Diarrhea affects not only humans but animals too, having diarrhea isn’t pleasant for any of us.
If you think that your baby squirrel has diarrhea you’d likely want to know what caused it and how to treat it. This article looks into it.
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Baby squirrel diarrhea:
Diarrhea may be an inconvenience to humans but it can be fatal to squirrels, if your squirrel is suffering from diarrhea then you’d need to quickly figure out how your pet got it, and you need to cure your pet.
Here are possible reasons why your pet may be suffering from this ailment.
Incorrect formula:
Pet shops sell both liquid and powdered Esbilac, this product is recommended for baby squirrels, however, the ingredients in these two products differ and this makes all the difference.
Giving your squirrel liquid esiblac may be more convenient for you, but it isn’t good for your baby squirrel. In fact, it may be the reason why your baby squirrel has diarrhea.
Powdered esbilac is the gold standard for baby squirrels and they should only be fed this variety.
Solution:
You should immediately stop feeding your squirrel liquid esbilac and you should rather feed your squirrel the powder formula.
Taking your squirrel off of the liquid formula for a little while will give you time to purchase the powder formula as well as give you time to rehydrate the squirrel, this animal likely lost a lot of water while having diarrhea
Parasites:
Parasites can get squirrels sick with Salmonellosis, diarrhea is a symptom of Salmonellosis.
Salmonellosis is an illness caused by the salmonella bacteria. If your squirrel was exposed to animal feces that carried this parasite, then your squirrel may have contracted this disease.
In addition to diarrhea, this disease can also cause cramps and vomiting in baby squirrels.
Solution:
If the disease is still in its early stages, then you can treat your squirrel by offering it replenishing electrolytes, hydrating the animal is also highly recommended.
If the disease is in the later stages, then you’d need to take the squirrel to a vet, an exotic vet if you can, the vet will prescribe antibiotics for your pet
Overfeeding:
Overfeeding is also linked to diarrhea in baby squirrels, these animals will eat almost anything we feed them, they don’t practice portion control.
If the squirrel eats too much food, it will overheat, if it overheats it will develop either diarrhea or bloating
Solution:
Decrease how much food you’re feeding your squirrel, this should help the squirrel recover
Rehydrating the squirrel:
Regardless of why your baby squirrel had diarrhea, it is important to rehydrate the baby during and after treatment.
If the baby has diarrhea then it is likely dehydrated, you can check whether the baby is dehydrated by pinching the skin on back of its neck or pinching the skin on its belly.
The amount of time that it takes the baby’s skin to go back down will tell you if it’s dehydrated.
If the skin goes back down after 1-2 seconds then the baby is likely moderately dehydrated. If the skin goes back after 4 or more seconds, then the baby is very dehydrated to a point where it is life-threatening.
You can make a homemade solution that will help rehydrate the squirrel or you can use Pedialyte to rehydrate the baby.
The homemade rehydration fluid can be made using a cup of warm water and a tablespoon of either molasses, sugar, or honey. Mix this together and serve it to your squirrel.
Only give the squirrel as much as it needs to rehydrate itself, do not overhydrate the squirrel.
If you’re giving the squirrel Pedialyte, dilute it in water keeping a ratio of one part Pedialyte and one part water.
Make sure that the fluid you give your squirrel is warm, also, make sure that the baby squirrel is warm before you feed it.
What should baby squirrel poop look like?
Squirrel poop looks quite similar to rat poop, they are both rodents and are similar in a variety of ways, including how their poop looks.
Squirrel poop is dark brown in color, has a barrel shape, and is larger than rat poop. Healthy baby squirrel poop is yellow/orange and consists of large, soft nuggets
Your baby squirrels poop will begin to look like this, and less like a watery version of this, once the squirrel has recovered from the diarrhea
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other squirrel related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Baby Squirrel Pneumonia Treatment, Baby Squirrel Breathing Through Its Mouth, Dead Squirrel With A Bloody Mouth, Why Does My Baby Squirrel Have Diarrhea?