting. I get tons of e-mail during the two birthing seasons per year and they all bluer together when I am responding in the middle of the night. I see above that it was the study out of Italy you were requesting!

Bill

Suzy Andrus
9/29/2020 08:06:45 am

I appreciate your help! I wanted to give you an update on the baby. I took your advice and started her on colloidal silver and active yogurt in her milk. Her poop issues resolved almost immediately and three-ish weeks later she's still doing great! My goal is to keep her through the winter and begin a slow release around March or April, depending on the weather. I'll miss her terribly but the thought of forcing her into a life of captivity is only selfishness on my part. Again, thank you for all your advice, you were a God-send!

William
9/29/2020 09:26:04 am

Hi, Suzy!

That makes me very happy to hear that your squirrel is doing great! You will not regret releasing her in the Spring! She will not forget you as long as you maintain a daily time with her to feed and interact with her. What will break your heart, is the day she stops showing up! That will be the hardest goodbye, ( short of a spouse or relative dying,) that you will ever face.The hardest one for me was losing my blind Lucky girl after having her 12 years and 43 days!

Congratulations on your successful rehab!

Bill

Pamela
9/3/2020 07:47:45 am

So I found probably a day old pinky in the ditch by my house and have had it for 3 weeks, well tomorrow would of made 3 weeks. He ate well through a syringe and nipple up until last few days I noticed he wasn't eating as much. Well this morning I went to feed him and he was gasping for air, mouth slightly opened with the tongue able to be seen. I scooped him up trying to stimulate him and breath and rub as I have done saving other baby animals. And unfortunately he took his last breath in my hand. 3 WEEKS I HAD HIM, I THOUGHT WE WERE IN THE CLEAR! sadly not. Reading this has helped me understand that it was nothing I did. It sucks cuz you can't help but get attached to them.

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Anita
9/7/2020 10:39:13 pm

Had a baby squirrel for about a week and a half. He was around 6 weeks old and doing good. Then he just went down hill today. He died on my chest tonight. I am so sad. Reading the post here let me know it wasn't anything I done wrong. I was already so attached even though I knew better.

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William
9/8/2020 07:01:32 am

I know what you mean! I shed a tear when they arrive at our facility and die just a few days or hours after arriving. I say a little prayer and ask God to please put them in a garden close to where I'll be, (I can hardly wait to see my Lucky girl who died April 29th, of this year 2020. She was my blind companion for 12 years and 43 days. I miss her so!

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Kai
9/9/2020 01:11:15 am

Hello William,
I am very concerned my baby squirrel might be getting worse. Would you be able to look at the case via email?
Thanks,
Kai

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Dawn
9/15/2020 10:30:25 am

Hi, I found 3 baby squirrels in my backyard crying for their mom. One was in bad shape when I found him, the other two were pretty good. I fed them some boiled water with sugar and a pinch of salt right away as I could tell they were dehydrated. I then put them in a box with thick towels and a bottle of warm water to warm them and placed them back by the tree in hopes that the mom would come get them. I went back out before bed and replaced their warm bottle and fed them a little more of the water. In he morning the one had passed away and I still wonder if I could have done more for him. The other two I warmed up and fed some more water. I went and purchased the puppy supplement and mixed up a weak feeding and called around. I ended up dropping them off at a place that said they would take them. I would have loved to keep them but am traveling the next two weekends and didn't have anyone that would take them and care for them. I have been grieving them all so terribly. I am one of those people that fall in love with all animals so fast. I want them back so bad it aches but I know that I am not knowledgeable and if they both passed I would grieve all the more. I just cant help wondering if they are being taken care of and loved the way I would have loved them. I hope this feeling goes away fast because I'm tired of crying all the time. My husband doesn't understand. They were incredibly sweet and such good little eaters. I will remember them and miss them forever. So even though two of them (a boy and a girl) were still alive and looking good I feel like I lost them. :-(

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Liz Alderson
9/24/2020 08:31:59 am

Dear William
Your website was just what I needed. Ive had my little baby squirrel CHIP for 5 days and he was doing so well. funny, happy and full of life. This morning, he ate a good breakfast of the Royal Canin food and he had a lovely little cuddle with me, but he did seem a bit sleepy, so I put him to bed and when I went to feed him and sit with him tucked in my sweater (ive been doing this every afternoon since i found him) he was really really cold and very weak. He died tucked in my sweater and at least he didnt die along. Obivously I am so very sad and I couldnt help getting attached to him. We have been through so much together in 5 days, its hard not too. But your words nad your article are wonderful to hear. I am so thankful for your words. He was a lovely little chap and I hope he gets chance to come back down to this wonderful earth. thanks for making me feel better about my grief XX

Reply
Kathy Waddell
10/1/2020 11:11:55 am

Dear Bill, 4 weeks ago I found a nest blown out of a tree with two baby squirrels in it that were cold. Actually, I realized later that the babies were premature, didn't even look like new borns yet. One was very badly injured in the face and died shortly. Because my son had recently saved a baby I was already familiar with the rescue process and began trying to save the other one. Warmed her up, started with homemade rehydration fluid, stimulated her to pee and then gave her goatsmilk formula. She was doing well except her poop was a little soft. She had a cripplrd leg, but was the strongest little trouper, very wiggly and a "guppy " feeder. She was developing normaly except about a week late. Then one night when she was about 1 1/2 weeks she started to bleed from the rectom. When I stimulted her a large bubble of blood came out and I just knew I was going to loose her. I said goodbye and held her on my chest for 4 hours so she wouldn't die alone in her box. She never settled down against my chest so I decided she might actually be more comfortble in her box since it was familiar. I was totally expecting to find her dead in the morning, but she was still alive. She ate and never bled again. Another time she started to have white soft poop, but I got that under control. I decided if she made it I would name her Miracle. Afterr that she never had any issues and was thriving except she was too thin and her poop was not seed, just one semi soft piece. I started her on Fox Valley to see if she would start to gain weight, which she did, and her poop turned into perfect color little seed. She was thriving and developing. Since I had passed the 3 week mark I named her. Then one morning she was lethargic and wouldnt eat. My so said she looked dehydrated and got her to take fluid. Latrr I couldn't get her to take fluid or formula. Then she got diarreah. I continuid to get some fluid in her drop by drop even though she didnt want to take it. Again I was sure I was loosing her but at 4:30 am she was still alive and I gave her more fluid. Then at 8:00 I found her dead. The only thing I did different before she went down hill was I had to travel to my son's house about 45 minutes away. I put her box inside a larger well insulted box with hot water bottles and hot rice socks for the drive. Her box was still warm when I arrived. I took her supplies and continued her feeding schedule. I agzin prepared her box for thd trip home. I had to make this trip Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday. It was Wednesday morning that she was lethargic and woulnt eat. I actually think I overfed her Tuesday night and I also could not get her to eliminate. I am wondering if the car trips were to much for her even though she traveled in her box inside the insulated box. Maybe the noise of my noisy engine or csr fumes. She had come through so much, even being premature. She was toughest little thing, and then to just go down hill and die at 3 1/2 weeks. I am so heartbroken, I loved her so much.

Reply
William
10/15/2020 07:52:59 pm

Hi, Kathy!

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your baby squirrel. It sounds to me that there was something going on in the gut that was eventually not compatible with life. Passing blood is not normal, and the up and down roller coaster of getting lethargic then getting better is also not normal. My guess is that it had an occult injury from falling out of the tree.

Traveling with a baby doesn't kill them. When Lucky was a pinkie I used to take her everywhere in my shirt pocket. So, without being able to do a necropsy on the squirrel that would be my best guess!

Bill

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Michele
10/15/2020 02:01:02 pm

My hubby rescued a baby squirrel last month that was trapped in our wall. We kept him in a cage bcuz he bonded to my hubby Jim right away and didn't wanna leave him. So we named him Lucky. He was well fed nd well taken care of even Jim gave him a bath the next day of being rescued nd Lucky loved it. However long story short he passed away yesterday afternoon suddenly stuff as a board. When Jim turned him over there was blood coming from his mouth. His diet mainly consisted of peanuts etc bought from Walmart here in Hamilton Ontario Canada. Plus other goodies like non-salted crackers. Nothing junk cuz we have 2 pet rats too... so just wondering what would be the cause of his death? Ty Shelly & Jim

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William
10/15/2020 08:01:43 pm

Hi, Mischele!

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your little Lucky! You didn't say how old he was when he died, so I can only speculate.

Blood coming out of the mouth or nose usually indicates trauma. Sometimes when a squirrel is startled they can take-off like a bolt of lightening. Sometimes when that happens, they can ram their head into the side of the cage and suffer a closed head injury. Sometimes they just fall from the top of their cage and land wrong on their face or head with the same result.

Not being able to see it and evaluate it makes it difficult to determine the cause of death.

Sorry again for your loss!

