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Friday, October 12, 2012

Four New Babies

Geoff came home on Wednesday with something carefully wrapped in one of his work shirts.

When he unwrapped the shirt we saw four tiny flying squirrel babies curled inside.

The crews last job of the day was to remove a dead tree and that is where they found these little guys. Geoff brought them home hoping we could help them.

They are about 2 1/2 inches long, not including their tail. From the reading we've done we are guessing them to be about 3 1/2 weeks old. Their eyes aren't open yet.

We found a couple great websites with a lot information on caring for these tiny animals.

I think they are amazing! 
Look at the skin flaps that will help them glide through the air when they grow up.

We were able to get in contact with a woman who has raised many orphaned squirrel babies and it was an encouragement to learn we were doing the right things and to just keep doing what we were doing. They are old enough that their chance of survival is pretty good. 

At this age they need to be fed a bit less than half a teaspoon every 4 hours.

The best choices of formula for baby squirrels are Esbilac or Goat's Milk Esbilac which is a puppy milk replacer. 

Here is a helpful video I found on how to feed baby squirrels.
Thought i'd share in case someone else needs this info one day.


Another important thing at this age is to keep them warm. They recommend laying a box over a heating pad or placing a warm water bottle in with the babies.

They are so tiny and so cute! 

3 comments:

Becky K. said...

How amazing to get to see them up so close. Keep up the great work. They are precious.

The Quintessential Magpie said...

When my father was a little boy, he had a flying squirrel as a pet. He would tie a string around his leg and kept him in his pocked. They really are precious. My roofer said that he saw some up in our tree. I don't think I have ever seen them in the wild.

XO,

Sheila

Alicia @ refinedisaiah648.blogspot.com said...

Oh so sweet and amazing. How fun to take care of them!