In all likelihood, if you find an orphaned wild animal, it is probably cold and dehydrated.

Warming - As mentioned previously, this is always the first thing to be done. Never try to feed a cold baby! Place the orphan(s) in a warm cloth, whether its a piece of fleece, old fleece hat, old T-shirt, piece of blanket, whatever. Make sure the cloth doesn't have loose threads that can snag and tear off little toenails. Put the wrapped babies on top of a soft cloth within a cardboard box or Rubbermaid type storage container, making sure they have ample air. Put the box two-thirds of the way onto a heating pad set on low. If you don't have a heating pad, another effective way to warm babies is to fill an empty water or small soda bottle with very, very hot water, cap it tightly, and then stick the bottle into a sock. You put the whole thing into the box with the babies and it acts as a very nice hot water bottle that they'll plaster themselves up to.

Opossums will also require extra humidity, so wet a washcloth and squeeze it out really well, and then place it on the box lid or hanging slightly into the box, to create necessary humidity.

Rehydration - Before an animal is fed formula, it is VITAL that it not be dehydrated. It is ALWAYS a good policy to start the animal with feedings of Lactated Ringers solution or Pedialyte before transitioning it to a proper formula for its species. The easiest way to do this is by warming the liquid and then filling an oral syringe (usually a 3 cc. one is a good size for baby mammals like squirrels, etc.) with the warmed formula. You can then dribble the fluid gently into the animal's mouth. Be very careful not to squirt it suddenly, as that can cause the baby to aspirate fluid into its lungs and trigger pneumonia. Feed rehydration fluids for the first few feedings (about every two hours), before gradually introducing formula.

Back Next