Bill

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Shelly
10/15/2020 10:11:35 pm

Hi Bill we think in squirrel age he hadn't even reached adolescence yet... we only had him a couple months & he was only a lil handful in Jim's hand. The only thing that might've scared him is or lol dog (pug x) Bella. She barks at sometimes or barks at our pet rats. So that's about it for all we know. 

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Meghan
11/1/2020 08:21:46 pm

I lost a little one just an hour ago. I'm just so bewildered and crushed. I have had her for more than a month now. She had two brothers when we found her, they passed in the first week or so. She made it through. This week she was estimated 8 weeks or so. She was doing wonderful and taking to real food very well. She was bouncing all around just yesterday. This morning she seemed to not feel great, but ate well. She ate well again this evening, then took a nap with me as usual. About 9pm she became incontinent and faded fast, got weak, then limp... Then short of breath and gone all with in an hour. I don't understand. What changed? </3
I have raised dozens of babies in the past (some years ago) and never lost one. This year all 3 :( She was already turning into a big girl, I don't know what happened.
I understand this internal bleeding issue. Would that still be likely after a month of doing well? She was progressing just as a little squirrel should. She was perfect.

Reply
William
11/2/2020 06:40:28 am

Hi, Meghan!

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss! But, yes, they can have delayed problems. Our last little girl rehab was about the same age as yours when she suddenly had a seizure, She got better and had no seizures for a week, then had another one and died. I have no explanation. But, it sometimes happens and God only knows why!

Bill

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dharanya
11/3/2020 06:12:48 pm

Hi, my Indian palm tree baby squirrel, I gt her when she was 1 or 2 days old, now she is 2 months and I took good care of her, she was active and 2 weeks old. healthy and active.
By last 2 days she is mostly in her squirrel house. Sleeping Al the time and at times comes out and sips water or milk, half a grape. She used eat all the time. I thought its because of cold winter climate. Today morning she had some water, went into her house, came back, and vomited some water with bubbles. am afraid. Pls help me.

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William
11/3/2020 06:53:46 pm

Hi, Dharanya !
I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with your Palm Squirrel!
I would like you to contact my associate in SriLanka. Her name is Shanaz. Here is her e-mail address: cshanaz@gmail.com. I will cut and paste your message and send it to her so you will not have to repeat what you told me. She has a lot of experience with Palm Squirrels and may be able to advise you on what to try.

I will be praying for your baby!

Bill

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Mash
11/29/2020 09:53:40 am

My squirrel baby which I was taking care upto 3 weeks was strong and very active..it was eating apple and having milk...but morning one day when I try to wake up it was dead and eyes were filled wit tears....but why it was dead??????? Pls answer

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William
11/29/2020 06:04:04 pm

Hi, Mash!

First let me say how sorry I am to hear that your baby squirrel died! These kinds of e-mails break my heart!

The short answer to your question is, I don't know specifically why your baby died. That would take an autopsy to look at the various internal organs to make that determination.

What I can tell you is what is the most common cause of sudden death in baby squirrels. And that is the question of; " What happened to the baby before you found it?"

Most baby squirrels fall out of their mother's nest for one reason or another. What you don't know is what it may have hit on the way down, or simply the impact when it hits the ground!

Baby squirrels are tough little creatures that are very good at hiding injury. It's a survival instinct. If an animal acts or looks like it is injured, there are many predators, both bird and mammal, that take notice.

A baby squirrel's internal organs are wrapped in a tough membrane called fascia. Let's say that the liver takes a hard blow from the fall and it starts to bleed inside the organ. The tough fascia will contain that bleeding inside the organ until it either starts to leak blood, or the organ begins to fail.

The baby can look and act completely normal up until that liver either leaks or starts to fail.

If it starts to leak blood they usually die very rapidly because the total volume of circulating blood is only a few milliliters. They quickly go into hypovolemic shock and their heart stops because it has no more blood to pump. They can be fine one day, and dead the next.

If the organ is in the process of failing, the squirrel's appetite is an early sign. They don't eat and drink like they used to. They become less active and sleep a lot!

My first squirrel, Lucky girl, died on April 29 of this year at the age of 12 years and 42 days. She had weak kidneys since she was 2 years old. She ultimately died of kidney failure, The last month of her life. she would sleep 23 hours per day. I would have to wake her up to feed her and had to force her to drink water.

After having raised and released around 80 squirrels in the past 13 years, my guess is your baby died from an internal injury. I've had them die up to 6 weeks after we receive them.

By the time they have symptoms, it is too late. If a Veterinarian tried to do surgery on them, they would die from the anesthesia because their immature liver cannot metabolize the anesthetic gas fast enough.

Again, I'm sorry for your loss, but please don't blame yourself! It was not your fault!

With Sympathy,

Bill

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Des
12/6/2020 09:55:36 am

My baby just died :( she’s 4months old took her to the vet Thursday bc she woke up and her bk legs weren’t working. Told me she had matabolic bone disease due to a calcium deficiency and sent me home with calcium supplement anti inflammatory and pain meds she stated to improve and was seeming better last night at 2am but woke up at 9:30 and she had just died (was still warm and not in Rigamortus)

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Des
12/6/2020 10:11:23 am

POSTED THIS COMMENT SO I COULD ADD EMAIL NOTIFICATION
My baby just died :( she’s 4months old took her to the vet Thursday bc she woke up and her bk legs weren’t working. Told me she had matabolic bone disease due to a calcium deficiency and sent me home with calcium supplement anti inflammatory and pain meds she stated to improve and was seeming better last night at 2am but woke up at 9:30 and she had just died (was still warm and not in Rigamortus)

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Mayur Prajapati
12/24/2020 07:22:41 am

I found two baby squirrels few days ago. I think they were less then a week's age. I found them in a nest built in my cupboard. One was fallen down from nest and other was in nest. I put them back in nest and waited about a night for their mother to return. But no luck. So I thought of feeding them myself. I searched through internet and accordingly i fed them sugar salt water solution for rehydration. And after that i fed them cow's milk in diluted condition. Then i started feeding them ensure formula. Yesterday night i found one of the baby in very odd condition. He was shaking very much. I tried to comfort him with some additional heat but still he was shaking rigorously. I fed him at night. He ate it as usual. I put him to sleep. Next morning i found that his movements were very dull and slow. He was very little responsive and grip was also very loose. And he did not eat anything. And after an hour he totally stopped breathing. He died. I didn't understand what went wrong. After he died i just observe that when i was pressing his belly a little, some fluids were coming out of its nose. I was very sad. I would like to ask for suggestions on feeding my other baby squirrel so it will not happen with him. Please reply me on this matter. I am really attached to the baby.

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William
12/24/2020 10:01:09 am

Hi, Mayur!

The cow's milk you fed, did you bring it to a boil first? Scalding the milk destroys the enzyme Lactase, (milk sugar.) Squirrels are very sensitive to high levels of sugar in their blood because they have a very tiny pancreas that can only metabolize simple plant sugars. Stop the Ensure because that has horrible stuff in it that squirrels should not have. The baby that died was shaking because it was on the verge of a hyper-glycemic seizure.

Keep giving the remaining squirrel your homemade electrolyte solution to dilute out the sugar in it's body and start feeding scalded milk.

Keep me posted on its progress at SquirrelHelp@Gmail.com.

Bill

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Valerie link
1/7/2021 03:17:04 am

William,
I can't tell you how completely broken I've felt until I read your page. I had a baby flying squirrel my cat brought in 5 days ago. She just had a litter of kittens and gave away the last one on Christmas Eve. She brought in the squirrel completely unharmed, she didn't break even break the skin. I think she was wanting him to be her baby as well. I went to the pet store right away. Got everything you could possibly need.. Formula, bottles, baby blankets.. Even sewed him a little bed to sleep on. He seemed to be doing so great and then yesterday he was chirping away ready to feed and all the sudden he stopped breathing. I panicked so I tried giving him air and we brought him back. He then had a seizure and died. I can't begin to tell you how much I have beaten myself up trying to figure out what I did wrong. Not only that but hearing how other people also have gotten attached in 3-4 days. I haven't stopped crying yet. I've never fell in love with an animal so quickly. These are the most amazing creatures I think I've ever had. I hope to get another sometime soon!! Thank you for lifting a horrible weight off my chest knowing I didn't kill him.

Semper Fi!
Valerie

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William link
1/8/2021 11:21:26 am

Hi, Valerie!
Your message moved me to tears! I know exactly the heartbreak you felt over losing your little flyer. I've been there many times! My most recent was losing my Lucky Girl after having the privileged of raising her for 12 years and 43 days. I still cry every time I think about her or walk past her urn on the mantle of my fireplace.

I found great comfort in two passages of Scripture. Matthew 7 verse 11 says," If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" When I get to heaven, I'm going to ask God to give me back my Lucky Girl, because her spirit returned to him when He recalled her. Psalms 104 v.v. 27-30 specifically mentions squirrels, (gatherers): "These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.When you give it to them, they gather it up;when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.When you hide your face, they are dismayed;when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,and you renew the face of the ground." God puts his Spirit into all living animals, and I think that is why many people feel so close to God when they are out in Nature.

