Food and Feeding Days 1-7: 1 Part of evaporated milk to 2 parts water, with A pinch of glucose powder. You can use an eyedropper, or a syringe to feed them
(Note: You can also use sweet condensed milk diluted with warm water, but if you have resources available you should probably use the vet’s recipe.)
Days 8-30: 4 teaspoons of baby cereal; 1 teaspoon of honey or glucose powder. This should be mixed together to the consistency of gruel.
Days 30-35: Solid food taken
Dispelling Myths and helpful information
Information sent by Erin Allebaugh Outreach Coordinator Wildlife Center of Virginia vet@wildlifecenter.org <vet@wildlifecenter.org>
I would like to dispel some myths for you and inform you of some information in aiding wild animals. Opposite of the old myth, mother animals (mammals and birds) will NOT abandon their babies if a human has touched it. Prevention and education are the best wildlife rehabilitation, and all animals should remain in the wild with their parents to ensure survival. If a nest is found, simply leave it be until the parents have finished raising their young (which is normally not more than a few days to a few weeks, depending on species). Humans can never properly replace the care of an animal mother. Human intervention should be avoided as much as possible. But sometimes this is not the case, and humans do become involved. The care of any orphaned animal is specific in diet, urination/fecal stimulation, weaning, caging, and the assurance that the wild animal will remain wild and does not become tame/imprinted/habituated.
The wrong diet can cause all sorts of problems, including disease and death.
Being treated as a pet can cause habituation and is a great disservice to the animal once returned to the wild, where the absence of appropriate fear of humans can result in a whole score of problems as well.
In the United States, state and federal law protect all wild animals, therefore only licensed wildlife rehabilitates that have gone through the proper training should care for wildlife
Making a bed
If they are very little use a small size cardboard box. Place a towel inside and keep it bundled around them to keep them warm. Place another towel over the top to keep hold in the warmth. When they get older buy an approrate size cage for them. You can make them a little nest to go into the cage by using a shoe box and cutting a door, and windows.
| In the wild its not unusual for both parents to take care of the young, however, only having one adult in the cage will halve the chances of the young getting eaten, which is a problem Ive suffered and now as a matter of policy always put pregnant mothers into a nursing cage before they give birth, this way I know the mother doesnt get stressed by other interfering adults and eats them herself, nor do you run the risk of the other adults fancying a fresh meat snack! |
Getting the baby chipmunk to accept you as their mother
Cup the chipmunk in the palm of your hand and breath into you hand. You might also make chipmunk noises when you are close to them or feeding them. Take an old sock and rub it in your hair and on your skin to pick up your scent, then place it into the box to make them feel that their mother is with them.
Keeping them clean
Hold them under a slow running faucet of warm water. Make sure not to get their head wet. Put some baby shampoo or dish washing liquid on a wash cloth, and scrub them gently. Wash their head and face gently with the wash cloth, but be sure to get the soap off their head with a damp rag. Place them into a towel and rub their fur gently the wrong way, then back. Keep them cuddled up in a dry towel until you can return them to their dry warm bed. After they are dry brush them with a small soft shoe brush to replace their natural oils. (Don’t wash them too much. It can cause their skin to dry.)
Hibernation
Chipmunks hibernate during the winter months. They will hoard food and hide it in a nesting place (sometimes shoes). If the Chipmunks are put in a room with air conditioning they could go into a state of hibernation. They eat very little, and act lifeless. They only wake up long enough to eat enough to sustain them, then go back to sleep.