It would be nothing for God to recreate a squirrel and put the spirit of Lucky back into it and give it to me as a gift!

There is a pastor who wrote a book about Heaven and included two chapters about animals in Heaven backing it up with Scripture about the covenant that He made with Noah and he mentioned 7 times that the covenant included all the animals contained within the Ark, which included squirrels. SEE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESqIC3J9dI4 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjZ1HYRi4cQ

I have no doubt that I will have Lucky back when I get to Heaven along with the 80 + squirrels I've raised over the years. And, I have no doubt that you too will see your little flyer when you get there!

The most important thing is to know that we are going to get there! I settled that question when I was 13 years old at a Church Camp near Wooster, Ohio. My cabin counselor Jim Custer cared enough about me to tell me that I needed to have Jesus come into my life and forgive me of my sins. I responded to that invitation and asked God to forgive me of my sins and asked Him to come into my life. And He did! It was a very simple prayer that anyone can pray. I just admitted that I was a sinner and asked Him to forgive me. That I believed that Jesus died for my sins so that I could have eternal life and invited Him to come into my life to help me get through this life and to guide me in the ways I should go.

I'm so happy that He has led me into a life of being able to love other people one squirrel at a time. And, I'm very thankful that I have had the privilege of helping you not feel guilt over losing your little one!

God Bless You!

Bill

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seneviratne family
3/20/2021 11:36:23 pm

dear mister ,
we were completley heart broken and devastated and went through a very agonizing moment when our squirrel ,nibbles who was 3 weeks old and we gave him the best of care first with an expensive baby formula .Nibbles died yesterday and the symptoms were exactly the ones that you have described .Me and my brother could not come out of that guilty feeling that nibbles died due to our fault. Thanks to you as we were living in misery ,your article helped us to overcome that guilty -concious feeling that ruined us. At last after reading your article we are convinced that nibbles did not die due to a mistake by us its a great relief because as serious animal lovers ,we were unable to make up our minds.This is not only a great relief to us but also we asure you that in the name of other orphan baby squirrels we will pass this message to everyone who loves and cares for animals .Your sincere deed is greatly appreciated and admired may god bless you to countinue this great service to wipe the genuine tears of actual animal lovers .

theja,ruvini,miyuru
from srilanka.

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Heather
3/22/2021 06:13:13 pm

I have been raising squirrels since 2009, but someone said we do not always know why they die and cannot feel guilty...
But the one I lost today has got me. My high functioning autistic son was caring for them, he has for the last few years while I obtain my master's in nursing. We have been overwhelmed with a very sick potbelly pig and new onset diabetic dog. I realized he had unintentionally weaned the two babies at 6.5 to 7 weeks, and they no longer wanted formula. I have been feeding them lots of veggies and even tried squirrel blocks (they hated those). The girl was doing great, getting bigger, active, and a great coat. The boy is small and thinner but he refuses to come out of the house if we are around. I was going to put them outside but we've been busy. I found her today, blood coming out of the nose and you could see the internal hemorrhaging in the thorax. I immediately moved the cage out, and added calcium supplements. Now the boy is actually outside the house and seems friendlier. I am so sad to say the least.

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Lyndsey
5/27/2021 03:27:07 am

Thank you so much I am so sad today after nursing a 6 week old baby squirrel for 10 days that fell from the roof,I woke up today and he’s passed away. I was so upset thought we had done something wrong with formula. I even resuscitated him a week ago after he was weak and cold outside in a blanket box with hot water bottle. Full of life yesterday climbing up my leg and chirping today we are absolutely devastated I tried several wildlife centres no one would take him or give me advice on how to care for him due to it being a grey squirrel. Thank you so much for writing this article through my tears and blame I realise I did the very best I could to keep him safe warm and fed and I did get attached tried not to be he was so helpless very hard not to. Take care keep up the amazing work.

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Mariel
6/5/2021 12:51:10 pm

Hi Bill,
I found your article at the right time for sure - cause I’ve been mentally and emotionally kicking myself while trying to grieve. Seeing so many nasty comments in squirrel forums or Facebook groups just unmotivated me and made me feel worst even tho it wasn’t comments to me specific but to others who like me fell in love with a orphaned baby and tried their best. I do have a question that is probably silly but it’s the one I’m kicking myself most with.

I had found a sweet little Eastern gray squirrel appeared to be between 6-8 weeks on the pavement far from the orchards by my barn. He had some dried blood on his nose and I assumed either it was heat exhaustion (it was nearly 100 degree out with no shade near where he was) he didn’t seem to wanna move much so I assumed he was already passing. A friend told me to leave him be let the natural cycle take him but I couldn’t leave him to that... same friend kept telling me to take him to wild life center which the ones I contacted would euthanize him since he’s technically an non native species. Maybe that would have been kinder if he was suffering at all from internal injuries. The vets I contacted said they can’t legally work on a squirrel. That was 5 days ago I had found him. I kept warning my kids who are older but still sensitive to be realistic he could still pass (I guess I wasn’t listening to my own words) - after I got his nest set up I did feed him before hydrating him but he wasn’t cold at that time and he seemed to enjoy it. Then I noticed his temp drop and assumed I was letting too much breeze in and made sure to keep a heater going in my room so the draft wouldn’t hit him but kept it low enough he could still escape the heat if he wanted to (he had a small heating I kept his rice socks on the rest of the area he was free to get away from it).

I didn’t think much of it that anytime I pulled him out to feed or let him play that he was hard to keep warm I thought that might be normal. I had gotten him hydrated enough that he almost came back to life... I say almost because he still had a hard time balancing. Climbing over things he’d fall over a lot. I had worried about pneumonia as I had fed him incorrectly the first time as I hadn’t yet watched a hundred YouTube videos as I had that night and the next day because I was determined to save him. I had my “best friend” of course who just kept nailing into me about being negligent by not handing him over to a rehabber because I was putting my kids and pets safety into jeprody because apparently they carry diseases we are certain to contract. Which I firmly believe is hogwash that is used and abused on the inter web to scare people into paying exterminators to remove them. Maybe I’m wrong. But because she publically made me out to be a bad guy for taking him into my home and pushed finding a squirrel expert I began to look harder yesterday and found someone who was going to meet with me to look him over and potentially take him. I’ve rehabbed many animals from baby birds to a grown squirrel (he was bit by a dog and in a couple days he was ready to join the world again) horses etc etc but baby squirrel was new for me. I was feeling sad and like a failure given in finding someone else to take him even tho we bonded and he went from scared to constantly trying to crawl on me or in my chest rather then be anywhere else. But I got a call from my partner he passed yesterday while I was at work before I could meet up with the rehabber. Now I’m mad at myself for not finding one sooner (even tho I had reached out to them days prior and they hadn’t messaged me until the day he passed).
I guess my question is - is there a way to fix their internal bleeding? Or is it an automatic death sentence? Is there ways to help it such as not letting them out to play as much or not picking them up for a certain amount of time...

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William link
6/5/2021 06:45:39 pm

Hi, Mariel!

First, let me say how sorry I am that your little one passed! Please don't beat yourself up because you did absolutely nothing wrong!

There are three key observations you made that pretty much paints a picture of a terminal outcome. First, you mentioned a bloody nose when you found it. That indicates that it suffered a head injury when it fell from the nest. Possibly a basil skull fracture which often caused blood and cerebral spinal fluid to leak out of the nose and sometimes even the ears.

Second, you mentioned the ataxia, ( unsteadiness when walking.) That would fit with a head injury.

Third, difficulty maintaining body temperature. That is usually indicative of either hypovolemic shock, or in this instance, Neurogenic shock. The body shunts blood from the skin to support internal organs. They feel cold to the touch and are difficult to keep warm.

You can tell your "friend" that I said to knock-off the blame game, you did nothing wrong and even the best Vet in the world could not have saved this squirrel's life!! The reason is, that baby squirrels are an anesthesia nightmare. I had my blind female squirrel neutered when she was 5 years old and she had to be on a heating pad during the whole surgery because general anesthesia messes with their temperature regulating center of the brain.

When we have a baby that starts feeling cold to the touch my wife will place them in a small fleece blanket and tuck them into her upper chest to keep them warm and let them pass. There is no magic in keeping them alive in this condition. But, there is love and compassion!

You gave that baby more love and compassion in its short life that it ever would have had dying alone out in Nature! And for that, I thank you very much! You're the BEST!

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Aassa
6/14/2021 05:15:50 am

Sir,
I had an Indian palm squirrel baby. Its upper and lower teeth emerged but yet did not open its eyes. I think I got him when he was 2 weeks old and I had it for the next 3 weeks. He died a month before and I came to know the reason for his death for the article of yours.In Google, its said that an indian palm squirrel baby takes just 15 days to open its eyes. I would like to know the reason for why the squirrel kit did not open its eyes even after the required period.

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Lizzie
6/24/2021 02:08:25 pm

Oh wonderful article! I am feeling so heartbroken. 6 days ago I found two baby squirrels on the side of a busy road. They were terrified and confused, clinging to each other. About 5-6 weeks old. I couldn't see their mother anywhere. They kept running toward me and jumping on my shoe and refusing to leave me. Sweetest little dears.
I brought them home and made a little habitat for them with a hot water bottle wrapped in some fleece and towels. I got them hydrated with water and went out and purchased some esbilac. They both had their upper and lower teeth. Covered in fleas and ticks. I sat outside with them and managed to gently groom them with a small baby soft tooth brush. They loved that and protested when I stopped touching them.
The smallest of the two was not very energetic. It was slow and kept stumbling. When I checked on them i found it gasping for air.. but slowly. It kept stretching out very stiff, arching its back and then relaxing. I could see a heart beat and then I saw it stop. I was holding him against my arm. Poor little guy.
The other one just passed away today. He was doing so well. Eating food, playing. He was awfully sleepy yesterday and just wanted to snuggle. He didn't want to be alone. I had to work today and my spouse called me at work saying he had bad news.. the other one didn't make it.
I feel so sad, embarrassed and ashamed.
Back in the spring I found a newborn squirrel in the shed and the neighbor's cat had killed the mother squirrel. I tried contacting a rescue for assistance. This spring was a very busy year for the rescues in the area and they just returned my call a couple of weeks ago. That little pinkie died after a few days. In this area you need a license to keep wild animals. I do not have this, so that is where my shame feeling is coming from. I try not to get attached but this recent one makes me so sad. If I didn't stop and take them home they would have been hit by a car or mutilated by a lawnmower.

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Togedemaru
7/4/2021 07:45:34 pm

Thank you so much Now I know the death of my pet squirrel (togedemaru was his name) he was 3 months old just died yesterday by vomitting blood 😭

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Kimberly LaCroix
7/27/2021 07:35:48 pm

I really needed to see this today. I've been caring for a baby squirrel for the past week he was a pinky probably only a week old. He was doing well up until today. I could hardly get him to eat anything and he was extremely lethargic. A few hours ago he started making squeaking sounds for a few seconds which he has done before and started moving around. I thought it was a good sign. I picked him up and held him for a minute and then he kind of went limp but was still breathing so I put him back in his nesting box and shortly thereafter he went stiff. I feel so bad like I did something wrong and it's my fault. I have been crying all night. This was my first time trying to save a baby squirrel and I feel like I failed the poor little guy. Rocky was his name. I really did try. I took him to work with me every day and fed him every few hours and constantly checked on him. I became instantly attached and now he's gone.

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Nancy
8/15/2021 03:33:21 am

Hi Kimberly,
Your experience is virtually the same as mine. My little guy, Crash, passed just about two hours ago. I had the same hopes as you. My first little guy. Years ago, I found one crying at night. I covered it up with leaves hoping mom would appear. I went out later and she come to collect it. The next summer a grey and brown squirrel walked right up to me. I believe it was her. While I had limited contact we had a great relationship. I had hoped for the same with this guy. Sad to hear your news, but glad I’m not alone. Now, must find more tissue.

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William link
7/27/2021 09:10:48 pm

Hi, Kim!

Let me start by saying thank-you for caring enough to give of yourself to try to give the baby squirrel a chance at life. Had you never found it, it would have died alone out in Nature. So, from that standpoint, it had more love and caring in it's short life than it ever would have had dying alone out in nature.

I've been where you are dozens of times over the past 13 years of rehabbing and it never gets easier. Baby squirrels have a way of grabbing your heart and they never let go. The Bible says that even a sparrow doesn't fall dead to the ground without the Heavenly Father knowing it. If God takes note of that, He also is aware of the love and care you had for one of His creations. So, your love and care for Rocky did not go unnoticed by God!

The capacity to love and care for all living creatures is something unique to humans only. Most animals care for their own offspring, but rarely do they care for other babies. ( Not impossible, but rare!)

This characteristic can be traced all the way back to Genesis where God gave Adam and Eve "dominion" over all the animals. That dominion was never revoked. It has been passed-on through all generations, Unless a person has a heart of stone, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who would not take compassion upon a helpless orphaned baby animal!

I am so sorry that it did not work out for you to experience the joy and love of seeing Rocky grow to become an adult squirrel and your backyard buddy!

It has been a little over a year since I had to say goodbye to my Lucky Girl after 12 year and 43 day. She was partially blind from birth and was my constant companion for all those years. She had weak kidneys from early urinary tract infections and ultimately died of kidney failure. The last 3 weeks of her life I would often hold her while sitting at my desk answering squirrel mail. The evening she died, I sensed that the end was near, so I picked her up after supper.

She would sleep 23 hours a day due to high levels of uric acid in her blood, and she barely had enough energy to get up and move on her own. At 12:55 AM she suddenly got up off my lap and tried to climb to the top of my head. I caught her just as she was climbing up the right side of my head, It was like someone called her name and she was trying to respond to the call. I'm convinced that God was recalling her spirit and it was a call that she was unable to resist. I cradled her in my arms and told her that it was OK for her to go back to Jesus, At 1:04 AM her breathing became agonal and she peacefully crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I thanked God for all the years I had with her and asked Him that when my time comes I would love for her to be waiting for me on the other side.

"I stand on the promise of Matthew 7:11 "11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? "

For me, that's a promise I can live by and die by!

Thank-you so much for caring!

Bill

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Kimberly LaCroix
7/28/2021 11:01:32 am

Thank you for that lovely reply. It brought more tears for my little Rocky but your acknowledgement and kind words helped. Thank you again!

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Victoria
7/29/2021 01:06:17 pm

I had a squirrel that my husband found outside under a tree. His neck was gashed open and had a nasty wound on his back shoulder. He was being bitten up by red ants and my husband washed him off and brought him. We have him ensure milk because that's what we were told and he was so little that I'm guessing he was born that day or the day before. He passed and he was fine before. Eating the milk didn't cause any problems for him and he gobbled it up. When I checked on him for his next feeding he was looking a little full but still moving so I left him. When I checked on him an hour later his mouth was open and he was massive! His stomach was hard and looked like he was going to pop! I grabbed him and tried comforting him and lightly massaging his stomach to see if maybe he had gas or needed to go to the bathroom. He was gasping for air and died while I was holding him. My question is what do you think caused this? I mean he was so little and did fine on the milk for days.

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William Sells link
7/29/2021 08:29:32 pm

Hi, Victoria!

So sorry to hear about your baby squirrel dying!

I don't know who told you that Ensure would be a good formula for a baby squirrel, but they should be whipped.

The first 5 ingredients in an Ensure meal replacement shake are water, sugar, corn syrup, corn maltodextrin and milk protein concentrate. Notice that three of the five involve "SUGAR," Sugar, Corn Syrup,and Maltodextrin, (a form of dextrose.) A baby squirrel has a pancreas the size of this letter o. An adult squirrel's pancreas is not much bigger and is only designed to metabolize simple plant sugars. The baby probably died of acute hyperglycemia. It was unable to metabolize that sugar load. It was bloated because the high blood sugar created an Illus, ( the bowel stops peristaltic waves.) Usually, severe hyperglycemia causes seizures or unconsciousness.

We make our formula from whole cows milk with heavy cream. To destroy the lactase, (milk sugar,) enzyme we bring the mixture to a foaming boil, (scald it.) This make it perfect for feeding to babies and does not elevate their blood sugar.

Feeding a small amount of Ensure is OK in a severe malnutrition or trauma situations, but it should not exceed 1 or 2 feedings, and I have a feeling that is where the idea of it being a acceptable formula sprang from.

I'm so sorry that you got bad advice because raising a baby squirrel is such a wonderful life experience!

Bill

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Chris
8/5/2021 03:26:14 pm

I appreciate finding this. I found 2 babies that had fallen out of the tree in front of my house, 1 passed almost instantly and the other one who was "fine" earlier I found having breathing problems the next day. Within not even an hour after witnessing this he passed. I'm still really sad that I couldn't save them but I at least feel better knowing I did what little I could to help them feel loved during their short stay here.

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Chris
8/5/2021 03:37:12 pm

And for context, they were both pinky. So new to this world that they still had an umbilical cord.

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P
8/9/2021 06:18:13 pm

Hi!
Came across your site because same as others here, my mom found a baby squirrel in the morning, no fur but not pink, more grey/purple, in the middle of our deck, around it there were pieces of the nest.
It also had a huge bump on top of the head and was bruised (reddish spots) on its back.
We cared for it for 8 hrs, put it inside a sock, and then a box, and wrapped the box with an electric blanket, first gave it couple drops of water and it started moving. Went to the store for a pet nurser bottle and gave it less than 1ml of esbilac. I wet wiped it’s genitals and it did pee and pooped twice. I have a 3yr old and a cat, so I knew it couldn’t stay with us for too long. I looked for rehabs and couldnt find anywhere close.
I found online how to place it in a warm box under a tree to give momma squirrel a chance to retrieve it since it was very young, eyes closed. Left it out there with a cellphone close by emitting baby squirrel sounds for an hour, and nothing.
When I went to check on it I picked it up for a feeding and it was twirling, it gripped my pinky with its two front paws and then it just stopped moving. It died in my hands:( and just figured either the milk or the very high (10+ feet) landing it took on our wooden deck.
This article on your research makes me feel better. Mom said to me it was just too damn hot outside, and it died bc I left baby squirrel out. should’ve I just kept it inside the house it would e lived.
I couldn’t take her “diagnosis” since I had read the temp. they needed was around 95, some sites said 100F. I checked it’s temperature with a no touch thermometer and it was 98.
I couldn’t practice an autopsy(again; toddler and cat in the house)
But anything you can advice me to better assess these types of rescues in the future would be much appreciated. I do have the feeling there could be others not far from the deck.

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Nancy Speiran
8/15/2021 03:19:33 am

Thank you, so much, for this article. The baby squirrel I rescued on Monday, passed away 90 minutes ago. He had stopped being anxious to feed after his morning meal. I had debated about taking him to a rehab, the closest one being 30 miles away. I had a car accident a week ago and didn’t get a replacement car until I’d had “Crash” (my friend’s kids named him) for five days. It was a miracle he survived that long. I believe he was a red squirrel and had crawled out of the hollowed out tree limb only to fall 30 feet to the deck bench where I found him 45 minutes later. The first day he just had water. After that, I just happened to have formula in the freezer that I used until I could get fresh powder and actual nipples. Both arrived Saturday, too little too late. I feared reaching out to the rehab to figure what had happened for the very reason you spoke to. Obviously, I’m heartbroken, I had great hopes of actually being able to raise him. I feel he was under two weeks. His whiskers had just made an appearance. Ears stilled closed and he had fine dark fur starting. Anyway, thank you. I’m glad I stumbled on your post.

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Jack Waters
8/26/2021 05:16:16 am

One of my baby squirrels that I've had for about a week, died unexpectedly this morning. I woke up to feed them & he was curled up in the side of his cage & his mouth was covered in blood. I was using the Esbilac Goats milk formula with them all but 2 of them had very loose stools & a third started getting it as well. I was feeding them less than 5% of their body weight each feeding (the one that passed weighed 90 grams as of noon yesterday & I was feeding 3.5 ML per sitting) & even extended the time between feedings to every 5-6 hours in hopes to correct the digestive issues. Nothing seemed to work so I changed back to Fox Valley 20/50 last night & found my little man this morning. Any idea what might have happened? He was still gaining weight every day even with the smaller amount of formula coming in. Should I have stuck with the Esbilac?

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Wayne
9/1/2021 06:20:13 am

Last monday, God put in my path a baby squirrel, she was on the 2nd step leading down to the laundry room. Barely moving and crying I took her in. I set up a nice warm cage and got powdered puppy milk and pedialyte. She already had fur but just cutting her teeth. I fed her and she bounced back within 24 hours. She did great all week until saturday night, she didnt eat much that night. When I woke up she was passed away to the Rainbow Bridge. I balled my eyes out. I am Greatful to God to have had this gift put in my care. She played with me and wanted to sleep with me all the time, always making little cooing noises, I knewshe was happy and felt safe and Loved.She is buried in my rose garden. I have gratitude that God let me experience this Gift. I am also greatfuI found this website. I did all I could for her and gave her the last 6 days of her life with comfort and care and Love.

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Kelly
9/1/2021 06:14:55 pm

Hi William!
Rescued two baby squirrels around 10am that were being overtaken by flies. Spent two hours removing maggots from each of their ears, with tweezers, and then putting a salve to suffocate the remaining, pulling them out as they came looking for air.
One squirrel died later that day at around 5pm. (I gave her water around 2pm with a full small glass dropper).
Later that night I gave the last one puppy milk following the instructions. She seemed to have been doing well until later the next day, she had diarrhea with a dead worm in it at around 2pm. the worm was very small, clear, with a red core. She also had a bit of blood coming out of her mouth with what looked like a live worm at around 7pm.
I don't know what to do at this point. Ill try taking her to the vet in the morning (its too late right now as I write this). I hope she makes it through the night I don't want her to suffer. She Is sleeping right now and doesn't seem to have any new blood coming out. Is she getting eaten alive by parasites?!
She's been in my possession for two days now.
Thank you William for what you do and making this page.
Hope to hear from you soon!

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William Sells
9/1/2021 08:29:20 pm

Hi, Kelly!

When they are covered with maggots to the point that you describe they probably have and had maggots that entered the mouth and rectum. There is a medicine called Capstar that should have been given as soon as possible. It kills all the maggots externally and internally in 15 to 30 minutes and gives them a better chance of survival. The blood you are seeing is probably from the maggots eating into small blood vessels. There is a very high mortality rate in babies that have them that extensively! But, it is worth trying!

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Tate
9/1/2021 08:37:06 pm

My husband was at a work site, and some people cut down an enormous tree, which unfortunately contained 3 new born baby Eastern Gray squirrels. They fell from a pretty substantial height, but didn’t show any injuries. They can’t have been more than a few days old because they still had little black umbilicals. I have rehabbed young baby opossums before, (and had to tube feed), and althouercdph

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William Sells
9/2/2021 11:50:29 am

Hi, Tate!

Your message got cut-off!

Bill

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Merri
10/3/2021 10:44:58 am

Hello I had a baby squirrel I found I think he was around 5 weeks old because his eyes were open I found him On the sidewalk one night he looked drunk so I took him home and I had him for over a month about five or six days ago he started not using back legs as he had before his balance is also off I came home last night found him passed away I am very sad heart broken actually

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Ranak Mann
11/6/2021 12:27:38 pm

Hello!
I cannot thank you enough for this post. My father rescued an Indian palm squirrel (baby) from a cat’s mouth. He handed it to me to care for knowing that I am an animal lover. This was my first rescue, I fed it round the clock (only cow milk since it wouldn’t accept any form of solids), she was jovial and would snuggle into my palm for warmth. It almost felt as if it imprinted itself on me. It won’t stay for in or on anyone for longer than a second. Everything was going well and I had hoped to help it reach adulthood and release it into the wild. However, yesterday morning I woke up to find her on its back, the lower body was not responding to a pinch, one of the forearms were giving away too. It kept writhing and I found myself to be quite helpless. My only solace was that she held onto my finger tip the entire time knowing I was there for her. When I took her to the vet hoping for a miracle, he confirmed my suspicion of a paralysis. I had to take the difficult decision for them put her to sleep. When they handed me her lifeless body, I was so angry and hurt, not at anyone but at myself. I broke down violently in the aisle holding her. I felt terrible for having made the decision to put her down, I don’t have the right to take a life away but I did. I buried her under a flowering tree and I’ve been lighting a candle for her. My mind keeps returning to her and thinking if I did anything for this to happen. I eventually thought of googling to understand if anyone else has gone through a similar experience and your blog post popped up. Many of the lovely people who commented have narrated eerily like similarities to my rescue.
I’d like to thank you for this piece of information, I can now move on knowing I tried my best.
So, thank you. You’ve helped me.

Warm Regards,
Ranak Singh Mann

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Shela
11/6/2021 06:36:30 pm

Bill, thank you for your lengthy quality information, i was trying to find answers everywhere, the cause of death of my orphaned baby squirrel is indeed of internal bleeeding (days old), when i first stimulated him to pee, he peed blood, i was shocked and so sad, and kept trying to stimulate him because i was afraid it could kill him all those urine thats been unleashed for hours after i found him.. but it seemed like he really had internal bleeding from the fall, otherwise there wont be blood in the pee?

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William Sells link
11/6/2021 10:26:08 pm

Hi, Shela,

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost your baby squirrel!

If it was peeing blood it either had a damaged kidney(s),or the urinary bladder. Either way, there is only a few teaspoons of blood in a baby squirrel. Like the Bible say, "The life is in the blood," your baby died of hypovolemic shock.

You gave that baby more love in it's short life that it never would have had dying alone where it fell! And for that, I thank you!

God Bless You!
Phil 1:3

Bill

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Genjen
11/30/2021 10:00:25 am

Bill,

Really appreciate your expertise. Always frustrating seeing so many people Blame everything on diet. This morning I found my boy Lucky dead. I'm very devastated. About three months ago I was taking out the trash and heard a bunch of crows going crazy followed by a baby squirrel screaming. I was able to get him from the six crows that snatched him from his nest and successfully raise him. Hence the name Lucky. I have two six year old squirrels so I was comfortable raising him. He could only of been a week when I rescued him from the crows. Yesterday out of nowhere he started sneezing profusely. He couldn't stop and it got so bad he started crying out in pain. I was able to comfort him and calm him down til it stopped, then put him back in his cage. This morning I went to give him his breakfast and found dead and bloated, with blood coming out of his nose. He must of passed in the middle of the night because he was ice cold and already bloating. I'm obviously distraught and confused by it, and was hoping you might have some insight. Don't feel like hearing "it had to be diet" and you seem to really know your stuff. Thank you for your time and all the insight.

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William link
11/30/2021 04:46:06 pm

Hi, Genjen!

I am so sorry to hear about your little boy, Lucky passing! And I'm sorry that it has taken a couple days to get to answering, because this time of year, my squirrel mailbox is always full!

I get notification in my e-mail whenever someone comments on my Blog articles. When I read your inquiry a few minutes ago, it brought tears to my eyes because my first squirrel was named Lucky and I rescued her from crows. She passed away on April 29, 2019 after she had been my constant companion for 12 years and 42 days!

I think I may know why your little boy died. I had a similar situation 6 or 7 years ago with a female squirrel named Harriet. She had two brothers, Ozzie, and Ricky, and she was the dominant squirrel in that cage! She ruled everything including the food bowls. We would put separate bowls in the cage just so her brothers would get something to eat! But, what she would do is gobble all of her food down, then go and steal from her brothers!

One day she was up to her old tricks when I went out on the porch to check on them, and she was pushing her brothers out of the way to eat their food. I coaxed her away from them with a raw almond and went back in the house. I checked on them a couple minutes later and noticed Harriet trying to vomit. Being an ER Nurse I noticed that she wasn't breathing so I figured that she was choking on a piece of almond. I grabbed her out of the cage and did a squirrel Heimlich Maneuver on her and out popped a piece of almond. She seemed fine, but to be on the safe side, I put her in one of my observation cages to keep an eye on her. She was fine when I went to bed that night, but when I woke up in the morning, she was dead.

She had aspirated a piece of that almond and it apparently injured her vocal cords or her epiglottis. Her upper airway started swelling after inflammation set-in and cut-off her airway. If I had stayed up later I would have probably hear her wheezing or struggling to breathe, I didn't have any prednisone to give her to combat the swelling, and I certainly didn't have a tiny laryngoscope or animal endotracheal tubes to intubate her, so the death was inevitable.

I suspect that your squirrel had either a choking episode or some food stuck in the esophagus. When it is stuck in the esophagus, that will induce vomiting. If he didn't have much in his stomach, you wouldn't necessarily see a pile of stomach contents, but stomach acid can come up and can get into the nasal passage, and that will induce a lot of sneezing,( because it is acid!) In a panic situation like that, they can also aspirate some of that acid down into their airway and even into their lungs. And, being an acid, it could do the same thing to Lucky's airway that it did to Harriet's! It could also induce a bloody nose from the acid eroding tiny blood vessels.

Again, I am very sorry for your loss! Only other people who have raised squirrels would understand the depth and intensity of emotion of losing a squirrel-friend! I;m one of them!

God Bless You!

Bill

The only difference being hers was mechanical, and his chemical! I think the giveaway was the uncontrolled sneezing, In my 40+ years as a nurse I observed hundreds of people vomiting. Some came out with such force that it would shoot out their nose also. These people almost always went into a sneezing fit because of the irritation

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Genjen
11/30/2021 05:53:24 pm


Bill,

First and foremost, thank you very much for your reply. It was quite quick, esp with how many inquiries you get, so no need to apologize.

Secondly, it's nothing short of serendipitous the fact we both had squirrels named Lucky, we rescued from crows. Im very sorry for your loss too. After 12+ yrs Im sure it was devastating. Not to mention the fact you're the only person I've seen online who doesnt blame EVERYTHING on diet.

I wanted to further explain and ASK (NOT DEBATE OR QUESTION YOU) if you still felt it was the same cause after hearing more.

I'm well aware you're far more experienced then I am, but was hoping that with a little more context you might be able to tell me whether you still feel it was choking, or possibly something else?

With the three of them, I not only always feed them separately, but they all have their own spaces. Bubba and Jabba (the two older ones) taught me a long time ago feeding them together isn't a great idea.

So in the morning I usually let the three of them have their own turn, in their own space, with a full piece of corn on the cob. They each usually take down a 1/3. Then, a few hrs later, give them some kind of dessert, whether it's pecans, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, etc. And usually 4 pieces each, but sometimes 5. Then, through the afternoon, will give them snacks of grapes, strawberries, etc.

But ALWAYS separated.

Yesterday, after having his pecans, as usual, I made sure he drank fresh water, and about an hr later he had that attack.

I'm wondering if it in anyway had something to do w an incident last week. At the time, he was just playing on my bed, wrestling w my pajama bottoms, and got tangled up, then rolled off the bed in them. He had a similar sneeze attack right after, but not as bad as yesterday's.

Again, I'm not questioning you or your knowledge, you clearly know more than most, just wondering if the extra insight brings anything else to mind?

IT SEEMED like there was some type of hemorrhage, esp with how bloated he was, but you know far more than me.

Again, thank you for your time and help.

Sorry for your Lucky as well!!!


Best

Genjen

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william
11/30/2021 07:59:03 pm

Hi Genjen,

First, let me say that I do not take offense to being question. I usually make comment based on symptoms presented vs similar experiences I've had with squirrels.

Now that I have more information, my thought process is going in a different direction.

Since your squirrel fell off the bed wrapped in a pajama bottom, it took away his ability to land on his feet. (Squirrels are better than cats at this feat because they usually fall from much higher heights than cats.)

One probable scenario is that he landed on his head and suffered a severe concussion, ( which is a bruise to the brain.) There are four different areas of the brain that can initiate sneezing, The Medulla Oblongata, the Cerebellum, the Cerebrum, and the Pons.( SEE: https://answerstoall.com/technology/does-the-brain-stem-control-sneezing/)

So, a hard hit on the head can trigger sneezing!

Squirrel bones are very light and thin. There is a good possibility that the squirrel may also fractured his skull. There is one particular type of skull fracture where blood can come out of the ears or nose. It is called a basil skull fracture.

Since squirrels often have delayed symptoms and even death after a fall, it is totally possible that his brain bruise may have started leaking blood and building up pressure triggering his second sneezing episode Then, during the night, had a full-blown cerebral hemorrhage and blood leaked out into the sinus cavity, ( where many basil skull fractures are located!)

The only way to know for sure would be to have a necropsy done and open the cranium to see if it was full of clotted blood!

That's my best guess based on the rest of the information you gave!

Bill

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Sandra
3/10/2022 09:36:39 am

I found a dead squiral in my garden,he was still warm.but dead.It was not a cat wound,it was just blood under his left front paw and on his nose.It has upset me so much.I found your article really interesting,but it went off half way through.but thankyou Sandra.x

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Heather
4/4/2022 12:57:00 pm

My baby was doing great(for 2 weeks)and playing in her new cage yesterday. She did fall about 6 inches into a thick soft bedding but was still acting and eating fine. This morning she was lethargic, gasping for air and cold. She died 20 minutes after I found her, faded rapidly. Could it have been from her fall. She did aspirate a few times while feeding her during the past 2 weeks. I always turned her upside down to drain the formula. I feel horrible because I became attached even though I tried not to.

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William
4/4/2022 06:27:36 pm

Hi Heather,

I'm so sorry to hear that your baby died! I do not think that a short fall on two soft material wood produce and acute injury or death . The baby probably had an occult internal injury sustained when it fell from its mother's nest . These do not manifest right away . It sometimes takes weeks for an internal organ to fail . The outcome would have still been the same . So, please don't beat yourself up over it . Always remember , that baby had more love in its short life then it ever would have received dying alone . Thank you very much for caring .

Bill

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Kaia
4/7/2022 07:01:45 pm

Last night I noticed my 7 week old baby squirrel was very lethargic. I gave him some food he ate a little but not near as much as he normally did. I woke up this morning and he was dead. I had him ever since he was only a few days old. When I found him it was really cold outside and he had fallen on the concrete from a nest that was pretty high up in a tree..could that be why he died or did I do something wrong??

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Pikashi
5/20/2022 08:37:07 pm

Our baby squirrels "Pika -Boo" died yesterday. The mother left the babies and we got the two babies home. They were in our home for 2 weeks, playing, eating and sleeping nicely.
It was a shock and suddenly our babies fell in the eternal sleep. Our love remains forever to our babies. Thanks for the article

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Nimisha
5/22/2022 03:04:34 pm

just 3 weeks back found 3 baby squirrel but one of them was prettiest with bigger eyes than other two and of active and playful nature, today 6 pm he had his milk normally and was playing climbing and running on the bed , after an hour i thought thats enough and i put him in the box again but he keeping peeping his face through a hole in his box as if he wants to play more, at 9 pm when its time for his 7th meal of the day he was sleepy and a bit cold i kept the heating bag and feed the other two thinking that he might was tired, cause he played quite a lot and will be fine until next meal, at 12 when i opened the box I run my hand over him and saying "baby it's time for food" and he fell off the pad cold and shrinked . Its 3 am its raining i burried him in backyard , he is cold and alone there, i don't know what happened can you help me figure out so i can help the other two

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MckinneyVia link
5/23/2022 11:07:27 pm

Awesome content. Thank you for sharing this wonderful information. It was very interesting.

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Jen
6/6/2022 09:54:05 am

Thank you for this post, it has brought much comfort


Artemis —squirrel medicine

A once opened heart walled off
Frightening in this realization as not recognizable to the self

Compartments of the mind storing toxic thoughts like rancid nuts
Severing the heart from the equation

A small frail body
Once held
Warmed the frozen resistance

And love and joy flowed back in
Almost instantly
Unlocking years of sorrow and fear

Showing what was there all along
Reigniting vision of what was once thought to be commonplace
Seeing has nothing to do with the eyes

The heart is the instrument of sight
Love is the key that unlocks doors previously thought closed
Through Gentleness not force

It is said they only find 10% of what they hide
But that is not nature’s oversight
For more trees grow for future abundance
They are wise

Tears forming rivers where you once cuddled
Only hours ago
Knowing the love you brought will stay

Even through your absence and mourning of
A life gone too soon
You increased the capacity of the heart beyond its original volume
To compensate for your loss

A short life carrying so many lessons
Resilience through adversity
Laughter and play
Planning and change
Unavoidable realities of life
Made better because of knowing a squirrel

We loved you

💔♥️

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Sparrow
7/24/2022 10:01:58 am

William,
SO glad I found this site! We found a baby squirrel and nurtured her for 8 days. She seemed weak and wasn't into eating from the beginning, but I thought she was slowly getting better. This morning she aspirated her milk and stopped breathing. I tried everything I could to revive her, but nothing worked. I was so attached to her and felt terrible guilt until I came upon your site. It's amazing how a tiny creature can open your heart so much. She was precious. When I found her she had some blood coming out of her nose so she probably sustained internal injuries. We will miss her for a long time! Thank you for putting this site out there. My heart goes out to everyone who has experienced losing their squirrel baby. They truly become part of the family!

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William link
7/24/2022 07:38:19 pm

Dear Sparrow,

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost the squirrel baby that you found! My wife and I fully know the emotional attachment you feel to these little angels! I've always said, "Anyone who hates squirrels, has never raised one from the time it was a baby!" Over the past 14 years we have raised somewhere around 100 babies, and every time we would lose one to an occult internal injury, we would re-live the same emotions that you are now experiencing.

There is only one thing worse than losing a baby squirrel, and that is losing one that was your constant companion for 12 years and 42 days!

The story is too long to include in this note, but if you would like to read Lucky's Story, I would invite you to read about her and the impact she had on my life! If I had never found her, I would probably have never penned the words that brought you comfort in your situation!

Start at the bottom of my website, http://SquirrelNutrition.com under the heading: "How a Dead Frozen Squirrel Changed My Life Forever!"

From there, go to "Lucky's Tribute Video" that my youngest daughter produced and posted on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/RPtJgUpHQqg

Then, read Lucky's Obituary where I temporarily said good-bye to her:

https://www.cherishedfriendspetcremation.com/obituary/Lucky-Sells

In my grief, God led me to a passage from Psalm 104: 24-35,

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm104:24-35

where He assured me that the spirit of all animals are given by God and taken when he "withdraws their spirit," and that it will be simple for Him to send that same spirit, and recreate the same little body that was my Lucky Girl ! I've read countless accounts of people who experienced death, but were sent back who described being greeted by all their favorite earthly pets when they arrived on the other side of death!

The secret is knowing that when we cross over to the eternal side, that our spirit will be as pure as the spirit of all animals, who according to Psalm 104: 27 are in direct contact with the Spirit of God. It was the disobedience of Adam and Eve that caused fear, shame, and guilt to enter the human race that tainted the human race from that point on! Throughout the Old Testament it was the innocent and spotless first-born animals that had to be killed and their blood spilled to atone for the disobedience and resulting fear, shame and guilt that it produces in all of us!

Isn't it interesting that Jesus was the first-born son of Mary whose father was a miracle from God so that He was the first human since Adam to have a perfect and spotless Spirit, yet being human, was subject to every temptation common to all beings born before and after Him. Yet he never yielded to any temptation!

Isn't it also interesting that His cousin, John the Baptist, declared Him, " The "Lamb" of God, that would take away the sin of the world!" And that the Spirit of God the Father descended on Him in the form of a "Dove," another innocent animal that was used for sacrifice for people who could not afford to raise sheep or cattle to offer their spotless first-born for sacrifice!

Since the Bible states that we were created in the image of God, God the Father would have many of the same emotions and attributes as us such as the ability to love, have joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I could not imagine the emotion I would have felt having to allow my Lucky Girl to be sacrificed to make atonement for my sin, or my first-born son, Ethan, for the same purpose, but that is exactly the emotion God the Father felt when His only begotten Son had to be sacrificed on a cross to atone once and for all for the sins of us all, IF, we simply accept and believe that Jesus is the only way we can get to Heaven and be reunited with our innocent animal friends and other loved ones who have accepted God's forgiveness through His Son!

I thank you so much for writing and I pray that God will give you comfort in your loss! And I truly hope that you someday have the opportunity to raise another one and have the joy seeing it grow into a backyard friend that you will never forget!

Bill

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Sparrow
7/25/2022 07:20:50 am

Thank you for these beautiful words! God Bless you and your family!

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Candice Miller
8/19/2022 09:54:58 pm

Thank you this really helped me I was really attracted to this little guy. And he up and died for no reason

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Yvette Shelton
9/11/2022 11:56:33 pm

Thank you. This article really helped. I’m a new squirrel foster and just lost a 53 gram baby boy that I was so hopeful would make it! But just like you describe he was fine the night I got him but started refusing feeds, was cold and passed on day 3. I am so sad and have been wracking my brain about what I did wrong. He was such a sweet little guy. I’m glad he passed warm, safe, and cared for.

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Valentina
9/13/2022 09:52:00 pm

Hi William,

I’m currently sitting here completely devastated holding my Squirellington Jr. in his blanket... I found him on his side this morning and reacted immediately trying to bring him to using warm heating pad and small bits of water to his mouth, he made the throw up motion (tongue out) and it seemed like he was in shock I was able to hold him just a few minutes as he passed in my hands, he made noises of throw up sounds I wasn’t sure why I held him upright thinking he needed to vomit ?? It was hard to tell and very scary, I saw him stretch out a couple times in between while petting him softly and calmly talking to him not sure what was going to happen next.. thank the Universe your article came up instantly as I was panicked trying to figure out what would cause him such a sudden death. Just hours before he had .25 of warm puppy milk in his syringe, I watch him eat and make sure it does not go in his nose! His routine is to eat and then climb my chest to cuddle however I was afraid of falling asleep and squishing him so I put him into his own space with a heating pad, blankets, a bassinet and some area to use the bathroom. I’ve had him a total of 6 days now and he has fur, eyes open but is very small! I think maybe he could be 4/5 weeks based on the internet also he is an eastern grey found him just outside in my front yard by the palm trees but now I am thinking he might have come from the bigger fruit trees since the palms are very bare and the other has more areas to nest even though it is very tall! He was found unable to climb the cement stone that leads up the tree so I gently picked him up I tried doing all the internet dealios trying to find mom and happened to find another baby girl squirrel in the process also stuck trying to climb the wall. My instinct was to hydrate them regardless if mom was around or not, they drank water mixed with a tiny bit of sugar and a pinch of salt since I had no pedialtyte on hand..I read hydration is key for the first day and my baby boy was showing so much love cuddling with me and just wanting to be held/warm in my shirt would wake up for food and return back to his warm spot. We acquired the Pet At dry puppy milk formula and he was eating very good every day, I noticed he smells foods so he was able to eat some applesauce but any berries/solid foods I noticed he was having trouble chewing and I was afraid he would choke so his diet has been mainly the formula/water. I was so hurt and feeling awful thinking this formula could be the reason I lost my baby but I am wondering is what you are describing here in this article is what happened to my baby since he as completely active and normal, eating normal, pooping normal, the only off thing I noticed was he was looking extremely tired but I thought he was tired from being so active in the day, I actually woke him up to feed him because I didn’t want him going longer than 4 hours not eating. He woke up and ate right away, per usual he never denies food or water, I watched him clean his fur and fall asleep and this morning I was in horror to find him like this... I am still heartbroken and in shock holding him, I have been on this page for hours looking for a solution to what could be the cause of his death, feeling so extremely awful. My plan was to bring him to complete health and help him grow and at an appropriate enough age where he is able to chew solid foods and climb I would release him and still cater to his needs so he wouldn’t be in captivity forever. I can’t even explain how much my heart hurts holding his tiny body and all my visions of him growing old are sadly just taken from me. Please help me to know what could be the cause of his death ! I can’t even get off this site because I’m so heartbroken.. I also am not sure how much time I have to properly bury him either :( I have never had to do this before any helpful advice is VERY appreciated as I am alone in this situation! 💔

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Valentina
9/14/2022 04:00:28 pm

Also....I was referring to the reply you sent to Cali on 4/15/2020! Her story was the most similar to mine with the time she had with her baby except my Squirellington was younger baby and I didn’t hear one peep :( just found him doing the same dry-heaving motion and cold to the touch, he came to just a bit when I heated him with the heating pad, barely able to blink his eyes, still in some type of shock but like I mentioned his beautiful little spirit passed in just minutes in my hands.... I don’t want to feel that his death was my fault as I did everything to keep him safe, warm, fed and loved. The formula scares me being that mostly what he ate And I just felt AWFUL beating myself up thinking this is my fault I should’ve fed him applesauce and mashed up foods etc. but he was so young needing milk! I felt terrible and then came across his page and started to realize the formula might not have took his life in the matter of a short 6 days.. how would it..but I have plenty of pictures that can speak more to the condition I found him in, looking back, now with this knowledge, it’s very possible he took a fall from the tree even though I was praying he didn’t since he was seeming okay.... please let me know what you can do to help me

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Sukanya
9/28/2022 11:39:46 pm

I have rescued 2 day old gray squirrel, it was difficult for him to survive but he was a fighter and i took care of him. Today after 12 weeks he died suddenly. I don’t understand he was fine yesterday, jumping around and having fun. What did i do wrong? I don’t get it. Can you please help to find the reason. He had brussel sprout in morning and i didn’t give him much and he slept in evening so at night i kept his food in his cage and did not wake him up.
New thing i did was i played music on speakers for couple hours, I don’t know was he scared? At night it got cold in my room, was that the reason.
I woke up in middle of the night by the sound that he was walking around so i turned off the lights but as cage door was closed i think he couldn’t come out to get in my blanket.
I don’t know what the reason is?

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Gigi
12/3/2022 09:04:28 am

In August I had a big dead tree cut down. In one of the branches there were three baby squirrels, estimated to be about 5 weeks old. I was surprised they survived the fall as the branch dropped about 20 feet, but they did and showed no signs of trauma. Since the tree was gone, I put the babies in a box with soft bedding and placed it on the stump next to my phone playing baby squirrel sounds but the Mom never came back. So I bought all the appropriate formula and cared for them. They grew beautifully. I bought them a big four story cage and filled it with branches to climb, soft warm hammocks to sleep in, toys, and even a mirror so they can see how beautiful they are. They eat a variety of nuts, fruits and vegetables. I don’t hold them as I do intend on releasing them but they know our routine of when I give them treats and sweetly take food by hand. This morning I awoke to find my little boy on the very bottom of the cage, dead. There was a little blood around his nose. I’m heartbroken. He didn’t fall as the levels have little ladders and he was under one, unless he crawled under and died. The girl is very rambunctious and does lots of back flips and wrestles harder than he does. He just healed from an injured foot that took a couple of weeks before he could run again. When it was warmer, I kept the cage outside and had all the appropriate covering for bad weather. I even had a little electric heater on a table next to the cage that I turned on at night so there was a source of warmth. (It was not close enough for them to touch). I sometimes let them out of the cage to run around, and they would come back to the cage at nite to sleep. But hawks started targeting them so I kept them in their big cage, and when it started getting really cold, I brought them in the house, and kept the cage in front of my sliding glass doors. I’d leave the door cracked open a little during the day so they could get fresh air. Everything has been going great with them. I’m at a loss. I’m reading about internal bleeding on these posts and I’m wondering if that’s what could have happened. I just don’t understand. I’m crushed. RIP Scooter. You were my favorite.

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William link
1/28/2023 02:45:24 pm

Hi, Gigi!

I was sorry to read that you lost a little one! It's not uncommon to have an injury like you described happened to a small squirrel when they are caged with other squirrels or siblings. The fact that you found him with a bloody nose is indicative of a facial or head injury that caused the nose to bleed.

I once had several siblings in one cage and one of the squirrels exerted dominance over the others. He would bully is siblings especially if the dispute was over food. He would chase them all over the cage.One day I found the bully lying in the corner of the cage very quiet . I went over and talk to him but he did not move . Realizing that there was something wrong with him I reached in and picked him up and he was not be able to move any of his legs . I speculate that he probably charged at one of his siblings, who was in that corner, and that the siblings probably moved quickly out of the way and the bully rammed his head into the corner of the cage and broke his neck. I removed him from the cage and placed him in an isolation gauge with a warm rice pack under him and by the next morning he was gone.

Since the squirrel that you mentioned had a prior leg or foot injury I suspect that possibly one of the other squirrels was exerting dominance over him and that he sustained injuries from being chased. As I said, a bloody nose it's usually indicative of a head injury or a facial injury. Don't beat yourself up over it, you did nothing wrong! Sometimes these things just happen.

Thank you so much for caring!

Bill

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Suku
1/21/2023 02:31:08 am

My baby squirrel die about 20 mins ago. I have no clue why he died. He was playing and running around until yesterday .Today it was suddenly lethargic it rejected food and even water today .Today it was time to give him some sunlight he suddenly got paralyzed in front of me , I open its cage,I soothe him a little he got curled up in a ball like he usually did .His breathing declined he slowly died. We had him for 1weeks as ,I found him under the tree shaking .I googled how to find its age from its growing symptom(3/5 weeks old ) .When I found it & feed him particularly. And as my mother had already taken care of many infant squirrels before she help me in taking care of ,I still think it would be because of my lack somewhere.I was not able to take it to vet for any illness as there is not veterinary hospital at my area.

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William
1/28/2023 02:30:51 pm

Hi Suku !
I'm sorry to hear about losing a little one. You did nothing wrong! Thank-you for caring!

Bill

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Michelle
1/24/2023 06:42:21 am

About three days ago we rescued a baby squirrel from our cats and it was doing fine I really thought it would make it but unfortunately earlier today the baby has passed away very suddenly and I thought that maybe I did something wrong or gave him the wrong formula but this just made me realize that maybe something was wrong inside his little body that I couldn't see I am just glad I could help him and make his last moments comfortable it broke my heart but at least I know the precious little thing doesn't have any pain anymore.

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William link
1/28/2023 02:28:27 pm

Hi, Michelle!

Sorry to hear about your little one! Thank-you so much for caring!

Bill

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Mackenzie
2/18/2023 10:36:45 pm

I found a 3/4 week old squirrel on the ground the nest I think he fell from was about 20 ft up but he was far to the side of it so I'm not sure what had happened other then a fall. About 10 years ago we had found a 4 week old squirrel that my family rescued we named her twinkie she had fallen from a tree and actully hit our truck on her way down we watched it happen, she was a miracle, she lived 5 wonderful years and peacefully passed in her sleep. She was the light of our lives she went on vacation with us and spent every day being our bestfriend. so when I found this baby I jumped right to action. Got him hydrated got puppy formula and ordered specialty formula for him. Had heating pad and everything fed him every 3 to 4 hours. He had a hard time staying warm even with a heating pad and heated rice socks and I always had to warm him alot before feeding and it was very hit or miss if he would want to eat. He wouldn't gain any weight and his bowl movements were concerning some happened with stimulation some he did on his own. He was very wobbly all the time. About 7 days in he started acting very strange, he would scream for long periods even with my trying to sooth him, his specialty formula came in and after 3 days of it he was extremely lethargic refused eating and wouldn't even lay normal in his bed. He passed away yesterday after 10 days of me caring for him and it broke me. I still feel like I did something wrong and I've been crying nonstop because I got so attaches so fast even though I told myself not to because he was very unhealthy even when we found him it looked as tho he was abandoned, small and emaciated even though he wasn't but outside but for maybe 30 minutes as it was right outside our house and we are constantly in and out in the morning tending to our horses. I just wish I could've saved him, I wish I knew what was wrong or if there was anything I could've done differently. This page subdued some of the tears and brought me some comfort and I thank you greatly for that because all I've been doing is blaming myself. Looking back now realizing he was behind the 8 ball from the start of getting him with him being small and skinny and falling so far I should've prepared myself but I just wished he would be a miracle like my little Twinkie.

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    Author

    William Sells is a Registered Nurse turned Squirrel Rehabber and Nutritionist. His passion is raising healthy, disease free squirrels through feeding them the right way and the treatment of common squirrel diseases. He's always open to questions and comments regarding Squirrels and their care and feeding.

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